A new study shows that 13 catastrophic brain injuries were reported among high school football players last year, the highest numbers since 1984. Hagerstown, Maryland, football coaches are taking these findings seriously and have some advice for their young players to help them avoid head injuries.
The first thing that players are taught is to avoid contact that can lead to head injuries. The number of concussions and other head traumas sustained on the field are directly related to poor stance when tackling and blocking, according to football coaches.
One of the most important skills players can learn is to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact. Another good skill is wrapping your arms around your opponent to avoid direct head contact rather than rushing into a collision.
Coaches feel responsible for players with head injuries and encourage them to get any injury, even a slight one, checked by a doctor. If the player is not cleared by a doctor, he is not allowed to play in subsequent games until he receives a medical waiver.
Avoiding Head Injuries Safest Practice
It is far better to avoid head injuries than to treat them. Any head injury, even a slight concussion, can have a negative impact on a student’s health. However, not all injuries can be prevented when students play contact sports. Even the most careful players and coaches can fail to anticipate every circumstance in which a player might be injured, and the liability for many sports injuries falls directly onto the coaches and the schools that employ them.
Liability Issues in Sports-Related Injuries
Parents are usually asked to sign a waiver at the beginning of a sports season as well as submit a physical examination record showing that their child is healthy enough for physical exertion. In spite of these precautions, head injuries do happen due to negligence on the part of coaches, administrators, or others involved in sports.
When a child is injured in a sports-related accident, he or she is not automatically entitled to compensation. However, in many cases, parents assume that the waiver that they signed prohibits them from collecting money for their child’s head injury, and this is not always the case. Even if you have signed a waiver for your child to play sports, you may still be entitled to sue for damages if someone who was supposed to be responsible for your child’s safety was negligent or failed to use proper care to prevent the injury.
The best way to find out if you have a case against the coaches or school system is to consult a personal injury attorney that specializes in head injuries. A California brain injury lawyer can give you the legal facts about your child’s major head injury case and help you determine if you are entitled to compensation for your son or daughter. As a parent, it is your right to consult an attorney on behalf of your child to protect his or her rights.
SLS Consulting