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Elmore Park Youth Sports Packer Tracker www.elmoreparkpackers.com

WINTER: 2007 CELEBRATING OUR 40th YEAR OF SERVICE TO THE YOUTH TRACK CHEER AND FOOTBALL COMMUNITY PHONE:647-6942 FIRST TRACK PRACTICE WILL BE HELD AT ELMORE PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL Mark your calendars. EPPs first Track & Field practice is scheduled for Monday March 5th at Elmore Park Middle and will run from 5.30p - 7p. The first few weeks of practice are scheduled to be held Mon,Tues,Thurs at Elmore Park Middle and at Bolton High School from 1p - 3p on Saturdays Elmore Park Middle is located at 6330 Althorne in Bartlett. For directions you can visit us a the Elmore Park Homepage and click the Football Locations Links. Directions to Bolton High School can be found on the Track & Field Meet Locations link at the Elmore Park homepage. FCA Impact Play: "Time to Rebuild" FCA Impact Play: "Time to Rebuild" READY: "They said to me, 'The survivors in the province, who returned from the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem's wall has been broken down, and its gate s have been burned down.'" -Nehemiah 1:3 SET: Every once in awhile you read a positive story about coaching. Maybe about a coach who goes back home to his alma mater to rebuild a program that has been struggling or destroyed completely. These coaches not only have a passion for their hometown schools, but also a plan to put the schools back on the map. It may take time to rebuild, but it will also take something else. . . prayer, and a lot of it. Nehemiah was a man of similar focus. What do we know about him? If you read his story in the Old Testament, you'll find that he was not a contractor, but a cupbearer. He worked for the king of his day who put out a decree that no one would rebuild Jerusalem's walls. He had much at stake, but he knew he had to act. And act he did. The town of his family was in ruins, and he knew he had to do something about it. Nehemiah had a passion (his people in Jerusalem), a plan (to rebuild The wall) and a prayer, many of which are recorded in the Bible. Nehemiah understood one thing well: rebuilding anything in life required much prayer and a plan to get the job done. We know by reading his book that it took only 52 days to rebuild the wall, but it was not an easy task, as you will see later. Maybe you have a wall (sin/struggle) in your life that needs to be rebuilt or restored. Do you have a passion to see it changed? Do you have a plan to make it happen? Are you committed to prayer--even prayer for 52 straight days or beyond in order to see it through? The pastor at our church has challenged his congregation to do just that. He is asking us to get on our knees and pray that God would move and rebuild the "walls" in our lives that seems so big. And I want to challenge you to do the same. Start reading through Nehemiah, and over the next several weeks I will be writing a series of devotions on the faithfulness of this great prayer warrior and leader,Nehemiah. GO: 1. Are you passionate about anything enough to take action and see it change? 2. When your passion becomes a plan of action, where does prayer fit in? 3. How can you learn from Nehemiah's plan, passion and prayer to change or help rebuild a wall in your life that has crumbled? WORKOUT: Nehemiah 1 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jere Johnson is a FCA staff member from Chicago area. If you would like to contact Jere, please e-mail him at jerejohnson@fca.org. Now it's your Turn. Write your own FCA Devotional. . . Go to www.fca.org and click the "Submit your own FCA devo!" link on the right side. To receive additional FCA E-Newsletters, or to unsubscribe, use FCA's E-Newsletter Subscription Management Service at http://www.fca.org/subscriptions Fellowship of Christian Athletes World Headquarters 8701 Leeds Road Kansas City, MO 64129 (816) 921-0909 fca@fca.org http://www.fca.org HAVING A SAFE TRACK & FIELD SEASON SYS now requires anyone being treated by a physician to get a medical release. The SYS Medical Release Form can now be found at the Forms Link at the Elmore Park Homepage. This requirement is specific to anyone being treated for asthama. Any other participants who are being treated for ADD or ADHD and are being prescribed the current line of medications used to treat this condition may want to consider seeking a physical and medical release. The article below covers the upcoming Black Box warning that is soon to be required on many of the ADD and ADHD medications currently in use. Advisers Want Black-Box Warning for ADHD Drugs Donna Young GAITHERSBURG, MD, 10 February 2006 — In an unexpected move that appeared to stun drug regulators, a federal advisory panel yesterday voted 8–7 to add a black-box warning to the labeling of stimulants used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to alert prescribers about cardiovascular risks associated with use of the drugs. The Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee also voted in favor of requiring makers of ADHD stimulants to develop medication guides, which pharmacists would distribute when dispensing the medications, to inform patients about cardiovascular risks in ADHD medication use. Panelists decided to exclude from the vote the ADHD medication atomoxetine, or Strattera, which is a selective norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitor made by Eli Lilly and Co. The advisers were most concerned about the known effects of sympathomimetic drugs on blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and structural cardiac abnormalities. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received reports of more than 20 deaths associated with use of ADHD drugs, reviewers said. But, said Kate Gelperin, a medical officer in FDA's Office of Drug Safety, cardiovascular signals in ADHD adverse events reported to the agency were "not conclusive." About 1.5 million adults and 2.5 million children take ADHD medications, FDA safety reviewers told the panel. Use of ADHD medications is on the rise, especially in adults, said Andrew Mosholder, a medical officer in FDA's Office of Drug Safety. There was a 90 percent increase in adult use of the drugs over the past three years, he told the advisers. About 10 percent of adult users of ADHD medications are over age 50, Mosholder added. ADHD medication use in children peaks around ages 9–12, and then drops off, he said. Methylphenidate products, marketed by Novartis under the brand name Ritalin, are the most frequently prescribed ADHD medications, Mosholder said. "Over the last decade or so, we've seen an enormous rise in the use of these drugs now to the point that 10 percent of 10 year olds are getting treated" for ADHD, said Steven Nissen, director of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio—the panelist who proposed the black-box vote. "I have grave concerns about the direction we are going in with the mass use of these drugs and the potential for harm," he said. Regulators had not planned a vote at yesterday's advisory committee meeting, which was convened to discuss approaches for studying ADHD drugs and cardiovascular risks. "We specifically sought this committee's advice on how to design a study that's going to help us better define cardiovascular risks," said Tom Laughren, director of FDA's Division of Psychiatry Products. "We desperately need to try and figure out a way to systematically confirm whether or not there is a risk. I don't think we're there yet for a black box." ADHD medications approved for marketing in the United States already include warnings in product labeling that caution prescribers about treating patients with underlying medical conditions that might be compromised by increases in blood pressure or heart rate, he said. Amphetamine salts, marketed by Shire as Adderall, and the company's extended-release form of the drug, Adderall XR, include warnings about reports of sudden death in children with structural cardiac abnormalities, Laughren said. The labeling warns that amphetamine salts should not be used in children or adults with structural cardiac abnormalities, he added. "We've more recently asked all the other stimulant manufacturers to add similar language to the warning section of their labels so that all of the stimulant drugs, at least, will have consistent language," Laughren said. But, he cautioned, "this is not a contraindication....It's an alert to clinicians to pay attention to both the effects that slight raises in blood pressure or heart rate might have on patients with underlying disorders, and to be cautious. We feel that this language is appropriate given our current level of knowledge about these drugs." Laughren told the drug safety panel that FDA reserves the black box—the agency's strongest warning—for "risk that is very clearly established as causal." "I don't think we are there yet with this cardiovascular risk," he said. But Curt D. Furberg, professor of medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., argued that the warnings and precautions section of drug labeling has little impact on prescribing. "In order to get a message across to physicians and patients, you need to step it up a bit," he said. "I agree that we don't have final information on harm. But sometimes what's missing in the labeling is a statement that these drugs may have a harmful effect, there's incomplete information, and advise caution. I think it would be reasonable to elevate the warning to the public and add a black box to it." Henri R. Manasse Jr., executive vice president for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, said he voted in favor of the black-box warning because "I think this is a serious issue related to the practice behavior both for pharmacists and physicians, and I think the only way we are going to get the attention of the medical community and the pharmacy community in sharing with patients what the potential risks are with these medications is through the black-box warning." Nissen expressed similar sentiments. "The only way you get people to pay attention is when you put [warnings] in a black box," he said. "It just doesn't seem to get there if you don't do something pretty dramatic. I want to cause people's hands to tremble a little bit before they write that script. And the only way I know to do that is to get their attention with a black box. That's the reality." Laughren reminded the panel of drug safety experts that the agency's Pediatric Advisory Committee, whom regulators, at a press conference held late yesterday, described as more familiar with ADHD pediatric patients, plans to meet on March 22 to discuss the medications. The Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee plans to meet on March 23 to discuss modafinil, which is under review for marketing approval to treat ADHD. "So this is not the only opportunity for an outside group to give the FDA advice about what to do with labeling," Laughren said. But panelist Arthur Levin, director of the Center for Medical Consumers, charged that "for us to sit around and talk about this, to have three advisory committee meetings discussing the signals and not to make at the very least a very strong warning to people that there is uncertainty here about the safety of these drugs and that they need to be aware of that pending clarification, I just think is inappropriate, unethical behavior." TRACK SIGN-UPS ELMORE PARK PACKER FAMILY, IT’S TIME! REMEMBER THE GOLDEN GIRLS – FOUR RECORDS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2006. REMEMBER, THE ELMORE PARK PACKERS BREAKING MORE RECORDS THAN ANY OTHER TRACK CLUB IN 2006. WE ARE BACK AND WE ARE READY! IF YOU WERE HERE LAST YEAR, COME BACK AND EXPERIENCE MORE SUCCESS. IF YOU MISSED IT, HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO SIGN UP. THIS YEAR WE ARE HOLDING TRACK AND CHEER SIGN-UPS: MILANO’S PIZZA 7625 HIGHWAY 64 - BARTLETT, TN TIME: 11 AM – 2 PM DATES: FEBRUARY 17TH, FEBRUARY 24TH, AND MARCH 3RD For more information, visit our website at: WWW.ELMOREPARKPACKERS.COM SYS Fee $30.00 *If you have more than one child that participates Booster Club Fee $25.00 in the track program, the Booster Club fee for any Trophy Fee $15.00 additional child will be waived. Uniform Fee $25.00 (ex. - 1st child $95, 2nd child $70) $95.00 BRING THE FOLLOWING TO SIGN UPS: - Copy of the participants Birth Certificate to be filed with SYS (Only for new participants) - Recent photograph of your child. Parents bring your willingness to help our children be the best they can be. This would involve your dedication and help during practice and track meets. Look forward to seeing you soon. *Attention 2006 Football Players – If you were not able to make the end of year banquet, please come by track sign ups and get your trophy. Otherwise, it will not be available until football season COACH CAROL WELCH – TRACK DIRECTOR COACH TONY MILLER – AREA DIRECTOR TRACK SHOES: GREAT DISCOUNTS FOR EPP PARTICIPANATS Don't forget. SYS has a 10% discount for all participants ordering their shoes from Fleet Feet. Just let them know your an SYS participant and 10% of your purchase price will be marked off. DON'T FORGET....NO METAL SPIKED OR PLASTIC SCREW IN SPIKED SHOES ARE ALLOWED WHEN RUNNING TRACK FOR SYS!!!!