Out of town youth football tournaments are an excellent end of season treat for many youth football teams. Pop Warner, AYF and other organizations have regional and national title programs that are the goal of many youth football coaches in those leagues. When I played youth football, our team traveled to Las Vegas, Kansas City, Nashville and Atlanta to play in tournaments.

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There are tons of myths surrounding football speed training. But, we’ll focus on the top 3 myths that just never seem to die when it comes to how to get faster for football.

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Choose youth football helmets wisely. It goes without saying that picking out a helmet is a fairly vital part of anyone’s football experience. But using the wrong helmet could not only decrease a player’s protection, but put him/her in even more danger. Adhere to the following steps when picking out a guard for your child’s noggin.

Types and Brands
Make sure you distinguish the difference between youth helmets and adult helmets. If nothing else, you can always do this by observing the material from which the helmet is made. Youth helmets are generally made out of cheaper plastic, while adult helmets are made out of a harder, yet more flexible material known as Lexan Polycarbonate. Make sure you are buying from a reputable brand. Yes, this may cost you a few more bucks, but when protecting your child, you can never be too careful.

Size Matters
Make sure that the helmet fits your child. A helmet that is too tight can be very painful to wear for long periods of time. A helmet that is too loose can be downright dangerous. If your child’s head can move around in the helmet, there is a chance that certain kinds of contact can cause concussion, and a helmet that is even looser than that might fly off your child’s head during play.

The helmet fits correctly if its front rim is one inch above your child’s eyebrows. Use a caliper or a measuring tape to do the measurement, or ask an employee at the sporting goods store to give you a hand.

Chin Up
Now that you have the cranial area established, make sure the chin strap is fitted firmly into place, but not so tight that it’s cutting off circulation.

Air in There?
Some helmets come with an air system, which is a form of insular padding that returns to its original state of condition more quickly than straps or foams. Additionally, helmets with air systems are more durable and able to withstand repeated blows than those with other padding—not to mention their added comfort. If the helmet comes with an air system, adjust the helmet to fit the player’s head.

Weed out the Wiggles
Try moving the helmet. If it stays firmly in place, and comfortably fits the player, you’ve found the one.

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I was about to write a detailed blog using advanced statistics to illustrate why Belichick’s decision to go for it on 4th down tonight was absolutely the right decision. Then I realized that someone had already done it for me .

To sum it up. Belichick’s Patriots were up by six points and faced a 4th down and 2 at their own 28 yard line with just over 2:00 left in the game. Rather than punt, which just about every other coach in the league would have done (except maybe Sean Payton or Josh McDaniel), he decided to go for it.

Talking about what happened due to this decision is unimportant (and frankly painful for this Patriots fan) so I’ll focus on the decision itself. As I mentioned Brian Burke, at www.advancednflstats.com, has already done a great post on this but I’m going to sum it up here in layman’s terms and in a way that hopefully will make you realize how obvious this decision was.

Going for it on 4th and 2 at the 28 yard line is successful 60% of the time and if successful would effectively end the game. On average a punt from the 28 would net 38 yards. So a decision to punt would have to be based on an opinion that the extra 38 yards was more valuable than the opportunity to end the game 60% of the time.

Forget everything that Al Michaels and everyone is likely to say about this and think about that for a second. If you were in Belihick’s place would you rather have that 60% to end the game or that extra 38 yards in field position.

The advanced stats back up Belichick but I actually think this is a case where a seemingly counter intuitive decision is actually very straight forward. 38 yards in field position is not worth giving up a 60% opportunity to keep Peyton Manning on the sidelines.

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In 1996, eight-year old Eric Karlan developed a multi-million dollar idea while browsing through a sports catalog. He told his dad, Ken Karlan, how he could sell Minor League Baseball hats and jerseys in a way that sports fans could relate to. Today, Star Struck / ProTeam has become one of the largest catalog and internet retailers of licensed Major League and Minor League merchandise in the country. In addition to Star Struck / ProTeams own catalogs they also produce the Official Catalog for The Mets, Orioles, Pirates and Devil Rays. The catalogs contain a vast array of products ranging from core items such as caps and jerseys to a wide range of memorabilia and collectibles. In addition to the print catalogs, Star Struck / ProTeam also has a significant internet presence. They first ventured onto the World Wide Web in 1998 and have not looked back since. In September of 2005 Star Struck / ProTeam launched a new look with better functionality.

Star Struck’s goal is to provide their customers with the best quality and service available. Whether you order a product from the catalog or on the web, they always have the most competitive prices and top notch customer service.