It might be midget league football. It might be little league baseball. It might be the high school cheerleading squad. Whatever it is, your children probably feel as if it's the NFL, MLB, or the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. You, and the rest of your town, probably support your children just as fervently as if they were playing in those big-time sports.

Yes, we Americans love our sports.

They're enjoyable to play and exciting to watch. Players and spectators alike take pleasure in sports; however, sports are sometimes more than just fun and games. Sometimes sports are injuries waiting to happen. Many times sports injuries go beyond sprained ankles and broken bones to the more serious sports injuries such as concussions and paralysis.

That's why it's so important for your children to have good health insurance. Although sports are fun, any child playing any kind of sport is at risk for injury ? mild or major. If your daughter falls off the top of a cheerleading pyramid, or your son doesn't jump right up after being tackled on the field, the school and the on-site medical personnel, including local ambulances that are always present at school sporting events, are going to do everything they can to help. But once your child gets to the emergency room, who's going to pay the doctor bill? Your health insurance.

These days, many schools require all students wishing to participate in a school sport to provide evidence of health insurance. This means that you, Mom and Dad, get to fill out some paperwork or even drag out a copy of the insurance card. You don't want to deny your child the chance to participate in school sports, just as you don't want to get slammed with an outrageous doctor bill in the event of an accident.

You can't always be by their sides protecting them, but you can make sure your children have adequate health insurance.