“Four thrusts for four years.” That’s the phrase we’re using to keep us focused and, we hope, effective in addressing some of the most pressing health and safety issues of school sports. The four emphases are:

• Require more initial and ongoing sports safety training for more coaches.
• Implement heat and humidity management policies at all schools for all sports.
• Revise practice policies generally, but especially for early in the fall season.
• Modify game rules to reduce the frequency of the most dangerous play situations, and to reduce head trauma.

Each of these thrusts will be briefly addressed in my next four postings, and we will use the breadth and depth of our constituency to search for best practices and earn their approval throughout our rank and file. There will be many requests for the MHSAA to do other health and safety related things; but we believe if we keep the focus on these four thrusts for four years, we can do the most good most quickly for the most students

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