The protections of high school athletes have been ignored, despite the fact that youth sports is a multibillion dollar industry, surpassing even the National Football League. As a result, kids are dying.
The Louisville Courier-Journal of the USA Today Network did extensive reporting on this topic. They found that thousands of high school students are not protected by “gold-standard” policies. It’s frustrating that the cost of safety equipment is often used to justify not implementing safeguards.
The paper reported that policies and laws are not enforced and often ignored, despite the fact that many people have tried to introduce legislation to solve the problem at the state-level.
This is a short blurb taken from the package, entitled “Safer sidelines.”
Sudden deaths in high school athletics are not uncommon.
Every year, it happens in multiple places across the country. Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause for death among high school athletes. It occurs every three days in the school year.
It’s not just a Kentucky or Midwest problem. This is not just a problem of big cities or small towns in America. It’s not just about football.
Athletes collapsing or dying is a problem that affects the entire country. It happens repeatedly, but it rarely makes national news.
Fires and tornadoes are drills that schools should do because they may happen one day.
Seven students in the U.S. have died as a result of a tornado that hit a school.
In the past 10 years, there has not been a single death from an inferno at a school.
In the past 10 years, 200 high school students have died while playing sports.
This is a conservative estimate.
Golf has not been entirely spared by the high death rate associated with football and other sports that are cardio-intensive.
Tyler Erickson, a senior in Holmes County High School, Bonifay Florida, was practicing on the golf course for an upcoming tournament when he died. He was two days away from his 18th Birthday.
Tyler Erickson (17) A senior at Holmes County High School, Florida, was found dead on Monday while practicing for a upcoming golf event. His family said that he had been practicing at the golf course. Doctor believes he might have had a heart attack or blood clot and requested an autopsy pic.twitter.com/NmwxGgxKhy
Lisa Marie (@Lisamarie1577) 15 September 2022
The paper offers 10 important questions for parents of high school athletes. Amongst them:
- Who decides which sports/events are covered by a athletic trainer, and how?
- Who is the person to contact in an emergency situation on the field? What is the weight room like?
Heat is one of the most common dangers to high school golfers. In the series, one part highlights four causes of 90% of all deaths: heat, head, and heart.
These conditions are expanded to include: catastrophic brain injury (head), sudden heart arrest (heart), heat stroke with exertion (heat), and sickling with exertion (hemoglobin).
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Korey Stringer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
