Canadian Ringette Championships 2011 - Watch Games Live April 1-2

Happy to post the following for the National Ringette School. Thanks NRS for sponsoring live video webcasts for Canadian Ringette Championships (CRC2011.ca) games on April 1-2 at www.theNRS.com/live (Post has been updated with game results, below).

Update: Game Video Archives, courtesy of National Ringette School.

The National Ringette School is proud to sponsor
live game webcasts
of the semi-final and final games April 1-2.

Watch webcasts live
or visit the webcast home page (and enter the National Ringette School contest) at www.theNRS.com/live.

Game times:

Friday, April 1 - Semi-Finals (2nd vs 3rd - Bronze Medal Games):
U-16  5:00 p.m. EDT / 3:00 p.m. MDT - QC 6 vs ON 5
U-19  6:30 p.m. EDT / 4:30 p.m. MDT - ON 7 vs AB 2
NRL   8:00 p.m. EDT / 6:00 p.m. MDT - Turbos 7 vs RATH 5

Saturday, April 2 - Finals (Gold Medal Games):
U-16 10:00 a.m. EDT / 8:00 a.m. MDT - AB 2 vs QC 1
NRL  12:30 p.m. EDT / 10:00 a.m. MDT - WAM! 4 vs Turbos 2
U-19 3:00 p.m. EDT / 1:00 p.m. MDT - QC 5 vs ON 4

> Connect to the live video feed or visit NRS CRC2011 page www.theNRS.com/live

You can also enter to win a spot to attend any one of our NRS
camps across Canada. This includes registration in any of our TOP
GUN camps too (a $499 value)!

Visit www.theNRS.com/win to enter and for full contest rules.

Good luck!

National Ringette School

2312 Uxbridge Drive N.W.
Calgary, AB
T2N 3Z6

...continue reading >

Play Sports. Avoid Facebook Depression.

Lots of buzz this week about Facebook Depression, the catchy ailment that is just one of the pitfalls highlighted in a clinical report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families.  Additional comments from kids and specialists are in this article in the Globe and Mail. The AAP report isn't total negative on social media, highlighting both benefits as well as risks.  It also suggests how parents and pediatricians can participate to ensure the benefits outweigh the risks.

Understanding how Facebook or other social media technology can skew a child's life is difficult because parents don't interact with their social circle on Facebook the same way or with the same intensity as their kids do (even if the parents are on Facebook).  I'm 'on Facebook' don't really use it.  I use Twitter and LinkedIn a lot more (which on the flip side, my kids don't see a need for), and these are more for listening, sourcing and sharing information than for posting status.

Intensity of use appears to be key.  Problems occur when the social media technology tool becomes the main conduit and hang-out for social interaction.  It's not just that Facebook or gaming or whatever the tech-enabled hangout presents a skewed view of the world, it's that such concentration and isolation can lead cause the child to seek help from only that source. Quoting from the AAP report (p.4), "...As with offline depression, preadolescents and adolescents who suffer from Facebook depression are at risk for social isolation and sometimes turn to risky Internet sites and blogs for “help” that may promote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, or aggressive or selfdestructive behaviors..."

So the key is to be balanced and 'well-adjusted'.

And one big way that parents can help is to enable and encourage some other interest, away from texting or Facebook on smartphones. Play sports, or play music, dance, get involved in the community.

The important thing is to encourage expansion of experiences and kids' social circles in a variety of different ways, so that they'll find their passion, one that's fueled by their natural talents.

I'll bet passion always trumps depression, Facebook or otherwise.
...continue reading >

Concussion Recovery - Ready to Return to Competition

Twenty-seven days after being diagnosed with a concussion, my daughter is essentially fully recovered from her concussion. Last step is to to return to competition, which isn't going to happen until April 10 or 28.
  • Cleared for step 4 of the Return to Play protocol and full practice on March 20, she went to her 90 minute track & field practice on March 21, but held back on some of the plyometrics.  Sore muscles but no concussion symptoms after practice.
  • On March 24, did a complete 90 minute track practice, plus 60 minutes in the weight room.  Very sore muscles next day, but once again no concussion symptoms.
  • March 26 - went to 90 minute ringette tryout practice tune-up. No concussion symptoms.
  • March 27 - 90 minute ringette practice again, with chance of contact.  No concussion symptoms.
So rest time is over.  With both school and club track & field now on, my daughter has 6-7 hours a week of practice.  She'll be fit and ready for ringette tryouts by the end of April.
...continue reading >

Spring Tune-Ups for A & AA Ringette Tryouts

To help players get ready for next season's A & AA ringette tryouts in April, Mississauga Ringette Association is holding four 1-hour on-ice tune-up practices for U14 (Tween), U16 (Junior) and U19 (Belle) players at Iceland Mississauga.

Dates: March 26, 27 and April 9, 10

Fee: $30 for 2 sessions

> View schedule on MRA website

> Download registration form (pdf)   Includes information on pre-registration, etc.

...continue reading >

Ringette A & AA Tryouts for 2011-2012 Season

Tryout dates for A and AA Provincial Ringette Teams are now posted. Check back at the links below to confirm dates and times:

> Mississauga Ringette Teams

> Southern Region Ringette Tryout Page

Southern AA tryouts for U16 (Junior) and U19 (Belle) will be centralized this year. Pre-registration is needed.  Visit the Tryout Page for more information.

...continue reading >

Southern AAA Ringette Tryouts

National Ringette Championships 2011 are next week but next season is already upon us. Letters were received this week in Southern Region by players 1993 birth year & later to register and tryout for the 2011-12 Southern AAA Ringette Team. Open tryouts are May 14-15.

Southern AAA ringette team's Head Coach is Courtney Schell, NRL Cambridge Turbos player and Head Coach this year of the 2010-11 Cambridge U16AA team.

The southern AAA ringette team will be one of six AAA ringette teams that will compete at the next Ontario Winter Games in Collingwood March 8-11, 2012.

Good luck to all!
...continue reading >

Cleared for Full Practice - 3 weeks After Concussion Diagnosis

It's 20 days tomorrow since my daughter's concussion diagnosis, and 4 weeks since she sustained her concussion. She's cleared to return to full practice.

Since ringette season is over, it won't be ringette practice but track & field/jumps practice. Ringette practice won't happen for a couple of weeks, and then it's pre-tryout tuneups, in preparation for ringette AA tryouts at the end of April.

Last week, she had 3 stationery bike tests. First at 50%, second at 100%. On Thursday, she spent 3 hour working on a school project with a friend, had a '3' headache after and pressure in her head. So re-did the 100% bike test and she was fine. Today, she exercised 2x on the elliptical at home (she's really bored) and had no symptoms at all. She was soooo happy not to have any symptoms (and we are too!)

Having had a baseline ImPACT test, she re-did that also. Since this was her second time doing the ImPACT test, some of her her post-concussion ImPACT scores were higher than her baseline. [Looks like test familiarity affects scores! Perhaps when a baseline is taken, it should be taken 2x if it's the very first time the player is taking the test.]

Saturday's Globe and Mail carried an article that Females More Susceptible to Concussion, Studies Suggest by Anne McIlroy, which says "...Evidence is mounting that women, who are more likely than men to suffer a sports-related concussion, also have more severe symptoms in the days immediately following the injury." University of Montreal's Dave Ellemberg is quoted as saying “The current clinical assessment protocols and return to play guidelines, which are almost entirely based on research with male athletes, are not only inappropriate for women but likely place them at a greater risk of suffering multiple concussions and experiencing long-term consequences of their injuries...”

We're glad we've erred on the side of caution, and look forward to hearing of further research.
...continue reading >

Bike Test Tomorrow, We Hope

Tomorrow is Day 14 after my daughter's concussion diagnosis. Reassessment by the doctor and then hopefully, the bike test, which is Step 1 on the Return to Play protocol.

She went to school for 2 half days and then 2 full days (no test, quizzes or homework). Dead tired after each day, but her headache never went above a "1".

Unfortunate to read about 14-year-old Andrejs Linde in the Globe and Mail, who's suffering from post-concussion and going through a much slower recovery (see The lessons of one young hockey player’s pain and denial)

Certainly do hope that he will do well in his re-assessment. However, he's been listening to music and left the house to watch one of his team's games while being told to 'do nothing'. Perhaps his doctors were as insistent as Drs Cruz and Amin at Pivot Sport Medicine. They made it very clear that 'do nothing' meant shutting down your brain as much as possible, preventing your neurons from firing at all and keeping your blood pressure low.

One of my daughter's team mates received a concussion in December. During the time she was told to rest, she went to school and came to the rink and sat with the team in their change room during pre-game. It is VERY LOUD in the change-room before a game, from music and players getting psyched up! She hasn't play ringette since. Her slow return to play influenced my daughter to follow the doctor's instructions diligently. We're very proud of her.

Fingers crossed (again) !

...continue reading >

Day 7 after Concussion Diagnosis - Back to Half-Day School

After 6 days of complete rest, my daughter had a '1' level headache and head pressure on the SCAT rating but was cleared to return to half day school for 2 days. After 2 half-days, if she's at the same level of symptoms and no worse, she can return for two full days. Until the end of the week, no homework, tests, assignments or heavy note-taking. The doctor just wants her to 'be present' and experience a noisier environment than home.

After the first half day, she's exhausted, has a '1' headache, and went to bed at 8:30 pm. For her, this is almost two hours earlier than bedtime on a normal school night.

The school was very understanding about deferring school work. I suppose that's because concussion diagnoses are becoming all too often. [Yesterday came news that Pittsburgh Penguin's Sidney Crosby's sister, Taylor Crosby, also has a concussion].

Next Monday, she'll attempt the 1st step of return to play, the stationery bike.

Fingers crossed!

...continue reading >

Concussion? Full Stop

Attending March Break Ringette Camp now appears unlikely. Our ringette player has a concussion after AA provincials this past weekend.

The doctor has prescribed 7 days of complete and total rest -- no school, reading, doodling, background music, texting, TV, going for a walk. If sunny in the house, wear sunglasses.

In hunting around for resources, trying to understand what comes after rest, the best resource I've found is Identification and Management of Children with Sport-related Concussion by the Healthy Active Living Committee of the Canadian Paediatric Society.

This website also has the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT).

Click on images below for larger view.


Concussion is a hot topic these days, with Sidney Crosby having been out of play since January 5 and an article about Bob Probert's degenerative brain disease in today's Globe and Mail.

Crossing our fingers that recovery will be faster, without permanent impact.

...continue reading >