Monday, October 20, 2014

Football High At Its Lowest

Two boys--Will and Tyler--were greatly affected by a sudden heat stroke. They both have a similar body type, damage to the liver, and were placed in a coma. The biggest and most prevalent connection between these two cases is that both incidents occurred during football practice. Will recovered after being hospitalized and Tyler unfortunately passed away slowly in his coma. One thing that should be stressed is the fact that heat stroke it completely preventable. The video mentions that many schools have "recommendations" when it comes to having practice in certain conditions BUT the coaches don't get penalized for not following these recommendations. The video also stated a possible solution--having an athletic health trainer on site during all practices and games to provide instant help. When it comes to heat stroke, the first 5-10 minutes after collapsing are the most important. Having someone there at all times should lower the chances of further hospitalization. Plus these trainers will never assume their collapse is due to just heat exhaustion--a common mistake.

Another major issue addressed in this video was concussions. High school football players are notably injured way more than college and professional players due to hits to the head--big and small. This can lead to major brain damage like CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). Symptoms of this degenerative disease include memory loss, aggression, confusion, and depression. One solution that the video stated was the censored helmets. These helmets would calculate the hits that these players endure. Although they're only for research purposes, we can take the data to better understand that even little hits can damage the brain. This research can also help others create a real, longterm solution. Football is an extremely physical intimidation sport, so you can't take the physical aspect out without wiping the entire sport out with it. A solution can't be to stop this activity even though it would be beneficial for the brains of many football players. Football thrives from immense pressure and pain, it's how the sport works.    

1 comment:

  1. I think that both of these issues are a part of a larger issue at hand. The increase in training among young athletes is leading to extreme stress and the immense amount of pressure the athletes are being put through is damaging their bodies and minds to the point of no return. Good points!

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