Wound Management and Prevention of Infection by Craig S. Miller DMD, MS, Lisa Combs R.N. and Dr. Richard Greenberg (Infectious Disease Specialist at UK) -- Skin cuts, abrasions and/or wounds are common in contact sports. Players, coaches, referees, managers, parents/guardians should be vigilant in protecting players from infection, as many bacteria replicate fast once they enter a wound.  In fact, they can replicate several times over a few hours.  Accordingly, whenever a player, coach, referee, or manager becomes aware of an abrasion in the skin due to player-player contact or player-field contact (turf, goal, benches, etc.)

Sports Participation in Children: When to Begin? by Russell Ellis, M.D. --- Two seemingly contradictory trends have been occurring in the United States over the past couple of decades. On the one hand, our children are becoming more sedentary compared to children of past generations, which helps to explain a corresponding rise in the prevalence of childhood obesity. On the other hand, childhood participation in organized sports is at an all-time high and the participants, especially those training to become �elite� athletes, are getting younger and younger.