Wilmington High School is participating in the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association “Safety in Football Campaign.”
The program was launched to promote increased safety in football in the six states that comprise GLATA – Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio.
Wilmington High School’s athletic trainer Kelli Veidt initiated the program for Hurricane players through the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association.
“I wanted to participate in the campaign to bring awareness of the importance of having athletic trainers on the sidelines and at games and practices to help with injury prevention and care to all the athletes,” Veidt said.
It is the goal of the “Safety in Football Campaign” to help each and every football team identify ways in which they can lessen the risks of injury and keep the focus on the fun and camaraderie of football. During the 2015 football season, 13 high school and one youth football player died.
Veidt’s participation in this initiative began last week and continues through the weekend. Hurricane players have a small helmet sticker on the back of each helmet. The sticker represents the cumulative efforts of these schools and the OATA towards improving safety in youth football in the state of Ohio.
Football is one of the most popular sports among youth athletes, and it leads all other sports in the number of injuries sustained. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, “in 2007, more than 920,000 athletes under the age of 18 were treated in emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, and clinics for football related injuries.” There are three times as many catastrophic football injuries among high school athletes as college athletes.
Interestingly, 62 percent of injuries occur during practices but across the country only 37 percent of secondary schools have a full-time athletic trainer on-site daily. This is why athletic trainers are such vital components of safe and successful football teams.
“Athletic trainers are multi-skilled health care professionals who provide preventative services, emergency and acute care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions,” according to a press release from the GLATA.
Athletic trainers are one of, if not the only healthcare professional who can successfully take an athlete from the point of injury and successfully take them through the entire recovery process.
All across the state of Ohio athletic trainers are providing their clinical skill and expertise each and every day to improve the overall health and safety of their athletes. According to a study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the presence of athletic trainers in the secondary schools lowers overall injury rates, improves diagnosis and return-to-play decisions, and reduces the risk for recurrent injuries. In fact, the placement of athletic trainers in every secondary school that offers an athletic program is recommended by both the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.
To learn more about Safety in Football, visit www.glata.org To learn more about athletic trainers and their role in injury prevention and management at https://www.nata.org and https://www.atyourownrisk.org/
