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Show 4B Saturday, Oct. 12, 1991 Student-athletes remain at risk Serious injury rates have increased The Associated Press ‘Football per 100,000 participants is no more More than a million high school football players practice and play each week under a patchworkpattern of safety regulations that vary widely from state to state, an Asso- ciated Press survey found, and dozens suffer serious injury or death each year. Some youngsters undergo strin- gent physicals. Others simply answer medical questionnaires with no exposure to a doctor. A few youngsters are tested for steroids. The overwhelming majority are not. Most youngsters will get through the season safely. But some will wind up in wheelchairs and there almost certainly will be deaths. For all, the risk is real. A 50-state survey by The Associated Press found that every state follows at least the guidelines of the National Federation of State High School Associations, but that those guidelines are so general that health and safety standards vary strikingly not just from state to state but from school district to school district. “We do not mandate anything,” Dick Schindler of the Federation said. “States can pick and choose what they wish.” Physical exams, for example, can be thorough checkups or simply “turn and cough” glances. Steroids, which are tested for on the college and professional level, are tested for in only a very few high schools. According to a study conducted by Dr. Frederick Mueller of the University of North Carolina and Dr. Robert Cantu of Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass., there were 218 direct catastrophic injuries suffered by high school football players from 1982-1989, including 43 fatalities. Another 46 deaths were described as indirect — those caused by exertion while participat- ing in the sport. Figures for 1990 are not yet complete but Cantu said that for the first time since 1931, when these kinds of statistics were first kept, there were nofatalities last year. “I fear it was a freak year,” Cantu said. “It’s wonderful. But does it mean the gamie is safer? I say no. There were 11 quadriplegic injuries. That means westill have a very serious problem in football. The heimet protects the brain against injury. It does not protect the neck. “For those who didn’t die, I’m much and the Kansas Association of School Health agrees,” said Kaye Pierce of the Kansas State High School Activities Association. A number ofstates including Arizona, Washington and Idaho ask for a physical before an athlete begins in interscholastic sports but only require a filled-out questionnaire or a note from the doctor for subsequent years. Even with a physical, there is some question about whenitis safe sports like football and wrestling. “It was done in the dead ofnight, like the pay raise in the U.S. Senate last month,” said Dr. Quinn Bailey, playit. “Football per 100,000 participants is no more dangerous than hockey, gymnastics or wrestling,” Cantu said. “It’s no more dangerous than the top cheerleader on the pyramid. But 1.5 million boys play ens. chairman of the Kentucky Medical very much against the advice of our committee. players But while fatalities have de- creased, serious injuries have not A study conducted by Dr. John Powell of the University of lowa and released in 1989 by the Na tional Athletic found tion. Trainers Associa major that those sidelining high school for three weeks or more, injuries plavers rose 2( Howabout an invasion of 12- settings, may be the r ¢ more aia cause mode gh ev k : ciation, solution ft doctors a ‘ sought ht the > college football players es and paigning . nA c L L he Deni > : 4 da § a und ¢ states — tensive physical, but the cost to students would probably the bi prohibitive and would keep many of them from playing.” Nash said Kansas now uses a biann physical. Next year, however, ath- letes will require only a review by a We fe ¥ W r he studen “It's s Barn Flo “ need ( aches help, ‘ juries. You inate th R he hic RS H 4 there « i t} be anth ‘ | ; sound awtul Buoniconti does not maio regret his m hough. “Don’t get me wrong.” he said. “I'd do it all again. But it’s } ra litical climate. Back in Utah, problems like finding financial backing and making travel arrangements popped up. Now, as the trip draws near, everyone associated with the team is looking back and wondering howit all happened. years in the gamé } x Nick ‘ 4 ‘ | 4 ot L t s . g ¥ iT } f he 3 « r al B to are make Buoniconti k before hem the gen bel in s s there 2 1 5 ar n with arcs more tan. Professional trainers expensive commodities for som school districts. The solution migt be a volunteer teacher equipped with a first aid kit, who massages a player’s shoulder or leg and sends him back on the field. That is why the Miami Project’s neck X-1 plan for high school plavers is suct a dramatic step the when s 6 of as ne ‘ A ; . miuries casua aty>wee ee HUNTING PERMITS red find x That is not always the case for high school players, though. Som« times conditions for themare spa Only 20 Permits Available. x suppor player R th de wer on whee ik 5s” doctors.” Exclusive Prime Hunting Property Southwest of Woodruff Reservoir ” which t Sx step n j n ~ af more humane now. I had one trainer. Now they have teams of work < A . « le That makes football ly dangerous. , h etume v den x th s +b X-r la in » cad have safety.” da er be able rT factor complet ways influenced by the world po- | ) hy, g $a afte © ve ‘ } a n would h sin We research k f iin nm b n yet H find. I have a deteriorated shoulder and hip. I need a replacement hip and my hand is messed up. That’s the result of plaving the game.” week rt , f kids hat “If all NFL players were X-rayed, I'd hate to tell you what they'd doesn’t pla if such a « had niconti t : in ; field Pp M O dir n S s + < A socx no com in the quadriplegi Ss ‘ Nick to d a xecutive ja , injt clinics of iz r we is cam bly in 1985, Jone K wT ‘ he wha q Wink eque He and s MA progres when coaches play through ‘ rt practice e he fantha VA h s ex } — that al f hes Ark ‘. quired that might find spe heart or bone problems. “We'd all like to see a more n 4 hy N tis nationwide S< Ma ‘ he *rple school practice, “No forsa eTs ‘ i ‘ é x high preceding a game, Buoniconti said h S called his state's for If a player is in too much f I \ fac Acti’ satiety cal distress to VA Miss that the athlet play ries W k Kans a cursory Dp } annual exam requiring only no “detectable abnormalities.” lab or X-ray procedures are pa prove 2teG ne st as practice. The regime also included Russian lessons twice a week. Eventually the pressure whittled the number of kids down to 10. Among those 10 survivers 1S Megan Jensen, of Kaysville. Dur- those of my era,” he said. “Thereis more concern for injuries than when I played. All they wanted then was to get you back on the er measures that could help imFor the last six years, ‘ Mia x ‘> a first tS Sa’ was S car in visiting the Soviet Union to show up and try out for the team. Youths from Logan to Provo showed up on tryout day. A team of 17 was formed and asked to keep up with school while playing a heavy schedule of league games and a failed coup attempt cast a gloomy shadowover any hope of an Arnerican visit. “We had a lot of obstacles in our path,” said Davies. “But it seemed like every time an obstacle would come up, something would always come along and change it.” But those obstacles were not al- Project hopes to minimize neckinjuries x tf Megan Jensen is the only girl on a Northern Utah AAU basketball team that will be spending three weeks in the Soviet Union. S Att lik executive Alaska School team monthsthat followed, civil unrest — physicals aren't giver Ed Nash. a x S to Utah. Once back in the Soviet Union, the kids from the MoscowSchool began to make arrangements to keep up their part of the exchange. But in the weeks and for basketball players interested s penseis the reas the preparation, x W 3 apt . W be kil Most scho In TESS for the ASSO than a \ pped with per arrangementfor the team to come quickly formed through an ad in a local newspapers. The ad asked alvsis tary ents quickly made the necessary the Soviet Union. In Bountiful, a local junior high school basketball coach saw the changes and decided he wanted to become a part of them. A letter was sent to Soviet officials wondering whetherit would be possible for an exchange to be worked out It wasn’t long before an agreement was reached. The Soviet Union agreed to send a team of youths from Moscow School 1205, a school that specialized in the English language, to Utah for a series of basketball games. In turn, the hosting Utah team would eventually visit the Soviet Union on a similar arrangement “aT a to get farther than New York City. Davies and the other par- the first rumblings of change in face misdemeanor charges if he n And after making it here, the Soviet team didn’t have the funds Soviet Union. It’s a dream some didn’t think would ever come true. Like the Soviet Union itself, this team, which was specially formed for this weekend’s trip, has overcome plenty of roadblocks in recent months. It all began two years ago, with suspected use but didn’t do any- Bes Utah. they leave Salt Lake City for the i available medical teer 1 realize the culmination of a dream Sunday morning when submit to a test, and a coach could to espex They'll be armed to the teeth with wide-eyed expectations and goodwill gestures, The Bountiful Eagles, a local AAU basketball team, will finally Under the bill, athletes would be picked randomly for $50 tests twice a year. Coaches who suspect steroid use could request the player to The schools Powell studied had ners in ilace Many de certified places, end. money. protes In some Word is, a group of young basketball zealots from Northern Utah is scheduled to touch down in Moscow sometime this week- price and contract out to the pro its dentials are impressive. During the time she’s been with the Eagles, Jensen won a local free throw shooting contest and went on to state, regional and eventually national competition. Recently she was named by the Utah Network for Girls and Women in Sports as the state’s most promising athlete. But the Eagles needed more than great athletes to pull off the exchange. According to Davies, the Soviet team almost didn’t make it to year-olds from Utah? setup costs of between $600,000 and $700,000 and yearly operational costs of $150,000. Alan 12-year-old for granted. Like many of the Eagles, Jensen’s cre- can happen to the Soviet Union? soccer, wrestling and football. To percent over three years not. CENTERVILLE — Coup at- and skeletal maturity and such. It still passed.” Bailey said the bill was triggered by a legislator upset that his daughter couldn’t play tennis in the seventh grade. “What they’ve done is thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Tennis is no problem. Golf is no problem. But I have grave problems with contact sports like A 1990 survey in Iowa estimated that three to four percent of male high school athletes in the state had used steroids in the previous Davies, who took over the team a year ago, the Soviet competition had better not take the slight Standard-Examiner staff tempts, threats of civil war and economic trouble — what more adopted. more trainers According to Eagles Coach Bill tatives on the floor who are physicians who gave medical reasons for not allowing this, details on bone thing about it There are national basketball competition. By JIM BURTON “There were two elected represen- leagues. If you do 3,500 tests at $100 a test, you more than cover the yearly operational cost. Within a couple of years, you’re making ing the upcoming three-weektrip, Jensen will become the first female to participate in men’sinter- to come true Sports Committee. “It was done To high school football's credit, the casualty count has been decreasing. In 1968, for example, there were 36 fatalities and in the early 1970s, it was common for 25 to 30 fatal injuries to be reported each year. Cantu attributes the improvement to rule changes. A 1976 rule prohibited initial contact with the head in blocking and tackling. In 1980, helmet safety standards were and better coaching available to Players’ dream Association’s School Health and “But there are only four labs in the world — two in Canada and the others at UCLAand Indiana — set up to do certified steroid testing,” Pope said. “We would be the fifth. We could offer a discounted in part because so many students Eagles to invade Soviet Union eighth graders to participate in going to have more injuries.” Cantu said defensive backs run the greatest risk of injury because of the tendencyto use their heads in making tackles. “It’s an extra weapon for them at the point of contact,” Cantu said. “Coaches don’t teach it. The rules are there. Flags ought to fall when that hap- Cantu says that football has alarming death and injury numbers Members of an AAU basketball team scrimmage during their last practice before going to the Soviet Union. They leave Sunday. school reform bill that included a clause permitting seventh and football at the high school level. By pure numberofparticipants, you're er when we have reduced quadriplegic injury rates.” ANNE RAUP/Standard-Examiner for a youngster to begin competing in contact sports. Last fall, the Kentucky state legislature passed a me and the committee,it is totally unsafe to put a seventh grader out there in a contact sport. One in a hundred may be able to do it. We've said anyone can doit.” Rep. Tim Pope is expected to reintroduce a measure in the Oklahoma legislature this session that would require steroid testing for high school football, wrestling and track participants. The bill was presented in the most recent session and then withdrawn when the speaker, concerned with its costs, asked for an interim study. The cost factor is negligible, said Pope, who proposesestablishment ofa testing lab in the pathologydepartment at the University of Oklahoma. The university estimates the first to jump the highest and feel the best for them. I'll be happi- ee medical person who will fill out a questionnaire. “Pediatricians say young people don’t change very Vere dealt ther today “I think players today will be better off 20 years after they play than ’ $4 50 Ea. Also available trespass permit for: Muzzle Loader Hunt Late Cow Elk (limit 10) Vioose (limit 1) 782-5019/ 745-4318 |