Youth Soccer

Everyone seems to be aware of the rise of concussions in major sports like American football and hockey, but many don’t realize that the risk of concussions has also started manifesting itself in other sports, including soccer. 

A recent youth soccer study published in the Journal of Pediatrics indicated that between 1990 and 2014, soccer-related emergency room visits have increased by 111%. Of those, more than 7% were concussions and 23% fractures.

We were all freaked out after hearing about people dressing up as clowns in their neighborhoods. Then, everyone’s worst nightmare got ten times worse after the news broke about clowns kidnapping children and bringing them into the woods. Halloween might be around the corner, but people are still strongly against clowns and the latest “creepy clown craze.” Let's hope that everyone avoids the clown costumes for this year's upcoming holiday…

Just a few days ago Celtic’s Karamoko Dembele was merely the club’s “other Dembele”. Even when he made his debut for the Hoops’ U-20s against Hearts last Wednesday - as a substitute in the 81st minute - he was still second fiddle to first-teamer Moussa Dembele, the recent scorer of a spectacular brace against Manchester City in Champions League play.

Last week, Moussa Dembele made headlines with his performance against Manchester City in the Champions League, but this week, it's Celtic’s 'other Dembele', 13-year-old Karamoko, in the spotlight. Though he could easily be mistaken for a ball boy with his shorts nearly covering his legs, the teenaged Karamoko Dembele replaced 16-year-old Jack Aitchison in the 81st minute of Celtic’s U-20 match with Hearts to make his Celtic debut at that age level.

The fact that soccer is a way of life in many if not all countries in the world is no mystery. 

In some places, families bet their savings and livelihoods on the skills of a young Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, hoping that their son will be the next big thing in the ever-changing environment that is the soccer world. 

Most of the time, these bets don’t pay off and many times, especially in countries where soccer is put ahead of school, they even backfire. Nevertheless, there are a few seeds that grow and eventually turn into amazing stories.