Football practice and heat: A dangerous combination
Is it safe to hold sports practices in this heat? (AJC file)
UPDATE Wednesday at 11: School districts are responding to the heat concerns. Cobb, Cherokee, Henry and Decatur have ceased all outdoor practices from noon to 6.
UPDATE Wednesday at 3:30: The Georgia High School Association has issued a statement on the death of two Georgia players Tuesday from what is believed to be heat-related illnesses.
Every high school sports program in the state is probably discussing its summer practice routines now that heat stroke is being cited as a possible reason why two Georgia players died yesterday.
While former high school players contend that they used to practice in the sweltering summer heat, experts counter that temperatures today are higher, air quality is worse and sports are more competitive
According to the AJC:
A 16-year-old Fitzgerald High School defensive lineman died Tuesday morning following practice at a facility in northern Florida.
DJ Searcy, a rising junior, was found unresponsive in his cabin at O’Leno State Park in Columbia County, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. He was taken to a local hospital but resuscitation efforts failed. According to the National Weather Service, the heat index for Lake City, Fla., reached 109 degrees Tuesday.
Searcy’s death came the same day Locust Grove High School center Forest Jones, 16, died after suffering a heat stroke following practice last week.
After a teen football player died in Florida, the Miami Herald ran a story Monday about athletes’ deaths, quoting from the book “Preventing Sudden Death in Sport and Physical Activity.”
According to the Herald story:
Between 1982 and 2009, there were 756 deaths from all causes among high school and college athletes. The vast majority were high school athletes, many of them football players.The book highlights the deficiencies for keeping athletes safe during practices and competition, and offers extensive instruction on how to improve conditions. For example, only about half of all high schools have athletic trainers on staff, usually because of budgetary constraints, according to Douglas Casa, who edited the book, though many schools somehow find the money to pay several football coaches.
As high school football players head back to the fields this August, “that should scare … any parent in America,” Casa said. Casa’s organization, the Korey Stringer Institute, says only one state, New Jersey, follows guidelines for acclimating high school athletes after a summer off. The institute was named for the Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman who collapsed and died of heat stroke in 2001.
With heat illnesses accounting for such a large portion of deaths among high school athletes, no football field should be without a tub of water and bags of ice for emergency cooling this summer, Casa said. Casa, who nearly died of heat stroke while competing in a 1985 high school track championship, offers this broad guideline: “When something feels different, when something feels strange, when something feels out of the ordinary, back down on your intensity.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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241 comments Add your comment
Inman Park Boy
August 3rd, 2011
7:59 am
Some of this (not all) is a result of public schools starting classes in the first week of August. Starting schools earlier has pushed opening games earlier, thereby pushing summer practice earlier. I will say this again, then I’ll stop: The modern school year in Georgia has TOO MANY days off. Public schools now routinely have a Fall Break, a Winter (i.e. Christmas) Break, a Spring Break and at least ten days of teacher “in-service” not to mention multiple Federal political holidays that have created three day weekends peppered throughout January and February. We could easily start school on September 1 and be out by June 1 if we would only rethink this silliness.
John
August 3rd, 2011
8:02 am
Don’t these posters realize that these players practice all summer regardless of when school starts? Some teams call it conditioning, some call it “voluntary workouts” but it’s practice. In fact, the schools who are starting later are the ones who are practicing in the middle of the day. The teams at schools that already have started are the ones practicing early in the morning–which some doctors believe is the most dangerous time because the dew point and humidity are so high–and/or in the evening. An early start to school has nothing to do with it. Football season has always started at this time of year regardless of when the school year starts.
pw
August 3rd, 2011
8:03 am
I don’t care how much my child loves football, as his parent I am making the decision that he will not play if practice is in the heat of August. That is ridiculous. My child’s life is not worth “conditioning” from 7 am to 1 pm with a scrimmage at 4.
Sid
August 3rd, 2011
8:07 am
The start of school and the football season have nothing to do with each other, so quit trying to blame school starting in early August. When kids are younger they play peewee or little league seperate from their school. Why does a high school even have to field a team? Why can’t the kids continue to play in highly organized, competitive rec leagues seperate from anything from the school system? This way their schedule can start in September and run into January if needed.
Lee
August 3rd, 2011
8:10 am
I remember going through summer workouts back in the 1980’s in sweltering heat. We were given two water breaks per 3 hour practice session and two salt pills at the breaks. No one fell out, no one had a heat stroke or heat exhaustion. So were we tougher when we were kids? I thinks so. We didn’t set in the house 24/7 playing video games; we got out in the yards and ball fields and played ball. So I suppose I could make the arguement that back then we were conditioned to the outdoors and heat. Who knows? I don’t think the kids playing football today are a s physically or mentally tough as we were back in the 1980’s.
we lost our way
August 3rd, 2011
8:12 am
I want to extend my deep sympathy to the families of these two young men.I pray that you will find peace and healing during this time.To all bloggers,please remeber that two lives were cut short because of heat related accidents regradless of the reasons.Time will tell if these incidents could have been avoided.
Football Mom
August 3rd, 2011
8:19 am
I would ordinarily agree that practices should be held in the evening when the sun is going down, but here in GA with this record heat, at 10 pm it is still 80 degrees and 78 degrees by 6 am lately.
My son is at football camp right now and they have been practicing this week with full gear on early morning and late evening. I have warned him of the precautions and signs of exhaustion and heat stroke because the adults who should be protecting our kids are not.
Out of town
August 3rd, 2011
8:21 am
I am worried about the heat and other things…Yesterday and on Monday the Hart County High School kids were in football for over 4 hours..yesterday for 5 hours…how are they going to get any homework done..they get home at 8:30, eat, shower and they are toooo exhausted to do school work.
Tracey H
August 3rd, 2011
8:22 am
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS!!! These are our children for goodness sakes!! Call the schools and demand that practices be held before school…stop leaving everything up to schools to make decisions regarding our childrens lives. No one should have to bury a child because of something so stupid.
laura
August 3rd, 2011
8:22 am
I think if the parents just refused to let their kids practice in the heat, the team and school would follow suit. If half or even a 1/4 of the good players the coach wants won’t be there it will make a difference and those parents can protest. The parents need to make the change. I won’t let my son do football in this heat when he is older. If he is mad, tough. It’s my job as a parent.
Tom
August 3rd, 2011
8:24 am
The “physical” or “test” the kids receive prior to high school sports is a joke. However, the biggest problem is COACHING. For the most part, high school football coaches are idiots. They push kids way too hard. They don’t care about the kids. Some kids need pushing, but not to the point where someone dies. When death is a result of practice, the coach should be fired, arrested, and put on trial for his life.
Angie
August 3rd, 2011
8:30 am
We should be ashamed for starting school in August!! Not only is it dangerous for sports, but the school buses have no ac, and they are way too hot! Why can’t school start in September, like most schools up north?
Michael
August 3rd, 2011
8:30 am
All Hail High School Football! No matter how many bodies drop nothing will change unless the schools change it. Parents will just keep demanding to know why their kid is on the bench and the coach’s son is starting.
Philosopher
August 3rd, 2011
8:35 am
Is it Global Warming? Are you these kids’ doctor? Did you do the autopsies on them? Did you know these kids personally and can claim they were “out of shape”? Lord, I am sick of people rambling about that which they know nothing!!!
In shape, out of shape, what these kids are demanding of their bodies in this heat/humidity is deadly! No reasonable discussion can make acceptable the death of a child…and these are children… from football practice .
Nancy
August 3rd, 2011
8:35 am
I don’t understand why parents don’s say NO to this notion of practice in the heat. If the GHSA and schools won’t protect your boys–PLEASE do it yourself.
ATC
August 3rd, 2011
8:36 am
As a Certified Athletic Trainer, I have covered many football camps for over 20 years. I would like the
state to look into the way Greenville SC school system runs there programs. Each school has an
ATC. That medically trained individual monitors the heat and heat index with a special instrument. When the temp. gets to a certain degree, practice must be altered (no helmets etc), and when it goes to a certain degree. Practice must be STOPPED. This is signed on by all the coaches. Great system.
gtfanfrom1951
August 3rd, 2011
8:36 am
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
New King James Version (NKJV)
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,[a] nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
Brookwood mom this does offend the masses but it does not change God’s word.
Mary
August 3rd, 2011
8:37 am
Don’t these fields have a sprinkler system? If they demand practice, let them do it under the sprinklers? If not LIFE is to precious for this kind of pain!!! I love football but will not ever put my CHILD in this kind harms way!!!
so tired of the negativity...yawn...
August 3rd, 2011
8:37 am
i agree with the commentor who asked: where are the parents? sounds like they are inside in their air conditioned homes/offices/cars, typing and complaining to each other rather than in the schools’ principals’ offices and the head coachs’ offices seeing to their children’s welfare. been there, done that-folk. you DO have a say in the matter, you can effect policy and bring about change within your child’s school and the school system. attend your school board meetings! write to your senators, congressmen! it HURTS to read about the deaths of youngsters due to something that can be so readily remedied. do you really think players would be practicing in such heat w/out adequate water and cool downs if a politician’s child died. don’t tell the paper you don’t like it, tell the school and your politicians!!
HighSchoolRef
August 3rd, 2011
8:39 am
First off, as mentioned, kids today are more sedentary and have a higher body fat composition. That is a factor. But, there needs to be some consideration by the coaches. I recall when I played in 1980 and we had a week of 100+ degree (not heat index) temps during our two-a-days. Our coaches did two things to protect us as much as possible;
1) Practices were moved indoors to the gym. We could run all of our drills in helmet and shoulder pads with shorts and tennis shoes.
2) Every player was weighed before and after practice to see how much weight had been lost due to sweating. When you returned for the next practice, if you had not replaced that weight through hydration, you did not participate in that practice or any others until you had drank enough Gatorade and/or water to replace the weight.
As a 300+ pound lineman at the time, I appreciate my coaches protecting us in that manner!
This heat can be a killer | chaingangelementary.com
August 3rd, 2011
8:43 am
[...] is a public safety issue, folks. I linked to Maureen Downey’s blog post about high school athletes in my previous post criticizing early August school schedules, but [...]
Brian30101
August 3rd, 2011
8:50 am
My 8 year is playing this season, they get lots of water breaks, don’t start practice til 6:30, and even then the last few days they have to sit in the shade until the temp gets to a certain point before they can put on equipment. Common sense would go a long way
Mike
August 3rd, 2011
8:57 am
The way to win football games is through strategy, not sheer brute force. It’s one thing for your players to be in good shape. Running will accomplish that (and indoors works just as well for this). Hitting all day long and doing those silly burpee exercises is so outdated. What is it, running in place, dropping to do a pushup, jumping back up, etc. Get original. Think outside the box. If you want to win football games, practice smarter, not harder.
The best way to get kids in any sport better is for them to play the game. Scrimmage constantly, not silly drills that students can’t apply very well. You have to play, blow the whistle occasionally, analyze the play (in under a minute….please no talking for five minutes) and then start the next play.
Football should be fun. If your whole team is having fun, they’re going to win. If you constantly yell at them and make them do pointless drills, football becomes a drag.
Let them play. Let the rest. Let them laugh. Let them win.
BIG Joe
August 3rd, 2011
8:57 am
state champion trainer
I agree that the coaching staff SHOULD have things under control… you said ‘common sence’ — face it state champion trainer, there are TONS of people that I see EVERY DAY that have NO common sence — people are lazy and they have that ‘it won’t happen on my field’ mentallity. GHSA, or the Governer needs to step-up & move the start date of football practice out 6 weeks.. End of story.
beebee
August 3rd, 2011
8:58 am
maybe, just maybe kids were generally healthier very long ago, with minimal to no bad effects from cholesterol, sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets, and so forth. and maybe so very long ago the heat back then was not further “radiated” with so much air pollution and intensified with so much concrete all around.
Before another child dies, and though it may be knee-jerk reaction, I’d like to see practices going from about 6 or 7 till 9 or 9:30. And I don’t mean to be smart-aleck, but God some of these teams are so sorry I wonder what are these lame coaches trying to install anyway using so much time … New England’s offense?
Stupid is...
August 3rd, 2011
9:01 am
Football is just stupid here, you don’t even play in the cooler months like everywhere else.
We get elite athletes in all other sports without subjecting them to this and degrading them during practices as well. Why should a high school player need to show up in complete shape at the start of the season for a kids game.
catlady
August 3rd, 2011
9:03 am
Sincere condolences to those whose children have been affected.
It’s so stupid that we worship at the altar of high school sports. EVERYTHING is set up around them! We have to start school by X because of football. Totally out of control! Perhaps this will wake people up! (not much hope for it here. Our system spent $2 M on rennovating the stadium of our team, which rarely has a winning season. This was not 2 million that the state gave us, or that they wrote a grant for! You don’t buck football or ag–that is the saying around here.)
Curious One
August 3rd, 2011
9:06 am
If football is king then get the school calendars fixed and then the football, band etc calendars will fall in place ! Early August is too darn hot and just not necessary ! Where are the adults and parents whenit comes to common sense ?
beebee
August 3rd, 2011
9:06 am
Well, on second thought: Maybe NO practices whenever the temps soar over a certain degree mark. Exactly what temp that is I don’t know.
doh
August 3rd, 2011
9:07 am
This is Georgia, we are third only to Texas and Florida when it comes to stupidity. When are you going to learn, education in this state is about sports…Football, Basketball, etc. Not about educating kids. Educating kids is what they do up north, which is why when it comes time to get a decent job they hire those kids while our kids here in Georgia are still pickin cotton in the fields.
Bro
August 3rd, 2011
9:09 am
There is no excuse for the loss of these young men. The coaching staff failed to do their job. The top priority should always be safety. The coaches failed to ensure the safety of their boys. What will they do next? As far as the three year study by one of the universities it is a complete waste of time. LETS ALSO PUT SOME BLAME ON THE SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN GEORGIA–STARTING SCHOOL THE FIRST PART OF AUGUST IS STUPID.YOU ACCOMPLISH NOTHING BY THIS AND PUT ATHLETES IN SERIOUS DANGER WAKE UP PEOPLE. You can check with an local military unit and they will tell you training outside is restricted when it is too hot. Any National Guard unit handles this time of problem during their two week training period. NO EXCUSES PEOPLE. YOU FAILED TO PROTECT THESE YOUNG MEN AND YOU ARE TOTALLY RESPONSIBLE.
doh
August 3rd, 2011
9:09 am
This also shows we don’t give a crap about our kids. Its ok to let them practice in 90+ degree temperatures. Then watch them drop and die, and we sit around with our thumbs up our a$$e% and ask “Is it too hot to play football?” No wonder why we are the laughing stock of the country.
Jorge
August 3rd, 2011
9:10 am
I agree 100% with the comment that school/football should not start until after Labor Day. The school calendar dictates the schedule of all sports and due to the idiotic school calendar the sports schedule is out of balance. Football is played in the heat, baseball is played in the cold starting in February. Push everything back 40 days and we will have minimal problems.
jb
August 3rd, 2011
9:10 am
I was fortunate enough to play HS and college football in the early 70’s. Our August practices started at 6:00 a.m. and the second practice was at 10:00 a.m., done by noon. The other big difference is the size and weight of the kids today. In college I was a 220 lb tight end, about average at the time. A tackel was 250-270, guards about the same and centers 250 max. Today the HS teams all have a number of kids over 300. In a tv news story last night they showed kids who can only be described as fat, probably in the 350 range, they are too young to carry this much weight and they can’t handle this heat. Until kids show up to camp in better shape these tragedies will continue.
chasman
August 3rd, 2011
9:11 am
Not only is my son’s coach an idiot, he puts the players in a peer situation that if you need water, you’re weak.. the kids are vomiting, dizzy and soon one WILL get heatstroke. This is a school in Woodstock.. There were times there was NO water on the field for the kids. I packed my son with all the water he needed and told him if the coach tells you “you can’t drink” let me know and that coach will face a very nasty and much bigger father. And I’ll report him to the authorities for abuse.
Vdawg
August 3rd, 2011
9:13 am
I remember practicing in high school at 104 degrees. A few of us passed out woke up on a water sprinkler hydrate and move on. However. 25 years ago we never heard of anyone dying and I don’t think the coaches then babied us like they do today. So what’s the difference. I suspect its because kids don’t have active lives like they do when we were kids. Getting in shape for football season is a bigger undertaking because the kids don’t stay in shape in any form outside of football season OR in their childhoods leading up to high school. I think LONG TERM adolescent conditioning is very poor compared to 25 years ago. That’s why we have the associated risk we have today. In addition we have mainstream media that can’t wait to broadcast bad news and turmoil. Get your kid a bike. For every hour he(she) does on the bike let him have an hour of xbox/tv.
It’s reality and truth….right media?!?!
doh
August 3rd, 2011
9:14 am
Chasman-if you know this, why do you let your kid play? Yeah you should be report him, but when your kid drops dead, your going to sit there for the rest of your life and wonder could YOU have prevented it by not letting him play. You are the adult and your child IS the child? Your as guilty as the rest of the idiots on this board who allow this to continue.
William Casey
August 3rd, 2011
9:14 am
Almost everything mentioned here is valuable information. Great discussion, one that should be going on throughout the state. I last coached high school football in 1990, so my thoughts may be archaic, nevertheless, here’s what I know for sure:
1. Football is kng in Georgia. It is a secular religion.
2. Football is a brutal game. There was a movement to abolish it as early as 1905.
3. The “we will outwork you” ethos is built into coaching.
4. Having a Certified Athletic Trainer present at all practices would help.
5. Pre-season “two-a-days” are absolutely necessary to play the game. Having defined legal practice times (7-9 AM & 7-9 PM, etc.) might help but there would probably be widespread cheating.
6. Having REAL physicals including cardio stress tests would help. Expensive, though.
7. Anyone planning tp play football should be required to spend at least three hoursa day out in the heat doing something during the month of July. Unenforceable.
8. Starting later would help some. Eliminating, or at least drastically scaling back playoffs would be required. Not likely. Remember, it’s a religion.
9. High school football players (unlike pros or even college) vary greatly in physical maturation level. This isn’t about being “in shape,” it’s biology. Some guys are grown men at 16, others (as in my family) develop later. Should be considered but won’t be.
10. Year-round nutrition programs would help a little. However, since parents ultimately control this, there is little that schools or coaches can do.
Wow
August 3rd, 2011
9:15 am
So we have morons saying it’s okay for some to die as long as 99% make it through. morons making fun of Parkview, Lowndes, insert school here. Morons saying it’s “society’s” fault. Moron’s saying it’s the players fault…… Wow. Every one of you morons miss the point completely – if a school age child dies trying to be a part of a school sports team due to heat stroke or some other COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE reason it is the school and coach’s fault.
I’ve coached sports for many years – I want the best out of my players and my team and give my all to them as well. BUT — when those kids step on the field they ARE MY FRICKIN’ RESPONSIBILITY – period. It’s up to me to make sure practice times are reasonable. It’s up to me to understand regardless of IQ or fitness level these kids want to show the coach they are tough and won’t quit regardles of the conditions. For any coach to stand out in 109 degree heat indexes and let kids push themselves to the point of vommitting, cramping, and heat stroke is tantamount to gross negligence.
But, the school systems have immunity from most lawsuits and school systems won’t come down on them because they won’t get that next dream coach they pay (back-channeled through booster clubs) more than anyone else on campus. Coaches on high school campuses are given more latitude to be COMPLETE MORONS than anybody else. Let an Ed.D holding subject teacher mess up on one piece of paperwork and they get written up — Coaches are routinely allowed to get away with everything from flirting with and sexually harassing anyone they choose to dating students to being completely incompetent as teachers (and those problems are not gender specific these days mind you)…. Not all of them – I had one or two good ones along the way and so did my recently high school graduated older children. But the vast majority are the typical athletics first, win at all costs, damn the torpedos, classes are an afterthought morons.
Until that changes – none of this will change. Shame on school systems for allowing it to continue.
so tired of the negativity...yawn...
August 3rd, 2011
9:16 am
stop and think for a moment. i cannot address the start of football, but as far as when school begins? that has changed over the years. what many fail to realize is that our students HAVE to be in school for a certain number of days each school year- previously the magic number was 180 days. when school started later, students finished later. and some parents complained about that. there is not some fancy “fix it button” that will make everyone happy. i am just concerned about current students who are in outdoor sports, in pain for the parents who have had recent losses– and i am grateful that my son had sensible coaches years ago.
William Casey
August 3rd, 2011
9:18 am
PS; I chose to discourage my son from playing football even though it would probably have been his best sport. Basketball and baseball had to suffice.
Bro
August 3rd, 2011
9:18 am
iF YOU HAVE EVER SERVED IN THE MILITARY, EXPECIALLY THE NATIONAL GUARD, AND TRAINED AT CAMP SHELBY, MISSISSIPPI FOR TWO WEEKS DURING THE SUMMER IN A COMBAT UNIT-YOU KNOW THAT EVEN GROWN MEN HAVE TO BE FORCED TO DRINK WATER. YOU HAVE TO STAND WITH THEM AND MAKE THEM DRINK A CANTEEN OF WATER. SOFT DRINKS DO NOT HELP HYDRATE THE BODY. WATER WATER WATER MUST BE CONSUMED AND PERSONAL INSISTANCE AND RESPONSIBILTY BY THOSE INCHARE MUST BE TAKEN. MAY GOD BLESS AND KEEP THESE YOUNG MEN WHO WE HAVE LOSS BECAUSE OF STUPID MUST WIN AT ALL COST JOCKS MISTAKEN FOR COACHES. YOU MUST ATTEND A PRACTICE TO SEE THE PRESSURE PUT ON THESE YOUNG MEN AND THE PRESSURE PUT ON THOSE THAT REFUSE TO COME OUT FOR THE SPORT.
doh
August 3rd, 2011
9:20 am
Sadly, the only way to stop this, is to go to the practices yourself and bring your attorney. So when your kid drops dead, you can win the lottery by suing the school district.
Big Chilly Style
August 3rd, 2011
9:22 am
The coaches did everything they were required to do and then some. One problem with our society is these stupid comment boxes on the internet. People without a clue of the situation come on here and run their mouth. Just let them be. Everyone is dealing with this very hard.
Coach
August 3rd, 2011
9:25 am
I agree that extreme care must be taken by coaches, and staff to ensure that these kids are not pushed over the limit. I beleive that care is being taken in most instances, and that every possible precaution is being taken to make sure that these athetes are well taken care of. However what I dont see mentioned in this blog, is that parents, yes parents share the reponsibility of the Hydration, and ensureing that their children are eating right, and getting the proper amount of WATER. Our society has gone to Sony Playstation, XBox, and staying in doors, where when those of us in our 40’s grew up we never came inside. The coaches can not be held accountable for hydrating a child in a 2 hour practice. This is where the parents have to stay on the child, and make them eat properly, drink plenty of water, not coke, not tea, not gatorade, WATER. Make sure when we are looking at ways to prevent the problem we dont leave out some of the ones causing the very problem.
chasman
August 3rd, 2011
9:27 am
Doh, Why do I let him play ? Because he doesn’t fall for peer pressure.. Ands @ 14 he’s mature enough to drink water and hydrate. I’m not afraid for him. It’s the other kids I fear for. Their parents don ‘t pack water . And don’t call me guilty as anyone else. I have already comkplained to the district. But as many have mentioned Football is religion and the coaches are Kings. So. STFU and do something besides sitting behind your keyboard and complaining about other posts.
doh
August 3rd, 2011
9:27 am
My GOD you want parents to take RESPONSIBILITY for their CHILD? HOW DARE you suggest such a thing here in Georgia!
doh
August 3rd, 2011
9:30 am
Hey this was your quote…you wrote this “Not only is my son’s coach an idiot, he puts the players in a peer situation that if you need water, you’re weak.. the kids are vomiting, dizzy and soon one WILL get heatstroke. ”
So you have decided that its ok to put your child’s LIFE in the hands of an idiot, as YOU say. You called him an idiot, and YOU got on here to complain about YOUR coach. And a 14 year old is NOT mature. Not mature for ANYTHING. That is still a child. I hope your right and I hope your kid isn’t the one who drops from heatstroke. But don’t come on here complaining about your IDIOT coach.
Ben
August 3rd, 2011
9:31 am
Simple solution. School start date in late august means you can practice in the morning and not at 4PM every day in august. Another simple solution would be to constantly keep you kids hydrated with WATER, this goes for parents too. Parents need to make sure their children are drinking plenty of water at home.
Penny Bee
August 3rd, 2011
9:32 am
I enjoy a football game as much as anyone, but I have to wonder about how we sacrifice the lives of young (and older) men for that enjoyment. Young men must practice in the summer so that they’ll be ready for the scheduled season, and it always results in serious medical problems and sometimes deaths. Now, we’re also hearing about the terrible brain trauma that affects so many players, resulting from the head and neck receiving so many hits – the signs and symptoms often don’t manifest until the players are retired, but so many men spend their lives with neurological impairment directly tied to the game. I’m not even mentioning the ‘regular’ injuries that are ‘a part of the game.’ Is it worth it, to have these boys and men risk literally everything for a sport? I know…it’s a sport that’s deeply tied to economic and social factors. It’s football, after all.
But, all in all, is football worth it? I wonder if the families of the men and boys who have been injured and killed answer this question as you or I might.
Just some thoughts.