Monday, April 23, 2018
Alabama Sets New Legislation for Youth Sports
In this article, you will read about how new legislation has passed in the state of Alabama. This law will now require youth coaches in the state of Alabama to take injury prevention and response training courses before they can coach teams. This law will be enacted this summer. With the significantly large increase of youth injuries in the country, what are your thoughts on this article? What measures have some other states used to help with this problem? How will this affect the medical professionals that work with these teams or individuals?
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This new law is great for coaches to be more aware and prepared for any situation and handle it with care. Whether it be heat exhaustion, or cold weather, or a child that has a concussion to even a heart defect they have some form of training. If players at a young age are taught proper technique then coaches should be educated in case of traumatic injury before EMTs arrive if the situation ever got that serious. Coaches being more cautious with young kids if they say "something hurts" on them to examine them or keep them out of play to reduce risk of serious injury. College players are treated the same way if they say "something hurts" they get that specific body part looked at to ensure stability and for safety reasons. A representative Carol Sente of Illinois has proposed that to savekids from concussions to deny any contact football until the age of 12. It is a growing number of youth injuries and it is difficult for kids to have perfect tackling technique and keeping their heads out of tackling can save many injuries and concussion form occurring if this law is passed. Another delegate in Baltimore proposed that all school personal students, parents, and coaches be educated on signs and symptoms of concussions and head injuries. All these preventative measures are great for our youth in America to ensure their brains are not damaged at all especially at such a young age where they are still fragile bodies in comparison to college or even high school bodied athletes.
ReplyDeleteI think this new act called the “Coach Safety Act” is a great idea that all states should follow. This course that youth coaches will be required to take includes emergency preparedness, head trauma and concussion injuries, practicing in weather conditions, and proper physical conditioning. This course is important to not only help with injury prevention, but help those who are injured during a sport to prevent further injury. Athletes who are taught proper technique for the game, lifting, and equipment usage at a young able are more like to carry that proper technique on through the rest of their life and less likely to become injured. There is no way to completely stop sports injuries from happening, but we need to do what we can to help prevent them especially in young children and I believe that this new law will be able to help do that. Something that really stuck out to me in this article is when they discussed how when a player says that something hurts, the coaches first response is usually “you’ll be okay” instead of getting the player checked out to stop an injury early. This stood out to me because that had been my whole life growing up. At one point I had a stress fracture in my leg for over a year and all my coaches kept saying “it’s just shin splints, you’ll be fine.” Later to find out that it wasn’t just shin splints and honestly I was not okay.
ReplyDeleteThis article is discussing how a new bill can help decrease the amount of injuries on youth sports teams. This is called the coach safety act and coaches will now how to go through training for injury prevention and response. This act is specifically designed for players that are fourteen years old or younger. This article suggests that this act going into effect is a very smart move, and I agree because this could potentially decrease the amount of injuries in youth. This article suggests that concussions are the most common injury, but they often result in surgery, so if this bill decreases that then I think that it is a great idea. Other states have tried to higher the tackling age in football to address this problem. They are also trying to be more cautious when dealing with all tackling sports. This training makes the coaches more aware of warning signs for these injuries and how to deal with them, but that does not make them medical personnel. Which has a lot to do with injury prevention. This article also talks about the pitch count that we read about in another article which is very important to the topic of injury prevention. However, as stated previously knowing the mechanisms of these injuries and how prevention can occur by a little insight is so important when talking about injuries in youth.
ReplyDeleteIt actually made me really happy reading this article knowing that states are taking serious actions about our youth’s care. I can personally remember myself or friends at little league who would say that something hurt and our parents would just rub it and say you’re okay, and of course most of the time we were. But one time I had personally fractured a growth plate and had kept playing through the game because my coach said I was and it wasn’t until after the game and I saw my parents and cried that the issue was taken into hand. Of course most people don’t know the extent of your own injury because they are not you or know how you are feeling but now with this new law coaches will not only learn of injuries but how children react to them and when they are physically, actually hurting. Safety should always be a number one priority and now with this law, the hope for less injuries in our youth will happen. Other states are also slowly emerging into this type of law taking in care up to a certain age to help children prevent from major injuries. In the medical profession they get way to many kids that come with injuries that could have been prevented or less invasive but now with this new law they will hopefully get less concussions coming in and hopefully only have to do quick check-ups with their players for smaller injuries that aren’t that invasive and still allow them to play.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the goal of this new legislation is a huge step forward for improving the safety of sports for all ages. Education for coaches, especially those who volunteer and have little prior athletic experience, is extremely important. With mandatory training coaches should be able to detect and possibly prevent more injuries such as concussions and refer their athlete to an athletic professional before it increases in severity. Concussions are growing in frequency and lead to many health risks even after the symptoms subside making them a very dangerous injury if left untreated. Some states have placed restrictions on the age that contact sports are allowed to be played, for example not allowing football in elementary and middle school aged children to decrease risk of injury. Also I think that it is wise for coaches to be taught the correct steps that would need to be taken in cases of emergency. In recent years at a school in my area a student athlete collapsed and unfortunately passed away as a result of a heart condition. The coaches were not aware of the steps to take after his collapse and their lack of prior education on emergency scenarios prevented them from taking actions such as the use of a defibrillator.
I believe that this new legislation in Alabama is a huge step forward in injury prevention, and how to properly deal with them. In this article it talks about how injury are becoming more and more common in younger ages, and that is because the competitiveness has continued to increase in younger ages, because parents want their kids to be the best as early as they can, and the kids want this to. So since the competition continues to increase that means more injuries are bound to happen because they are taking the sport more serious and it is being played better at a younger age, but their body might not necessarily be ready for it. It explained how tommy john surgery is becoming more common in young pitchers, which isn't good because this is a serious surgery, but it happens because kids are being overused and trying to throw to hard, and many coaches will tell a kid it will be okay if complaining that something hurts, but with this new legislation they can't do that, they have to check them out which could save a kid from surgery, and long term effects. This is also good because youth teams aren't going to have an athletic trainer like high school, college, and professional teams, so before this a kid would have to go see a doctor and if they have a concussion it isn't good to wait to see a doctor it's better to see right then and there after they got hit, so if a coach knows how to do this the kid could be a lot safer knowing then, and that goes for any injury if a coach can tell the signs of an injury and how to prevent it from worsening, they can help out many kids, and many medical bills.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think this is a great thing to start enacting across all states. At first there will be some pushback from the old coaches that went through their whole lives doing it the old way, but once they see the benefits of changing to a safer method that will keep these children healthier for longer and not cause future problems down the road because they continually threw wrong and threw for 130 pitches in a baseball game every single game they will be thankful that it got changed. In my reading other states have taken a similar approach to the pitch count and having coaches be more prepared especially when it comes to concussions and heat related injuries and just keeping athletes safe in general. I know in Ohio from personal experience in youth-level soccer referees have to watch for any intentional heading of the ball and if that happens play is stopped and it becomes the other teams ball as a way to try and deter youth athletes from hurting their heads before they’re fully developed. This will help medical professionals in the future because coaches will notice the beginning of injuries sooner and be able to notify staff and get the athlete healthy again and get them back in the game.
ReplyDeleteI think overall this new legislation in Alabama is a big step forward in preventing injury, and improving safety of athletes. This article talks a lot about how injuries in athletes are becoming more and more common now a days. Injuries are at an uprise right now due to competitiveness and because parents want their kids to be the best. Since sports are becoming more popular and competitive is rising, it also increases the injury aspect of the sport. Kids are becoming seriously injured from sports, which can have lasting effects on them for the rest of their life. With this new legislation coaches have to check kids out when they are hurting or hurt already. This is also a good idea because youth teams most likely do not have trainers or parents who know anything about sports injuries, so if a coach knows the proper way to handle injury and detect signs and symptoms in there own athletes than may injuries can be prevented. This is a big thing that can help medical professionals in the future because coaches will be able to detect injuries or signs and symptoms prior to the injury occurring. Overall this article was very interesting and educational. If coaches can help decrease the risk of injuries in athletes, don't you think it is important that they take the steps to help prevent injuries in youth.
ReplyDeleteI think this legislation is a great idea, injury prevention is best prevented by having the knowledge of how to access and evaluate injuries. Also, it will make it much more easing on the parents knowing that their children’s coaches have a better idea on how to prevent serious injuries from happening. Injuries are nothing to take lightly, especially if they happen in a young person with their body still growing. A coach being able to prevent injuries with the injury risk higher nowadays is always a win in my book and Alabama did a great job at stepping up and enforcing this legislation. In Illinois they are trying to up the age for tackle football, which I think is a good idea but if the coaches still do not teach proper tackling techniques then it will not will any of the injury problems. In Maryland, they are trying to prevent a “physical sport” to being offered at middle school age and I do not agree with that because as long as children are educated properly how to hit, few injuries will happen in the sport. I think the implementation of pitch counts is a great idea for middle school and high school baseball, because often pitchers are overused and have arm problems at a young age.
ReplyDeleteGetting hurt is part of being a kid, especially growing up as an athlete. Bumps, bruises, and scrapes are all part of the game, but we should not be seeing as many serious injuries such as concussions or ligament issues. One big thing that stuck out to me was how many pitchers are needing Tommy John surgery at such a young age, and the fact that parents and coaches believe that getting surgery would strengthen their child. In Alabama, the kids are able to play baseball year round, so that means more games are being played, thus more stress on pitchers’ arms. Coaches for younger teams are typically parents who may or may not know a lot about the sport, what types of injuries are associated with it, and how to prevent these injuries. It is important to keep people educated on the risks associated with athletics and the effects of injuries. It is also important to implement prevention tactics, which is exactly what this bill is doing. Medical professionals that work with teams are typically athletic trainers and team physicians who aren't available until high school or college levels. This could positively affect their work because there shouldn't be as many pre-existing conditions or past injuries that could predispose the athletes to more serious issues. Protecting our youth athletes could make for healthier, stronger, more competitive athletes once they hit high school.
ReplyDeleteThe legislation that was passed in Alabama is a thing that should be enacted in all states. I believe that all coaches should at least have the prevention and response training to be able to prevent the athletes on the field from getting an injury and also know how to respond to an athletes that has injured themselves. Youth injuries have become very common within the last few years because they are not taught how to prevent their injuries and they don’t have a coach to react to the injury either. Other states have put something like this into act like the coaches having to take training but not as intensive as this is. Youth athletes are able to be injured very easily but they are not able to teach themselves how to deal with injuries and how to prevent them. This allow the coach to be able to deal with the injury until a medical professional is able to respond to the call and this would be very effective if there is no athletic trainer on site. Coaches that are able to deal with injuries would change the whole aspect of only athletic trainers and EMS could deal with the injured athlete. The athlete will have a better healing rate because of how fast the coach can actually act on the scene. In conclusion, this legislation is a great step towards something that will help keep the athletes of tomorrow healthy and able to play their sport throughout their life.
ReplyDeleteI think that HB9 or the “Coach Safety Act” is a great idea! I think that unfortunately a lot of the times coaches make decisions that they think are best for their players, but actually might put their players at risk. With new bill, they will be required by law to take a course that covers at least EAPs, weather acclimatization and environmental injuries, how to use conditioning/training equipment properly, and sudden death within sports. This will greatly help decrease injuries and risk of injuries for young athletes. For example, if a player smashes heads with another player, the coach might want them to just get back up and keep going, while someone who has been through a basic emergency medicine course will know that it would be best to call the player over and check them for a concussion before allowing them to keep playing. I don’t believe that this stems from heartlessness, I believe it comes from ignorance. Maybe they don’t understand what or how serious concussions are. In Maryland, delegate Terri Hill created a bill that requires school personnel, coaches, students and parents to be educated on concussions and head injuries. This is just one way that other states are trying to help this problem. I think that this will make the medical professionals who work with the teams’ jobs easier. It should help reduce push-back from coaches and parents when ATs decide to pull players out of a game, or keep them from certain activities.
ReplyDeleteInjuries in young athletes are occurring a lot, and it may not be because of overuse or age. These injuries may be because of proper technique not be taught and maintained throughout a practice. The article talks about a bill that was passed by the Alabama Legislature in 2018. This bill requires youth sport coaches to undergo injury prevention and response training each year. In my opinion this is a great bill that was passed. A lot of times coaches for youth sports are just parents that were athletes when they were younger or may have never been athletes. With this being the case, they don’t really know what to look for and how to teach the proper form to prevent injury. The course taken by the coaches will include information about emergency preparedness, planning, rehearsal for traumatic injuries and many other injury related topics. This bill is important because there are a lot of young athletes getting injuries that could have been prevented by being taught the proper form. The article also says that other states have also tried different approaches to decrease the amount of injuries happening in youth sports. I think this bill should be passed in every state to help decrease injuries in youth sports, but also help coaches to know what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very interesting to know that the State of Alabama is taking a law into effect for the younger generations with the prevention of injuries. It’s a good thing to have coaches and parents and even the young athletes to be educated about the different injuries that can occur within the different sports that they are exposed to. Each and every injury is different and can be caused by different factors so being able to know each and every injury can help decrease the chances of these injuries to require. Another key factor of injuries are overuse of ligaments which can be decreased by doing strengthening programs for the younger generations so that when they get older it will allow them to prevent themselves from getting injured. Also I think by having this law it will allow parents to realize that there’s not better ligament then the athletes own ligament. Surgery is only to fix the problem and to make to better but it will never be as good as the original. Another topic that stood out in the article would be the pitch count which is another important topic for all generations not just the younger generations.
ReplyDeleteRecently in the Alabama legislature during the regular 2018 season, a bill was passed to require coaches to complete and injury prevention and response training every year that they are a coach. In my personal opinion, I think that this is one of the best things that the state could mandate for the coaches who are in care of such a large population of children with all different backgrounds, demographics and health histories that may include a variety of different health and medical complications that may be new or totally foreign to a coach who has never had the personal training to do so. The minimum courses that have to be taken by them are emergency preparedness, planning, and rehearsal for traumatic injuries, concussions and head trauma, heat and extreme weather injuries, physical conditioning and training equipment, heart defects and abnormalities leading to sudden cardiac death. This is the minimum requirements. This is, in my opinion, a very important thing that all coaches no matter what sport it is, should go and be tested on the knowledge of. These could be lifesaving to a student that has a freak accident and no athletic trainer is nearby or another personal that is properly trained. I would love to see this being passed in all states all across the nation.
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