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BIG BAND, BIG BANG Jazz and swing traditions come alive with 17-piece orchestra.
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The Gazette BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
25 cents
Residents to get new neighbors and new art in condo building n
BRANDON ENG Walt Whitman
BY AGNES BLUM STAFF WRITER
JOEY SHAVATT Bowie
LEXI D’ORSANEO Bowie
LINDSEY JANOSKIE Paint Branch
NICOLE WARREN James H. Blake
In the search for a college athletic scholarship, parents have endless opportunities to spend money, including youth teams, camps run by college coaches, buying top equipment, and online recruiting sites that market athletes. The trend has led to children specializing in sports at earlier ages, which has led to more serious injuries, youth giving up free time to chase their athletic dreams, and in some cases burnout. Another trend is that many top athletes now are being forced to choose between their club and high school teams.
Elite athletes sacrifice to play prep sports Most college recruiting now takes place outside of high school competition n
BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER
Thomas S. Wootton High School tennis star Titas Bera went undefeated this spring, winning his third consecutive county singles championship and the state boys doubles title. Bera, a rising senior, hasn’t lost a singles match in three years of
See ELITE, Page A-10
$5B
Nationwide spending on youth sports each year.
$2B
Amount of athletic scholarships awarded by Division I and II schools each year.
Only 2 percent of youth athletes earn scholarships that average about $11,000 n
BY
Plans include 72 condos and an art incubator
Early start can lead to burnout
Online services change recruiting A-11
TRAVIS MEWHIRTER
C
STAFF WRITER
andy Thurman had a rough idea how much she was spending on her daughters’ athletic pursuits — between $11,000 to $14,000. She knew that a field hockey stick went for $150 to $400 and that letting her children play on the Futures team — field hockey’s version of the Amateur Athletic Union — would cost nearly $3,000. While it was happening, though, “I didn’t realize I was spending all that money on it,” said Thurman, the Montgomery Blair High School field hockey coach. She chuckles now, thinking about the expenses of youth sports — the lucrative industry it has become. Baltimore author Mark Hyman wrote a book on the topic, titled “The Most Expensive
30M
Children nationwide (18 to 5) who participate in youth sports each year.
3.5M
Children nationwide under 14 who receive medical treatment for a sports injury in a year.
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Doctors see more injuries
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See SCHOLARSHIPS, Page A-11
Students who receive either partial or full athletic scholarships.
See CONDO, Page A-8
New growler law a blessing for area lager lovers State measure boosts use of popular containers for takeout beer n
BY AGNES BLUM STAFF WRITER
Game in Town.” In it, he estimated that parents spend $5 billion a year on youth sports. He says that’s a low guess; it doesn’t include gas and other expenses parents pay just getting their children to practice. Thurman’s daughter, Taylor, could run up a bill of $5,000 to $7,000 a year just on field hockey. Just one event on her Futures team cost about $2,800. Add in swimming and track, and that’s another $3,000 to $4,000. That’s just one child, who competes at Oberlin College in Ohio, but is not on scholarship. “Few athletes get full rides,” Thurman said.
145K
Luxury condominiums and an art incubator are set to be built on Fairmont Avenue where a gas station once stood. The Montgomery County Planning Board approved plans for a new luxury condo building, which will include an “art incubator,” at 4990 Fairmont Ave. Chevy Chase-based developer, Starr Capital LLC, plans to build a 17-story, 72-unit building on the site where the former BP gas station once stood. The project, which consolidates three lots into one, is part of Woodmont Triangle. The building is only 1,500 feet to the Metro. The 138,052-square-foot building will also feature 7,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor and 101 parking spaces. Eleven of the condos have been set aside as moderately priced dwelling units. An additional 2,000 square feet of the ground floor will be dedicated as an “art incubator” -- new studio and exhibit space for artists in the visual arts, according to county documents. The art incubator will be managed by the Bethesda Urban Partnership. Last year, there was talk of creating an art incubator on the vacant Trillium lot at 8300 Wisconsin Ave., but those plans fell through.
70%
Children who drop out of youth sports by age 13. Reasons cited are adults, coaches and parents.
Montgomery County beer lovers have one more reason to crow: growlers. Thanks to the efforts of the husband and wife behind Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, local beer drinkers have one more venue from which to take home the latest craft brews in 64-ounce jugs known as growlers. Charleen and Tom Merkel spent the past year and a half working with state Sen. Brian Frosh and the Montgomery County Council to pass a law permitting some county stores to sell, fill and refill growlers of beer. It’s a state law that’s specific to Montgomery County. Retailers that hold either a class B beer and wine or a class D beer and wine license can sell growlers, according to the county. The refillable jugs, which can be taken off-premises, allow beer lovers access to fresh beer and brands that might not be available in bottles or cans. And they’re eco-friendly. “Growlers can be reused,” said Charleen
See BEER, Page A-8
SOURCES: MARK HYMAN, BALTIMORE-BASED AUTHOR OF ‘THE MOST EXPENSIVE GAME IN TOWN’; NCAA; CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION; SAFE KIDS (CHILDREN’S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER)
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Montgomery farms open for annual tour this weekend.
Bethesda man rises to among the best in the world at competitive stair climbing.
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