Published May 4, 2016

By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

Four Points Pop Warner Football and Cheer involves hundreds of young athletes and local families, and safety and concussion protocol is FPPW’s top priority.

“The coaches are all required… to go through a program called HEADS UP,” said Merchant Buchanan, director of marketing.

FPPW serves kids ages 5-11 and is a volunteer-led tackle football and cheer program. All coaches are volunteers, some parents of kids in the program and some who just love coaching football and cheer. Continue reading →

Published April 27, 2016

By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

A national conversation is currently taking place in the U.S. about concussions and their potential long- and short-term risks, especially for young athletes.

The risk of potential long-term harm to a child’s developing brain from injury is still largely unknown. There are many questions about concussions including: how many can a child safely sustain? Of what severity? And at what age?

The numbers show that Leander ISD has just over 6,000 eligible athletes, and concussion numbers for the current year are up considerably from last year. While in the 2014-15 school year LISD treated 185 concussions, as of the end of March 2016, LISD had treated 216 concussions.

According to the Center for Injury Research and Policy, for high school athletes in 2010, head injuries from soccer outnumbered basketball, baseball, wrestling and softball combined. Football also makes up a large number of cases.

In 2015, Texas Family Physicians evaluated approximately 105 concussions from the greater Austin area. These predominantly included football, volleyball, soccer and lacrosse.

“All sports have a risk of concussion,” said Dr. Martin Molina, a local, family physician at Texas Family Physicians, which has an office in Four Points. Continue reading →

Published April 20, 2016

By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

Austin loves football. A player since age five when he started in Pop Warner, Austin has developed a passion for the game and even falls asleep at night imagining his own made-up plays.

Now in middle school, Austin will tell you what he loves best about football. “Playing with your friends and being on a team. That feeling that you have when you’re just out there in the field with the spotlights on you. It’s just the greatest thing ever.” Continue reading →

By SCOTT W. COLEMAN, Four Points News

Adeline Carter of Vandegrift High School runs a leg of the Class 5A girls 1600-meter relay at the 2016 UIL State Track and Field Meet on Friday, May 13, 2016 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. Vandegrift’s team finished seventh with a time of 3:56.85.

Vandegrift’s contingent of track and field athletes represented the school at the UIL State Track and Field meet last weekend, and though thunderstorms caused a nearly six-hour delay on Saturday, Vandegrift’s athletes were able to finish their events on Friday without being impacted at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Leander ISD Superintendent Bret Champion accepted a $100,000 district-wide award at the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards on Friday in San Antonio.

The money goes into the district general fund and there are some ideas that will benefit the system as a whole that cannot be announced yet but that the district has been researching for years, said Veronica Sopher, spokesperson for LISD.

L-R Veronica Sopher, Leander ISD assistant superintendent of community and governmental relations, Trish Bode, LISD board member, Mark Koller, Pleasant Hill Elementary principal, Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia, LISD Educational Excellence Foundation executive director, Paul Johnson, Vista Ridge High School principal, Bret Champion, LISD superintendent, Pamela Waggoner, LISD board vice president, Aaron Johnson, board member, Dr. Tiffany Terrell-Spicer, Leander High School principal and Sue Williams, LISD parent volunteer.

Continue reading →