Kaden's Gold Glove

Kaden's site came across my desk today, and I wanted to share. One of my all-time favorite movies is Field of Dreams. In particular, the scene where he plays catch with his dad at the end gets me choked up every time. As much as I love football, there is something special about grabbing a glove and throwing a ball around with a parent. Kaden's site has the simple goal of wanting to share that special moment with as many children as possible by recycling old gloves, getting them to folks who might not otherwise have the opportunity. So whether you choose to play catch with a football or some other ball, I thought this a wonderful idea from a group just down the road in Carmel, definitely worth sharing.

The Danger of Opioids

As a program, we try to pick areas of focus outside of football to try to help our players prepare for the larger game of life. Often, this includes learning even for us coaches. One of our focus topics is Opioid Abuse. I wanted to share a few sobering statistics that were recently passed across my desk...

• 2016 Accidental Deaths:

1. Overdose – 63,600
2. Guns – 38,000
3. Car Accidents – 37,400

• More people have died from opioid overdose than in the Vietnam War.
• The US is 5% of the world’s population but uses 80% of the world’s opioids.
• Indiana ranks 16th in opioid deaths.
• Heroin use has doubled in 18–25 year-olds in the last decade.
• 80% of heroin users started with prescription opioids by the age of 15.
• Using any substance by age 15 increases the addiction rate 5x due to brain development.

Clearly, you can see why this is an area where we really see value in educating ourselves and our players. For more information, visit: www.overdoselifeline.org.