This week’s best of MomsTeam.com, a health and safety website for youth sports:

* Among the reasons for her athletic success, four-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero said, were that she learned to overcome obstacles placed in her path, such as being cut from a boy’s hockey team; meet challenges, such as when she began attending boarding school when she was 14; and appreciate the need to make sacrifices, like her parents made in order for her to play hockey at the highest level.

* History of a prior concussion, playing collision sports, being a female and playing women’s soccer are the strongest known risk factors for concussion, while symptoms such as persistent headaches, migraines, amnesia and multiple symptoms appear to be associated with prolonged recovery, according to a new study.

* A freak snowstorm before Super Bowl XLV gave one group of 11-year-old boys the thrill of a lifetime, not to mention a great story, one Dallas mom recounts.

* To improve an athlete’s speed (the ability to run from point A to point B), leading strength and conditioning trainer Mike Boyle says the simple answer is to run fast (wind sprints). To improve agility (the ability to run quickly from point A to point B and back to point A), Boyle says athletes need to build leg muscle strength.

* Computerized neurocognitive testing for concussions has become increasingly popular in recent years and has been shown to have value in making the all-important return to play decision. MomsTeam Senior Health and Safety Editor Lindsay Barton explains.

– MomsTeam.com and NFLEvolution.com