06/12/2026
Play is not a reward for finishing practice.
It's not something kids earn after the drill.
It's a right. Recognized today by the United Nations on International Day of Play.
As a sports medicine physician and a sports dad, I see what happens when we forget that. Kids who burn out before high school. Athletes who stopped loving the game years before they stopped playing it.
The 2026 theme is "Protect play, protect childhood."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Today, and every day, LET THEM PLAY.
ProtectChildhood LetKidsPlay AthleteHealth
06/11/2026
Today is International Day of Play. 🌍
The United Nations declared it. UNICEF champions it. And yet, millions of kids are missing out on it every day.
Not because they don't want to play.
Because we've replaced free play with schedules. Replaced recess with résumé-building. Replaced joy with pressure.
Play isn't just fun. It's how kids develop physically, emotionally, and socially. It's how they learn to lose, to lead, to get back up.
Protect play. Protect childhood.
That's not just the 2026 theme, it's the whole mission.
ChildDevelopment SportsMedicine ProtectPlay
06/09/2026
Your kid just got diagnosed with a stress fracture. The doctor said overuse. So now what?
Most of the time, they're right. Bone stress injuries are one of the most common things I see in young athletes, and most heal with rest and a smarter return to training.
But bone health has layers. And a simple blood draw can change the recovery plan and prevent the next one.
Swipe to see what the evidence says every athlete with a stress fracture should have checked, and when to dig deeper.
Source: Nye et al., Sports Health, 2026
06/08/2026
Alexander Zverev () won the French Open. And during the final, on one of the biggest stages in sports, the cameras showed him checking his blood sugar and injecting insulin at a changeover.
How is that even possible?
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune condition. His pancreas produces zero insulin. Without it, he cannot survive. Managing it during a 4-hour Grand Slam final, with adrenaline spiking blood sugar and intense rallies dropping it, requires constant calculation. Nothing is static.
And yet. Grand Slam champion.
What most people don’t know is that the right to do it on court wasn’t always guaranteed. In 2023, Roland-Garros told him to take his insulin in the bathroom. He pushed back publicly. The rule changed.
That’s part of what sports medicine physicians do. We don’t just treat injuries. We file for Therapeutic Use Exemptions. We work with governing bodies. We advocate for the conditions athletes need to compete safely.
A diagnosis is not a disqualification. Asthma. Type 1 Diabetes. A heart condition. The right medical team exists to make sure it doesn’t become the reason a kid stops playing.
That’s the job. That’s the long game.
