SPORTS MEDICINE GREGORY SMITH,. M.D. Braces are better than tape t is a pretty common practice for football play- ers to have their ankles taped before games. I think that the player is hop- ing to protect the ankle, but I also believe that taping is one of the many traditions within football. You know, you get strapped up before you head into battle. For a long time, many doc- tors, including myself, have encouraged schools to stop spending so much money on tape and encourage the play- ers who want or need some ankle protection to switch over to braces. They tend to work better and are much cheaper in the long run. A study by the sports medicine program at Wake Forest University studied 300 of their football players over an eight-year time span. The results of the study showed that in a brace a player was three times less likely to turn an ankle compared to a play- er who was taped. Also it was noted that braced players got back to play on average three days faster than their taped counterparts. During the period of the study, there were 115 ankle sprains in the taped group as compared to 43 in the braced group. Ankle sprains are consid- ered one of the most com- mon injuries in sports and account for approximately a fourth of all missed time from participation. Interest- ingly, when a player was braced, there was no differ- ence in injury rate whether he was wearing high-top or low-top tennis shoes. Taping has been shown in many studies in the past to be somewhat ineffective. It tends-to stretch' out after - about 15 minutes of play and no longer gives the support that it was intended to pro- vide. Some schools are getting the message and are no longer supplying tape to the players. If the player decides he wants to be taped, then he must supply it himself. Some schools have seen a reduc- tion in expenses by thou- ,sands of dollars by taking this approach. A pair of braces will run you about $40 at your local sporting goods store. Tennis shoes protect Hip fractures are a leading cause of mortality in the eld- erly population. Many studies have shown elderly patients who sustain a hip fracture are at dramatically increased risk of death within a year from the time of the injury. This would arise not just from complications that may arise from the surgery itself, but also because of changes that the patient may experience with regards to mobility and lifestyle. In a study recently pub- lished in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society,. over 1,000 elderly persons were followed over a two-year period and evaluated specifi- cally for their incidence of falls as associated with what type of footwear was being worn at the time of the fall. A total of 327 falls occurred during this time frame with most occurring inside the home. Different styles evaluated included athletic or tennis shoes, lace-up oxfords, flats, boots, heels, slippers and going barefoot. By far, athlet- ic shoes were found to have the lowest incidence of falls, offering some measure of protection. This is likely due to the large surface to ground contact area, higher coefficient of friction (less slippage) and wide sole creat- ing a more stable base. This column is written to discuss issues regarding sports, medicine and safety. Specific concerns should be discussed with your physician. Mail questions to Gregory Smith, M.D., Sports Medicine, 1250 S. 18th Street, Suite 204, Fer- nandina Beach, FL 32034. Call 261-8787 or visit www.gsmithmd.com. NASSAU SPORTS 14A Golovin returns to defend crown Defending champion Tatiana Golovin has confirmed she will return to defend her inaugural career singles title at the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships. Joining the reigning champion, six- time Grand Slam singles title winner, for- mer No. 1 in the world and 2002 Bausch & Lomb Championships titlist Venus Williams has entered the 29th annual tournament April 7-13 at Amelia Island Plantation. Golovin and Williams will be chal- lenged by all-star former tournament champion Lindsay Davenport in their pursuit of the 2008 trophy. "As we celebrate our 29th year, the Bausch & Lomb Championships has con- sistently delivered quality player fields. Having Lindsay and adding Golovin and Venus sets us up for another great draw. We are excited for April and pleased to have three past champions return to Amelia Island," said tournament director John Arrix. "With this outstanding trio of champions headlining the singles draw, the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships promises a star-studded field of tennis greats competing in one of the crowning events of women's tennis." Playing in her second career tourna- ment on green clay, Golovin wowed fans with her exceptional 2007 Bausch & Lomb Championships play and her career first singles title. Experiencing her best season to date, Golovin went on to capture a second career title at Portoroz. Adding to her two career-first titles, Golovin was a 2007 runner-up at Stuttgart and Zurich and a semifinalist at two additional events. This impressive season lead to a career-high of No. 13 in the world. Golovin's 2008 season began with a tough second-round loss at Sydney. At the Australian Open, Golovin again made her exit after the second round. Despite the loss, Golovin now sports a new career-high of No. 12 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. As one of the most successful players on the tour, Williams enters the 2008, Bausch & Lomb Championships having amassed 36 singles titles, including six Grand Slams (2000, '01, '05, '07 Wimble- don, 2000, '01 U.S. Open), an Olympic gold medal in both singles and doubles (2000), a winner of 10 doubles titles, including six Grand Slam titles and a win- ner of two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Williams claimed the No. 1 in the world ranking in 2002, an honor she held for 11 total weeks. At this year's Australian Open, Williams added a Grand Slam quarterfi- nal finish to her career record. She will make her seventh Bausch & Lomb Championships appearance this April, having won the tournament in 2002 by defeating Justine Henin in a three-set showdown. In both 2005 and 2006, she was a quarterfinalist, having lost in both rounds to the eventual tournament cham- pion. Tickets for the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships offer fans a variety of weeklong seating. General admission tickets are available for each session and offer premium or standard seating. A weekend series secures the same seat for the last four tournament sessions - Friday (day and night), Saturday and Sunday. Box seat tickets are the closest seats to the court and secure the same seat for the duration of the tournament. A limited number of two-seat, four-seat anrd six-seat boxes are still available. Amenities include premium parking at Amelia Island Plantation, invitations to the Box Seat Holder's Brunch April 12 and recognition in the tournament pro- gram. For information, call (800) 486-8366 or visit www.blchamps.com, where tickets can now be purchased online. ON THE WATER WITH TERRY LACOSS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008 NEWS-LEADER / FERNANDINA BEACH, FLORIDA BETH JONES/NEWS-LEADER Tatiana Golovin will return to Amelia Island to defend her singles title when the Bausch & Lomb Championships celebrates its 29th year April 7-13 at Amelia Island Plantation. Nelson gets job at West Nassau, replaces Hicken -^ .....;. . h ' SUBMITrED PHOTOS Lexi Sutton competes igthe !5-ypad butterfly for the First Coast Flyers in Orlando over th li weekend. Flyers swim min state championship The First Coast Flyers swim team traveled to Orlando for its first YMCA state championship swim meet Feb. 8-10. After training over the past few months, the team went to Orlando and had many pos- itive surprises. "Most of the team went lifetime best times in multiple events," Coach Mary Donn Bowman said. "Overall, the group of swimmers that traveled to Orlando took a good first step into their new adven- ture of year round swimming. The aspect that I was most proud of was the swimmers' team attitude. Everyone was very supportive of each other through- out out the weekend. I enjoyed the way the swimmers cheered for each other to support their teammates. This group of swimmers should be very proud, of themselves for the way they swam and for being good teammates." Lexi Sutton was the breakout swimmer of the team, Bowman said. "She made her mark in the state championships as she placed second in the 25 free and 25 back and respectfully placed fourth in the 25 fly, fifth in the 50 free and seventh in 50 back," Bowman said Three swimmers returned to compete in finals each night. Aly Kaywork placed 11th in the 50 freestyle and qualified for the Junior Olympics in two weeks. Amanda Stein placed 12th in the 200 breast and Dakota Lawrence was 15th in the 200 breast. Lawrence also competed in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle. Maisie Gooch achieved 100 percent personal best times and made "B" times in the 50 and 100 free, 50 and 100 back. Zoe Stein achieved her "BB" time in 50 free and "B" times in 200 free, 100 back, 50 and 100 breast and the 100 individual medley. Mary- Kate Kaywork made her "B" times in 50 and 100 free, 50 and 100 breast. Lindsey DeLille swam to Aly Kaywork, right, is all smiles after placing 11th in the 50 freestyle and 'qualifying for the Junior Olympics in two weeks. Above, Rachel Taylor competes in the butterfly. Left, Maisie Gooch swims the 100 backstroke. . .-- .. . Dakota Lawrence competes in the 200 breaststroke. new best times in her 50 and 100 free, 50 fly, 50 back and also made her "B" time in the 50 breast. The 10-and-under medley relay team of Gooch, DeLille, Stein and Kaywork placed eighth in the meet: "Katy Weaver and Rachel Taylor showed a tremendous all-around progress in their swimming with time improvements at the meet, where they both achieved 'B' times in the 50 free," Bowman said. "As we progress through the season, we will expect to continue to improve our performance in the pool. Further, I am very excited to see this group of swimmers continue to develop a positive attitude, grow as a team and become excellent teammates for each other." The Florida Junior Olympics are Feb. 21-24 and the USS Area 1 & 4 championship meet is in March. 04 ./~ ki. .:) . -". ..L.% :: ' DAN SHANKS Community Newspapers West Nassau's search for a head football coach ended with a .,, famine r .face.,The,,4trgv ,, ect-,, ed George Nelson, who was most recently the head coach at Yulee for the past two years. Before becoming Yulee's head coach, Nelson was West Nassau's offen- sive coordinator from 2003-5, work- ing with former Head Coach Chris Hicken. Although Nelson said he feels for Hicken, he said he's very happy to be back at West Nassau. "Chris is a really good friend of mine, and I feel bad for him," Nelson said. "It kind of took away some of the excitement of coming back. But I'm happy to be here. I'm really pleased with these kids. They're a great bunch of kids ... so I was excited about coming back." He added that he had already approached Hicken about return- ing to West Nassau as an assistant coach or a position coach. When the head coaching position opened up, he decided to apply for the job. Athletic Director Johnnie Green said he was excited to be bringing in a coach who already had ties to the school and the community. "Having Coach Nelson come back is a big plus for us," Green said. 'We know he has proven him- self, as far as coaching football. We know that when he was here, we went to the ... playoffs two years in a row. We know that he's gonna do a good job. We know that he's a hard worker, and we know that he's gonna do everything he can to get the program back to where we want it to be." Since he's already worked with most of the coaches on West Nassau's staff and has a familiari- ty with some of the players on the team, Nelson is expecting a smooth transition. "It's not like I'm coming in clue- less," Nelson said. "I do know a lot of the people and the kids and the administration. I've always felt like this was a great place to coach, and the community backing is great here." "It's a great transition," Green added. "All the coaches are very happy that we made this decision. We've had a lot of support from the coaches on staff, saying that they support what we have done with Coach Nelson. They feel com- fortable Working with him." Nelson has been coaching foot- ball since 1969 and has been a head coach for 28 of those years. Originally from Texas, where he has coached for most of his career, he spent one year at Providence High School in Jacksonville before coming to West Nassau. * During Nelson's first term at West Nassau, the team ran a vari- ety of offensive sets. While he wants to throw the ball more than he did at Yulee, the priority on offense will be getting first downs. "I'm pretty open to different types of offenses," Nelson said. "Basically, we'll try to control the ball, butwe will throw the ball quite a bit, a lot more than I did at Yulee. S idp'i e.thive qite c type for throwing the ball. Here, I know (senior) Robby (Hern) has a heck of an arm on him and I know Hick- li en put the ball in the air. We'll run ,, what fits our per- sonnel the most" After a 2-8 Season, Nelson Nelson resigned as Yu- lee's head coach in November. In a story that ran in the News- Leader, Nelson said that he left Yulee for personal reasons and felt like he needed some time away from football. He now says that he felt worn down because the team was moving in the wrong direc- tion. "The fact our potential, I think, is so great here, that keeps the adrenaline going," Nelson said. "I'm not worried about having a problem. I hate that that article was misleading, because I think the way I worded it, Icould've done a better job. It's a passion to me. It's something that if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it 100 percent. It wears you down when you're not making progress. I think that was kind of what I was trying to get across." He added that one of the main reasons for leaving was the fact that his coaching philosophy didn't really mesh well with the team he had. Green said that he's not wor- ried about Nelson getting burned out and gets the sense that the coach has been rejuvenated by the new opportunity. "I think he has a new birth, a new life being back at West Nassau," Green said. "He's coming back to a situation that he's very familiar with. He's coming back home in a sense, and we're excit- ed about that." Hicken was reportedly let go because the administration felt like the program had hit a plateau. Nelson is coming in with high expectations for next season, and believes the team can have a great deal of success immediately. "You want to set your goals high," Nelson said. "We want to be in the playoffs. I think with the kids we've got here, if we pull together as a unit, I think the potential is here to make a run at the playoffs. "I know that this place right here has some really great poten- tial. I've always admired the atmos- phere at the games here. The way the community backs the team reminds me of some of the places I've been back home. It makes me feel like I'm home." ...... ...... Ilk.