United States Sports Academy - "America's Sports University"

Changes in the penalties for
Alabama High School soccer players receiving misconducts have
had very little effect on the numbers and types of cards issued
during the 1997 and 1998 Alabama high school soccer seasons.(note:
high soccer is a spring sport in Alabama). Although ineligibility
penalties for yellow cards were eliminated, there was a slight
increase in the number of yellow cards issued per game in 1997,
but the number of yellow cards issued per game in 1998 was almost
equivalent to 1996. At the same time, revised red card (includes
red/yellow cards) penalties seemed to have very little effect
on the number of. red cards (ejections) issued per game.

Redmond, Wash.-January 1999-In
big cities, sports arenas are among the top five places where
sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs-but what about towns that
don't have major league stadiums? If little league or the varsity
squad is the only game in town, that's where the people will
go, and that's where SCA will happen.

SCA is one of the most common
causes of death in the US, claiming about 325,000 lives each
year. Until relatively recently, treatment for SCA-an electrical
shock known as defibrillation-was usually administered either
in a hospital or by emergency medical service (EMS) personnel.
Innovative communities are looking for ways to improve access
to defibrillation. They are equipping firefighters, police-and
now high school coaches and athletic trainers-with automated
external defibrillators (AEDs), allowing them to provide critical
treatment before EMS arrives. The leading seller in the field
is the LIFEPAK® 500 AED, manufactured by Medtronic Physio-Control
of Redmond, Wash.

Unlike the models of defibrillators
intended for use by paramedics, nurses and doctors, AEDs do not
require extensive medical knowledge to understand or operate.

36.4% of high school students
smoked cigarettes during the past month, while 16.7% smoked cigarettes
on 20 or more days during the past month, and 9.3% used smokeless
tobacco.

Only 29.3% of high school students
ate five or more servings of fruits and vegetables during the
past day. 4.5% took laxatives or vomited to lose weight during
the past month. 4.9% had taken diet pills to lose weight during
the past month.

63.8% of high school students
did vigorous physical activity three or more days during the
past week. 20.4% did moderate physical activity five or more
days during the past week. 48.8% were enrolled in physical education
class. 27.4% attended physical education class daily.
--Center for Disease Control, based on a survey by the 1997 Youth
Risk Behavior Surveillance Systems survey.