Sunday, July 31st, starting at 9pm at the Vieux Fort Multipurpose court.

Two divisions: 19U and Open
Registration fee: 5EC per team. Maximum 2 players per team
Competition style: Double elimination
Prizes: Medals for 1st and 2nd Place teams and a 5L bottle of Nutts Home Brew for the champs

Fun day, with barbeque available for all players and contributing fans.

BRING YOUR GAME AND YOUR SWAGGER

You could imagine my excitement last Friday, when after a period of
much patience and restraint, I was finally able to receive from
treasury the much needed funds for the improvement of the basketball
equipment in Vieux Fort (this check has been attached for your
temporary enjoyment).

My elation that day floated me to the bank where I promptly deposited
this check on my credit card account, hoop dreams wafting through my
thoughts… Until today, 6 days later and after much research, I am
shocked to realize that the funds are grossly deficient.

The initial proposal, which is still available at our website
(http://www.vieuxforthoops.org/main.asp?sID=4&page=new_basketball_supports),
was submitted two years ago. Now the cost of these items have
increased collectively by more than $1000USD.

So what do we do now folks, since local businesses have been
complaining about economic problems and another grant from the
government may take at least half a year to receive approval.

What do we do now?

I had dreams of assisting our neighbouring courts in Black Bay and
Laborie with replacing basketball rims, and had already began talks
with concerned persons from each of these communities. But sadly, this
idea will have to be scrapped. We just don't have the money for it.

I have alerted the Director of Sports on this issue and hope to get an
audience with him soon.

So for now text, phone, email me your ideas. We have to find a way to
work this out.

–
REMY*AVRIL*JR.**

By Gale Bernhardt 
For Active.com

In a past column on Cerebral Fitness, I wrote about using mental fitness to improve your training and racing. Additionally, in many of my past columns on the training process, I have included at least one tip on employing positive mental skills to boost performance.

However, while I prefer a positive outlook, sometimes it helps to drive home a point by having a negative example. I have worked with a few athletes that did not believe their thought process was getting in the way of their success. In addition to athletes, I have worked with a few people on lifestyle and health skills that felt the same.

The common thread in both groups of people is that they were convinced they were heading toward health problems or poor race performances, in spite of data showing no evidence of any negative health or performance issues. 

In the case of the lifestyle folks, they were convinced that they were doomed to negative health issues, even early death, due to family history even though medical tests did not support this belief.

In the case of the athletes, they were convinced that they were going to have a poor race performance. There was no proof that a bad effort was looming, rather it was each athlete's belief system that a good performance was not possible due to a self-designed list of training criteria. Some of these criteria included a specific amount of training volume, training pace for a certain amount of time, and a specific body weight, among others.

Though other athletes had been successful with less training volume, lower volumes of speed work and higher body weights, these athletes were not convinced it would work for them.

Because they were struggling with the concept of the Pygmalion effect—otherwise known as self-fulfilling prophecy—I decided to share a story with them. In all cases, the passage had a positive effect on the negative thinkers.

The following excerpt is taken directly from Empires of the Mind by Denis Waitley:

The Voodoo of Pessimism

I share with many audiences a true story about a man named Nick. Nick, a strong, healthy railroad yardman, got along well with his fellow workers and was consistently reliable on the job. However, he was a deep pessimist who invariably feared the worst. One summer day, the train crews were told they could quit an hour early in honor of the foreman's birthday. When the other workmen left the site, Nick, the notorious worrier, was accidentally locked in an isolated refrigerated boxcar that was in the yard for repairs.

He panicked. He shouted and banged until his voice went hoarse and his fists were bloody. The noises, if anyone heard them, were assumed to be coming from a nearby playground or from other trains backing in and out of the yard.

Nick reckoned the temperature in the car was zero degrees. "If I can't get out," he thought, "I'll freeze to death." He found a cardboard box. Shivering uncontrollably, he scrawled a message to his wife and family. "So cold, body's getting numb. If I could just go to sleep. These may be my last words."

The next morning, the crew slid open the boxcar's heavy doors and found Nick's body. An autopsy revealed that every physical sign indicated he had frozen to death. But the car's refrigeration unit was inoperative. The temperature inside was about 61 degrees and there was plenty of fresh air. Nick's fear has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Power of the Mind

Nick, the man in the story, had so forcefully imagined doom that his body exhibited the physical signs of freezing to death. If the mind can talk the body into dying, it is easy to see how negative self-talk can produce poor health, a bad training session, or a bad race. The power of mind is an extraordinarily strong force.

How often do you say any of the following things to yourself?

• My mother or father had a health problem (bad knees, died early of a heart attack, had cancer, etc.), I must have it too.
• I'm not training enough hours to do well at my race.
• I am not fast enough to do an X-minute per mile pace.
• I don't have the body shape it takes to be a fast athlete.
• My genetics are bad; I'll never get on the podium.
• The others in my age group are much (better, faster, stronger, leaner, richer, have better job situations…etc.) than I am. They will always beat me.
• Other negative self-talk?

Mentally Focus on the Positive, Create a Positive Reality

In addition to the story above, here are a few tips to help you move to a more positive mental state. These tips are focused on athletics; but, they can be used in many other aspects of your life.

1. Speak well of your health. Don't dwell on aches and pains or they will reward you by visiting more often or staying longer. If you have an injury that needs attention, seek a medical professional that can help you take steps to heal and eliminate the problem. Others have healed and you can too.

2. Visualize and speak well of your athletic abilities. I'm not telling you to be a bragger and spend all your conversations talking about how great you are; but do accept compliments on your abilities. Don't dwell on training sessions or races that didn't meet your expectations. Everyone has a bad day now and again.

3. Look for incremental successes and believe you can improve. Beginners often see huge gains in fitness and performance. As you gain more experience as an athlete, the gains are smaller and often more difficult to attain. Sometimes, small improvements in race performance come from improving other aspects of your life (Job, relationships, sleep habits, nutrition, etc.).  Look for small ways to improve yourself each day.

4. Set your own standards of success. Yes, if you plan to make the Olympic team or get a podium spot, you will need to compare yourself to other athletes. However, look at where you are right now and begin brainstorming what steps are necessary to achieve your dreams. Can you take one small step today?

5. Write it down. First write down all the things that are positive about your health, you as an athlete and you as a human. Next write down your goals. The third step is to begin working backwards from the goal to present day. Jot down the steps you will need to take to achieve your goals. Notice how Nos. 3, 4 and 5 are synergistic.

6. Spend time with friends that are optimistic and seek personal improvement. Spending time with negative people that always look for what is "wrong" with any situation can pull you down. In turn, don't pull other people down with negative comments. Seek out people that are optimistic and looking for self-improvement.

7. "Live to great success, not to avoid failure." This concept comes from the Denis Waitley book mentioned earlier. I've used this same concept many times in the past and it is to put dreams and goals in positive terms. Avoid putting goals in negative terms. For example, "I want to complete my race with a time goal between XX:00 to YY:00" is better than, "I don't want to be last." Aiming for a goal time is better than avoiding last place. 

As you make your way through today, this week and this month, take note of how many times you begin to visualize failure or poor performances. How often do you think poorly of your abilities or training performance? How often do you imagine the boxcar is freezing, when it is not?

Do not allow mental self-destruction. Recognize damaging self-talk and begin to take steps to change those thoughts and your actions into positive images geared toward achieving dreams and goals.

For a look at how human willpower is attributed some incredible tales of survival, read the blog: The Pygmalion Effect – Are You a Believer?

Gale Bernhardt was the 2003 USA Triathlon Pan American Games and 2004 USA Triathlon Olympic coach for both the men's and women's teams. Her first Olympic experience was as a personal cycling coach at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Thousands of athletes have had successful training and racing experiences using Gale's pre-built, easy-to-follow training plans.

A popular malady among athletes, especially basketball players, is Patella tendinitis (Jumpers Knee).  Below is an article on the subject by Kurt E. Jacobson, M.D. of Columbus, Georgia

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Patellar tendinitis, also known as jumper's knee, is a relatively common inflammatory condition that causes pain in the anterior (front) aspect of the knee. The extensor mechanism (Fig.), which includes the quadriceps muscle and patellar tendon, connects the patella (kneecap) to the femur (thighbone) and the tibia (shin). Patellar tendinitis begins as inflammation of the patellar tendon where it attaches to the patella. It can also progress by tearing or degeneration of the tendon.

Jumper's knee is an overuse injury that results from repetitive overloading of the extensor mechanism of the knee. Microtears to the patellar tendon often exceed the body's ability to heal the area unless the aggravating activity is stopped for a period of time. Jumper's knee occurs in many types of athletes but is most common in sports such as basketball, volleyball, or soccer, which require explosive jumping movements. Eccentric loading, which is contraction of the muscle while it is lengthening, occurs when landing from a jump or decelerating. In fact, knee loads up to 7 times body weight occur in a soccer player during kicking and between 9 and 11 times body weight occur in volleyball players during landing. These eccentric loads are thought to be the primary cause of overload in jumper's knee.

Patients with jumper's knee have pain in the area of the patellar tendon, usually near its attachment to the patella. It typically starts as a dull ache but can gradually increase over a period of time. Initially, the soreness is usually felt following a game or workout, but as the condition worsens, one may feel stiffness, grinding, and swelling in the knee. From a diagnostic standpoint, the symptoms can be divided into 4 stages. In stage 1, pain occurs only after activity. The condition does not seem to bother the person before or during the activity. In stage 2, pain is present at the beginning of an activity, seems to dissipate after warming up for a while, and then reappears after the activity. In this stage, the athlete's play is not usually affected. In stage 3, pain occurs during and after activity, affecting performance. In stage 4, the tendon ruptures, causing a chronic weakness of the tendon.

Most patients with jumper's knee, especially those with stage 1 and 2 symptoms, can be treated effectively with nonoperative measures. As with any tendinitis, resting the injured area until the symptoms have subsided is very important. The RICE regimen (rest, ice, compression, elevation) can also help alleviate soreness. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, and ice massage after activity can help control the swelling and inflammation. Strengthening the quadriceps helps to balance the forces across the patella and take pressure off the patellar tendon. Also, hamstring stretching is extremely important to take pressure off the anterior structures of the knee. Once the inflammation is controlled, the patient with mild to moderate jumper's knee can begin an exercise program focusing on eccentric strengthening exercises. Neoprene sleeves or braces similar to the ones worn by tennis players with tennis elbow can help decrease or disperse the forces on the patella.

The outcome of treatment in patients with jumper's knee is usually very good, especially for those patients in stage 1 and 2, Sometimes in stage 3, the nature of the injury and how it will respond to nonoperative treatment are a little more unpredictable. Even so, few of these patients go on to require surgical intervention. Surgery is reserved for patients who experience debilitating pain for 6 to 12 months despite close adherence to their doctor's instructions. Patients with stage 4 disease who have suffered a complete tendon rupture also need surgery. The overall goal of surgery is to remove the damaged tissue from the tendon and stimulate blood flow to promote healing.

Maximizing quadriceps and hamstring muscle strength and flexibility is the best way to prevent knee injury. Preseason conditioning should concentrate on a gradual increase in repetitive eccentric quadriceps contraction so the tendon can begin to withstand repetitive loading. These measures will help to prevent this inflammatory process. As always, the best treatment is prevention. …………………………………………………………..

See the article at Hugston Health: http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_13_4_4.htm