In the News - May 2008
Athletic Trainers Offer Advice for Eating Disorders
By Cassie Krisher
The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) released a statement earlier this year with recommendations for athletic trainers, athletic directors, coaches and parents explaining how to handle an athlete with an eating disorder or at risk for one. The statement provides access to resources on the topic, guidelines for early detection and treatment, and educational programs for prevention.
The signs of an eating disorder most often involve poor nutritional behaviors and an emphasis on weight control. The No. 1 trigger for eating disorders is a preoccupation with dieting. Some specific signs that an athlete might be at risk for an eating disorder include: binge eating, fasting, purging, excessive exercise, inadequate caloric intake, constant dieting and avoidance of eating situations.
The statement says that athletes in all sports are at risk for disordered eating habits. Although it is most often associated with activities in which appearance often plays a large role, such as ballet and gymnastics, and activities with weight restrictions such as wrestling and rowing, disordered eating can arise in any sport or activity.
Much blame for eating disorders is put on the media for emphasizing thinness and appearance, but pressure on athletes to manipulate weight and food intake for the sake of performance also plays a large role in the prevalence of eating disorders in athletes.
The NATA statement encourages education for athletes, coaches, administrators and athletic trainers on the topic of eating disorders. Such education helps increase awareness of the problem and create an open and truthful atmosphere for discussion. Only one-third of high schools provide educational programs on the topic. However, only nine percent of those schools require students to attend, and only 15 percent require coaches to attend.
Such educational programs help coaches, parents and administrators identify signs of disordered eating as early as possible. Early detection can lower the risk for medical complications arising from an eating disorder, such as malnutrition, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and reproductive conditions, and even death.
Treatment for eating disorders is available, and it is effective. The NATA is working to establish a network of individuals who can skillfully intervene with at-risk athletes, provide proper care and develop educational programs for prevention.
Evan Excell to retire in Utah
By Cassie Krisher
Evan Excell, executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA), will retire from his position June 30. He has been involved with Utah high school sports for 42 years, the last 14 of which he has served as UHSAA's executive director.
When Excell took the role as leader of the UHSAA, the organization was financially strapped as several corporate sponsorships came to an end. Under his direction, the UHSAA implemented a small increase in ticket prices and worked aggressively to find new sponsors. Five years ago, the association was able to move into a new $1.2 million building and now boasts more than $1 million in its endowment fund.
Excell also initiated the consolidation of many state championship events from several events for each class into one all-encompassing championship tournament. In effect, this reduced operation expenses from renting and staffing several facilities, as well as travel for coaches, officials and players.
He said one of his greatest accomplishments as executive director was "maintaining over a period of 14 years the values that were already in place." He was also proud to say that the communication between the association and member schools had strengthened during his tenure.
Excell served on the NFHS Board of Directors from 1998 to 2002. "It was one of the highlights of my career, and I have much respect for the NFHS and its leaders," he said.
He also served on the Football Rules Committee, Annual Meeting Advisory Committee and Appeal Board.
One week after Excell announced his retirement, the UHSAA Board of Trustees voted unanimously to promote Dave Wilkey, assistant director, to the executive director position effective July 1, exactly 30 years after Wilkey's first day at the UHSAA.
Excell said he will miss the administrators and staff, as well as the tournament atmosphere and interactions with the students. He and his wife have attended a high school function every Friday for the past 14 years and plan to continue doing so after he retires.
"I'm just going to sit back and see what comes," Excell said. "Thanks to everyone along the way for mentoring and support, from the Federation to the member schools. It's been a great ride."
The NFHS will honor Excell for his dedication to high school activities with a Citation Award, to be presented at the 89th Annual Summer Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Washington Supreme Court rules against drug testing
By Cassie Krisher
The Washington state Supreme Court ruled unanimously in March that random drug testing of student-athletes is unconstitutional because it intrudes on a student's privacy.
The issue in the case was whether a student's right to privacy, as outlined in the Washington Constitution, was violated by the Wahkiakum School District's random drug-testing policy for student-athletes.
Justice Richard Sanders wrote in the majority opinion, "If we were to allow random drug testing here, what prevents school districts from either later drug testing students participating in any extracurricular activities, as federal courts now allow, or testing the entire student population?"
After surveys of students in the Wahkiakum School District showed that drug and alcohol use was prevalent among students, the district implemented a random drug-testing policy for student-athletes to combat the problem. The families of two students who were subjected to these random tests sued the school district, saying that students' private affairs had been disturbed.
A main issue of the case was whether suspicionless, random drug testing is supported by the law. The court found that the law supports suspicion-based searches, such as a reasonable search and seizure without a warrant, but there is no such protection for suspicionless searches. Therefore, if the school district does not have reason to suspect a specific individual of drug use, then the district cannot force a student to submit a urine sample for drug testing.
Although the case specifically states that random drug testing is unconstitutional, in its majority opinion, the court also dismissed the notion of suspicion-based drug testing of students because teachers who are not trained to spot signs of drug use could single out troublesome students for testing.
Although the court ruled unanimously, there were three concurrences, or opinions that have minor differences from the majority opinion.
Justice Jim Johnson also concurred with the majority but added that a student's right to privacy is "not absolute and thus not all drug-testing programs are invalid." He said a constitutional drug-testing program is possible, but it needs to serve a compelling interest, be narrowly tailored to specifically address the problem of drug use in schools, and be the least intrusive method.
"Since we have established that random mandatory urinalyses here are significant invasions of privacy, even of minor students, the standard to prove compelling interest is high, although not impossible," he said. He also suggested the use of saliva tests or sweat patches as less intrusive forms of drug testing.
Justice Barbara Madsen concurred with the majority that random drug testing is not the most effective and least intrusive way of alleviating the problem of drug use, but she wrote that a "special needs exception" should allow random testing when suspicion-based testing is ineffective. She said, "The majority's analysis sweeps far too broadly, casting doubt on the validity of even suspicion-based school searches."
Justice Tom Chambers concurred but wrote separately to observe that in its decision, the court had awarded greater privacy interest to a person's urine than previous cases had given to a person's saliva.
2008 National Student Leadership Conference trains leaders of the future
By Jennifer Searcy
The NFHS National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) returns to Indianapolis July 17-20 for a second consecutive year. Overall, it will mark the fifth time the NFHS has hosted the conference.
More than 300 high school students from 33 states, three Canadian provinces and an Israeli contingent of 24 will storm the city with one purpose - to become "agents of change."
"The theme for each year is always ‘making a difference,'" said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS director of educational services. "We want them to go back to their high schools and their communities and make an impact."
Six students from each state are chosen by the participating state associations to represent their high schools as delegates at the NSLC. All accommodations for the student delegates are funded by the NFHS through a grant from corporate partner, T-Mobile, Inc. The NFHS also invites 75-100 adult delegates to serve as advisors and coaches for the delegates from their respective states.
"It's an outstanding opportunity for a young person to be selected by his or her school as a representative," Hopkins said. "It's a distinction you can't put a price on."
This year, the conference will feature two general session speakers. Speaker and author Harvey Alston will open the conference and professional magician Stephen Bargatze will close the conference. There is also a variety of elective speakers from which the student can choose, including a parent's perspective on the NCAA Clearinghouse; money matters with the vice president of Fifth Third Bank, Bill Harris; and SAT/ACT/PSAT prep tips from the Princeton Review. The students will also engage in educational workshops with topics in healthy lifestyles, community service, respect, positive values, perspective, sportsmanship and teamwork.
Several college facilitators from around the country help lead sessions and assist the conference with many of them returning year after year to help.
The students will also put their skills to use in a community service project July 19. The NSLC will partner with Indy Parks and Recreation to clean two local parks - Washington and Oscar Charleston Parks. Hopkins said he always enjoys seeing the transformation of the parks because of the efforts of the students.
"When we finish, we see the neighborhood kids come out and play, where they couldn't play before," Hopkins said. "We have given the parks a new, shiny face."
Due to lack of funding, in 2003 the NLSC was forced to take three years off, but returned in 2007 with a three-year sponsorship deal with T-Mobile.
Hopkins said last year's conference exceeded his expectations.
"There was such a heightened level of electricity," Hopkins said. "The students wanted to learn, experience and give back. It's contagious."
Hopkins said one of the important aspects of the NLSC is mixing the students to gain new ideas from schools around the country and the world.
"What's interesting is, at this international activities conference, there is never an instruction about any sports technique or fine arts instruction," Hopkins said. "But, it's the common thread that brings us together."
Hockey alumni aid Maine high schools
By Jennifer Searcy
The 30th anniversary of professional hockey in Portland, Maine was marked with a special charity game benefiting the Portland Public Schools.
The February 27 game featured alumni from the Boston Bruins, Maine Mariners and Portland Pirates. The Bruins were victorious, but the real winners were the high school athletes from Portland and Deering (Maine) high schools.
As a part of district-wide budget cuts, the Portland Public Schools lost $153,000 of its $1.3 million athletic budget. It was these budget cuts that inspired Gary Prolman, co-owner of ProStock Advisors, to sponsor and organize the event. Prolman has been a coach for 20 years, and as a former student-athlete himself, sees sports as a great outlet.
"There are lessons you learn in sports that you can't learn in a classroom," Prolman said.
The game attracted 3,500 people, who were treated with 30 of the top professionals from both the National Hockey League (NHL) and American Hockey League, including Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque, general manager of the Anaheim Ducks Brian Burke and North Yarmouth Academy coach and Pirates Hall of Famer Kent Hurst.
"To have 30 professional hockey players was phenomenal," Prolman said. "You don't normally get that at charity games. All the players were very accessible signing many autographs and were positively met by the fans. It was just a lot of fun."
In addition to this charity game, Prolman also sponsors other opportunities for high school student-athletes. The annual Maine High School Hockey Invitational features 48 teams from around the country and Canada. The tournament is run solely to promote scholarships for student-athletes, but Prolman said the athletes also receive exposure that they might not receive otherwise. Since 2001, $70,000 in scholarships has been awarded.
At the game, scholarship recipients from the 2007 Invitational were announced, with help from the players. Prolman was amazed by the above-and-beyond passion Ray Bourque displayed.
"After the winners were announced, he skated up and shook all of their hands," Prolman said. "To a kid, this was phenomenal, to have your idol come up to you and shake your hand."
The amount raised from the game has not been determined, and though it was not enough to wipe out the deficit, Prolman is encouraged and hopes that the future games will help ease the deficit as much as possible.
"If schools eliminate sports, there will be a huge dent in society, and we need to keep those things in place," Prolman said.
NDHSAA says 'good-bye' to Bob Hetler
By Jennifer Searcy
After 30 years at the North Dakota High School Activities Association (NDHSAA), Bob Hetler is retiring this summer.
As assistant to the executive secretary, Hetler has had the balancing act of many roles, including fine arts, media relations, publications and sports information.
His co-workers, however, said he always handled it efficiently.
"Bob is ambitious, full of energy, hard working and is a loving husband, father and grandfather," said Dave Carlsrud, assistant to the executive secretary.
Hetler has no regrets about leaving, but said as he is reaching 65 years of age, his position is better suited for a younger person. He has enjoyed watching the fine arts and activities grow since he joined the NDHSAA in 1978.
"The coaches and music directors have been fantastic, and the students never cease to amaze me in what they can accomplish with a positive attitude and positive influences," Hetler said.
Carlsrud described Hetler as "the face of fine arts in North Dakota," and said he will be missed thoroughly.
Sheryl Solberg, assistant to the executive secretary, joined the NDHSAA the same year as Hetler. She said one of the reasons Hetler will be missed is his immense knowledge.
"Of course, he will be missed for many reasons," Solberg said. "You gather much knowledge during 30 years at a job. He worked hard and always wanted what was in the best interest of the fine arts and activities."
Hetler plans to spend more time with family and enjoy the outdoors through fishing, hunting and community service. He will be honored with an NFHS Citation July 6 at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Cassie Krisher is a spring semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. She is a senior at Butler (Indiana) University, majoring in journalism and media arts.
Jennifer Searcy is a spring intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. She is a junior at Franklin (Indiana) College majoring in journalism news editorial and public relations.
