Sport-related injuries are on the rise, the courtrooms are being filled with lawsuits, and parents are ripping their children right out of sports.1 What can athletic administrators do to solve the epidemic of sports related injuries? Are there adequate trainers being provided on the secondary and collegiate level for athletes? Are professional sports organizations taking an initiative to improve health? Do we spend the money to upgrade our facilities so we can be the talk of the state or do we focus on safety for players? These are all questions that athletic administrator and school administrators face day in and day out.
In recent years school administrators and athletic departments have been spending millions of dollars to build these gargantuan venues all while leaving the athletic training department in the dust. Examples of these stadiums are Allen High School and McKinney ISD, which are both located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.2 Both of these schools have poured millions of dollars into their athletic facilities while failing to improve their athletic trainer program. How can we continue to ignore the fact that this is a growing problem in the United States? Athletic directors and school administrators need to start focusing on being a premiere athlete focused institution. I believe that in every “upgrade” of a venue there should be an upgrade in the athletic training staff and equipment. I also believe that players' safety should be the most important aspect of an athletic department. Without the athletes there would be no athletic department.
Secondary schools are struggling to provide an adequate number of athletic trainers in their programs. On average in the United States, only about 55 percent of secondary schools have a full time athletic trainer on staff. However, of those 55 percent not all trainers are actually certified through an accredited organization and in California there are no actual recognized athletic trainers.3 Do you believe these schools are dropping the ball on providing adequate health care or do you think the athletic departments are doing all they can?
In all, player’s safety should be the main focus of athletic departments, and money should be spent to solve these problems. I believe that secondary schools should be required to have athletic trainers as well as certain protocols to follow when an athlete is injured. Students' health and wellness depends on administrators to provide the best plan of action for prevention and recovery.
1Rebecca Turner (2016 April 1). Concussion in sport: Parents urged not to pull kids out over contact concerns. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-01/concussion-fears-junior-sport-should-not-spark-panic-researchers/7293676
2Marisa Gerber (2016 September 16). After Texas high school builds $60-million stadium, rival district plans one for nearly $70 million. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-stadium-arms-race-snap-story.html
3Daniel, P. (2017, February 6). Schools falling short in hiring full-time trainers. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/high-school-preps/sd-sp-preps-trainers-20170206-htmlstory.html
4Gillian Hotz Ph.D, Ashlee Quintero, BSc, Ray Crittenden, MSc, Lauren Baker, David Goldstein and Kester Nedd, DO (2014 March 7) A Countywide Program to Manage Concussions in High School Sports http://thesportjournal.org/article/tag/player-safety/
Good video. Interesting topic.
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