FEBRUARY 2006

Noel Steps Up Big For Midwood Hornets
By Richard Kagan
Recently, Midwood High School in Brooklyn defeated South Shore High School 62-60 in a Public School Athletic League basketball game that put the Hornets into the Publick School Athletic League (PSAL) playoffs. READ ARTICLE

Raising Awareness to Reduce
Bullying in Summer Camps
By Joel D. Haber, Ph.D.
Think back to your elementary/grade school years, and ask yourself if you can recall the top three favorite memories of your childhood. READ ARTICLE

JANUARY 2006

Helping with Homesickness
What is it?
Homesickness is the natural result of separating from home and loved ones. In a recent study, nearly 96 percent of all boys and girls who were spending two weeks or more at overnight camp reported some homesickness on at least one day. READ ARTICLE

Sports in Schools:
A Senior Guards Helps Make Francis Lewis HS a Winner
By Richard Kagan
A basketball team is not just one star player. It is a collection of players who come together for a common purpose. READ ARTICLE

APRIL 2005

Summer Programs for Children at College of
New Rochelle
The Summer Reading Program is one-on-one and is conducted by graduate students in literacy education, under the supervision of the Graduate School faculty. This program offers assessment and tutoring of reading and writing problems. READ MORE

FEBRUARY 2005

Stop Dreaming & Start Doing!
California Extreme Sports Camp is all about big fun. From dawn till dusk, the beautiful summer days are packed with action, adventure, and lots of new friends. But the activities are what really set this camp apart. READ MORE

AUGUST 2004

Olympic Games Return to Origins–Athens
by Tom Kertes

It’s safe to say that the upcoming Athens Olympic Games is going to be unlike any other.

Viva la difference: in a wonderfully appropriate celebration, the Games return to their original birthplace, with some of the events actually held in the exact locations where they were first conducted 2700 years ago. (The original Games were part of a religious festival and began in 776 B.C.) Naturally, the Olympics should have returned to Greece in 1996—the 100th birthday of the Modern Games—but “Athens was simply not ready financially or otherwise to hold an Olympic Games at that time,” according to Olympic historian, and Rice University Professor Clark Haptonstall. MORE

MAY 2004

Gearing Up For Camp! Preparation is the Key to a Successful Summer at Camp

Millions of children will get their first taste of independence at a resident or day camp this summer. More than 12,000 camps across the country are preparing to give children the experience of a lifetime and parents should be doing the same. Preparation is the key to a successful summer at camp. Not only does a child need to be prepared, parents also need to prepare themselves. MORE

APRIL 2004

Alaska's Youth Olympics Revives Heritage

Special events are a way to celebrate the unique traditions of Alaska's Native people. The Alaska Native Youth Olympics are held each April in Anchorage. More than 40 teams and a total of 350 students from around the state join together to compete in events such as The Stick Pull, The Wrist Carry, The Kneel Jump and the Seal Hop. READ MORE

FEBRUARY 2003

How Basketball Players Spend Their Money
by Tom Kertes

NBA players are vastly different from other wealthy people. They’re taller than most surgeons, they’ve got a better jump shot than most security traders, and their move off the dribble can usually beat even the best divorce lawyer. And, unlike other high earners, professional basketball players, who pull down an average of $2.3 million, make big money for only a very short time. (The average length of an NBA career is 3.7 years.) So, if they’re smart, they’ll spend their money differently, too. READ MORE

JANUARY 2003

St. John’s Marcus Hatten Sets Sights on NBA
by Tom Kertes

Is there such a thing as a “quiet leader”? On the basketball floor there is: “I don’t know what happened out there,” St. John’s All-American candidate guard Marcus Hatten whispered softly after the Red Storm dropped an unexpected decision last week to Manhattan at Madison Square Garden. READ MORE

DECEMBER 2002

Kurt Thomas Aims to Teach Students Financial Literacy by Tom Kertes

Incredible, but true: sometimes spending time with a lawyer can be a good thing.

“One day, about five years ago, I was just sitting around talking to my attorney kind of randomly, about all kinds of things,” Knicks center-forward Kurt Thomas said. “Then, suddenly, he stopped me in my tracks by asking... READ MORE

NOVEMBER 2002

“Kindness Prevails” in Competitive Skateboarding
by Tom Kertes

Baseball? Football? Basketball? Soccer? No (and no, and no, and no.) Not one of these enormously popular American and/or world sports could claim to be the number one participatory athletic activity for young people under 25 in the United States last year. Shockingly, the list was topped by skateboarding (and its close relative, in-line skating) with an indeed impressive number of 26 million. READ MORE

SEPTEMBER 2002

Wendy Hilliard Brings Gymnastics to Harlem
by Tom Kertes

The first African-American to make the U.S. Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team–she later became its captain and coach–Wendy Hilliard also heads her own foundation, a successful non-profit group devoted to bringing gymnastics to children in disadvantaged communities. She’s been an active and important athlete-representative on the United States Olympic Committee. READ MORE

AUGUST 2002

Interns Immersed In Coral Research at The New York Aquarium by Tom Kertes

“The Osborne Laboratories of Marine Sciences is a very special place,” said Ariana Chan, a junior at Midwood High School and one of students who have the opportunity to work as interns at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium at Coney Island this summer. “You learn so much. And that’s not all: I believe that the coral research program I participate in is accomplishing something very important.” READ MORE

JULY 2002

Building Fields, Building Character
by Tom Kertes

The crumbling athletic fields of New York City Public High Schools haven’t had public funding in 25 years.

Shocking, isn’t it? And this is only made more shocking by the fact that New York City has the highest percentage of students not participating in physical activity; that the City has the highest percentage of child obesity and other health problems of any major American city; and that it has the highest percentage of school absenteeism, while athletics has always been known to serve as the great equalizer when it comes to school attendance. READ MORE

JUNE 2002

NOT NO MORE!!:
St. John's Women's Basketball
by Tom Kertes

“Not no More!” is sure to become the battle-cry for the St. John's Women's Basketball team this season. Though grammatically incorrect, it's certainly right on target in expressing the emotions of a ready-to-fight-back team coming off of an atrocious 3-24 season.

Then again, while Hungarians may not be big on grammar, emotions have always been their strong point. So the Red Storm should be an emotional juggernaut with no less than three Hungarian girls on next season's roster. READ MORE

MAY 2002

My Teacher is My Hero by Tom Kertes

He may defy gravity on his “can’t miss jump-shot” but, unlike the overwhelming majority of sports multi-millionaires, Allan Houston also has his feet planted firmly on the ground. The Knicks guard admits that he’s only gotten his priorities properly ordered for one simple reason: both of his parents are teachers. And, so is his wife. READ MORE

APRIL 2002

Andre, a Giant Walk-On at St. Johnís
by Tom Kertes
If you look up the definition of a "college basketball walk-on" in Websterís, youíll see the expression "practice fodder." Walk-ons are hoop-enthused regular college students who, without a basketball scholarship, try out for the team for the mere honor of practicing withñand getting beaten up byñthe "real players. READ MORE

If They Can Pitch, Revamped Mets Should Be a Hit
by Tom Kertes
Tom Hanksí aging rummy of a manager said in the wonderful A League of Their Own, "Thereís no crying in baseball". And thatís a good thing, tooñor Mets fans everywhere would be shedding tons of tears over the teamís shoddy spring training performance. READ MORE

From the City to the Slopes:
Columbiaís Ski/Snowboard Team Dedicates Its Time To the Outdoors
by Aleksah Visco
It is 6:30AM on Sunday morning. With my skis strapped over my shoulder and my pack and ski boots hanging off my back, I hike across 116th and Broadway through Columbiaís campus to Amsterdam Ave. where I meet the other members of the team and board a charter bus. READ MORE

MARCH 2002

Murphy Center at Asphalt Green Reopens READ MORE

Renee Brown, VP, Women’s Basketball Assn READ MORE

Vonetta Flowers: Bobsledder READ MORE

Tiffeny Milbrett: Soccer Star READ MORE

Chris Witty: Gold Olympic Speed Skater READ MORE

FEBRUARY 2002

Ice Hockey School:
The New York Rangers are Cheering for Children
by Tom Kertes
The New York Rangers may be struggling a bit as a hockey team, but their commitment to the community in general, and education in particular, is well-thought-out and organized. READ MORE

A Very Special Olympics
by Tom Kertes
Throughout the 1960s Eunice Kennedy Shriver—President Kennedy’s sister and the wife of Sargent Shriver, the creator of the Peace Corps—maintained a day camp for children with special needs on her farm in Maryland. The activities that took place at that camp were the original impetus for the special Olympics, an event that leaves no one who watches it unmoved. READ MORE

JANUARY 2002

Marc-us it Down: Camby is the Principal of the Future
by Tom Kertes READ MORE

Playing Is Universal
What to Look for in a Quality Sports Program
by M.C. Cohen
Jeff took two deep rhythmic breaths. He was ready to shoot his foul shot. He picked up the ball and placed his hand over his head. He listened for the teacher to ring the bell on the basket six feet above the ground and with a perfectly cocked wrist he released the ball.
READ MORE

December 2001

Knicks Zone In On Education
by Tom Kertes
For this one, you had to be there.
Kurt Thomas, the New York Knicks 6-9 enforcer–a player famous for his take-no-prisoner tactics, a tough guy whose mere glare strikes panic in the hearts of most NBA opponents–lay down on the carpet. He did that so that a bunch of considerably closer-to-the-floor 10 and 11 year-olds could play with the hair on his head. READ MORE

November 2001

A Cyclone Over Brooklyn
by Tom Kertes
A scant few months back, when the Cyclones were not even born yet, everyone who’s anyone in (and outside of) baseball was already predicting a sorrowfully brief lifespan for Brooklyn’s novice baseball team. “Minor league baseball is nothing,” the theory went. “Especially after what the Dodgers did–leaving Brooklyn high and dry 44 years ago–Brooklyn deserves a major league team.” READ MORE

October 2001

To Play Or Not To Play, That Was The Question
by Tom Kertes
After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, all three active sports leagues took swift action, canceling their games. Their actions, at first glance, were clearly the only thing to do. READ MORE

September 2001

Croquet: A Gentle Lawn Game
by Tom Kertes
“There are only three resorts in the entire United States right now that teach croquet,” said Jerry Stark, who teaches this unique sport at the Meadowood Resort in California’s Napa Valley. “It’s a great sport but it has never achieved widespread popularity till this day.” READ MORE

Leading into The Future through Hoops
by Tom Kertes
The Hoops and Leaders Basketball Camp (HLBC), a unique program that’s only in its first season, brings together 32 boys from all over New York City—of age 14-16—and 32 professional men to get to know each other and to, hopefully, establish a mentoring relationship long into the future. READ MORE

August 2001

Gymnastics at Chelsea Piers Raises
The BarChelsea Piers Gymnastics is New York State’s largest, best-equipped and best-staffed gymnastics training center. READ MORE

Knight Commission Has No Chance
by TOM KERTES & M.C. COHEN
If you are, like many critics of college sports, sick of student-“athletes” rarely, if ever, attending class, you will be riled up about the Knight Commission’s recommendations for cleaning up college sports.
READ MORE

July 2001

Leaving School for the NBA
by M.C. Cohen
Will this year’s NBA talent extravaganza be the Taj McDavid/Korleone Young draft, or the Kevin Garnett/Kobe Bryant draft? If you’re not sure, stay in school. READ MORE

June 2001

Title IX and America’s Schools
by Sybil Maimin
There is good news and bad news regarding the status of women’s sports in schools since passage of Title IX, the portion of the 1972 Education Amendments that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds. READ MORE

Waterproofing Kids at Asphalt Green
by M.C. Cohen
Led by the charismatic, triple gold-medal Olympic swimming champion, Rowdy Gaines, and the entertaining MC-ing of Bill Evans, an ABC News meteorologist, the Sixth Annual Big Swim was a “splashing” success. READ MORE

May 2001

Playing Catch and Beyond
by M.C. Cohen
Betsy, a bright seven-year old had been diagnosed with a learning disability by her school. Her disability not only affects her as a student, but also on the playground, as students who have trouble with reading and other academic subjects can also be clumsy. READ MORE

April 2001

Ruben Boumtje Boumtje: Big East Scholar-Athlete
of the Year
by M.C. Cohen
After a great regular season, Georgetown was not supposed to lose in the first round of the Big East Tournament. But a tough 58-40 loss to Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden abruptly ended their quest for the title. READ MORE