Prevention Progression
June 28, 2015
The starting point for concussion care is prevention; and when we talk about prevention of concussions we must include education, equipment and enforcement.
Education is a shared responsibility of all who conduct and coach athletic programs; and the vital information about prevention, recognition, after-care and recovery needs to reach every player, their parents and all coaches.
Equipment is mainly the responsibility of those who make the protective gear and of those who make the rules specifications for that gear, but there are important responsibilities at more local levels. For example, to make sure what schools purchase and provide to players meets rules requirements, gets reconditioned as needed and fits properly. In football, for example, the fit of the helmet is much more important than its price ... fit at the start of the season and checked throughout the season.
As with education and equipment, enforcement is also a shared responsibility. In football it includes local enforcement of the 2014 football practice rules that have reduced collision practices; and in contests it means contest officials’ enforcement of the strongest set of safety rules in the game’s history.
In all sports, officials are to err on the side of safety; and when they do, the MHSAA will have their backs. Local school administrators and coaches should too.
The Multi-Sport Difference
July 26, 2016
If there was ever a poster child for what it means to be a high school athlete, recent Williamston High School graduate Renee Sturm might be the person to feature. She has said and done exactly what we would hope.
In an era when increasing numbers of high school athletes are graduating midway through their senior year in order to get an early start with the college teams that have recruited them, Renee is a breath of fresh air.
After four years of volleyball and basketball at Williamston High School, Renee just hadn’t had enough of the high school sports experience. So she joined the school’s girls soccer team this past spring.
Now bound for Ferris State University where she is scheduled to play only basketball, Renee had this to say to the Lansing State Journal about why she decided to play soccer to conclude her high school sports career: “I wanted to do something different because playing different sports helps me grow ... I was just hoping to come in and play some.”
She didn’t seek to star, but to play ... to be a part of a different sport and team and group of teammates who would help her develop as an athlete and person.
The richest school sports experience is found in multi-sport participation, both starring and subbing, both losing and winning. That’s what best prepares young people for life.
I suspect this young lady is ready.