Robservations: Physicals a must for athletes
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Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Sometimes the most energetic, active, seemingly healthy young athlete can have physical problems that go undetected for years, then suddenly manifest themselves on the playing field.
We all remember the sight of Hank Gathers collapsing at the middle of the court, and the sense of unbelief when pathologists discovered he’d had a heart condition for years that finally cost him his life.
Gathers’ case, and others like it, are the reason today’s athletic teams put so much emphasis on having their players pass a physical examination before they compete.
At Warren County High, for instance, no athlete is supposed to even practice with their squad before they have had a physical, and the results from that exam are on file in the athletic trainer’s office.
Until a player has visited a doctor and had this relatively inexpensive examination, he or she has to sit on the sidelines and watch while the rest of the team goes through workouts.
The reason to require these physicals is simple: To detect any physical infirmity that might need treatment, or any condition that might be aggravated by participating in athletics.
Sadly, though, no amount of caution can prevent every tragedy.
Wednesday afternoon, 16-year-old football player Anthony Hilton, a junior at Robert E. Lee High school in Jacksonville, Fla., collapsed during an agility drill at the third day of practice with his high school team. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
According to a story which was picked up by the Associated Press, the local medical examiner said Thursday that a cause of Hilton’s death hadn’t been determined.
According to the latest report issued by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, 23 deaths of high school students last year were directly or indirectly related to football. But one of the saddest things about this latest football-related death is the fact that Florida high school athletic departments go to great lengths to make sure their athletes are physically able to perform.
Since it was just the third day of practice, for instance, Hilton wasn’t even in full gear. Florida rules state teams must work out in shorts and helmets for the first three days of practice each season.
In addition to that safety measure, the rising junior running back — who also wrestled and ran track — had undergone and passed a physical before fall workouts began.
While those precautions failed to detect what may have caused Hilton’s untimely death, you can be sure of one thing. For every inexplicable case like Hilton’s, there are hundreds of young people who are saved from the same fate because of the care administrators and coaches take in assuring their athletes are healthy enough to compete.
In fact, it’s a good idea for every parent of an athlete — not just high school players, but little leaguers, youth football players, and everyone else — to take it upon themselves to have their children examined by a doctor before they take the field.
Because sometimes, even seemingly healthy people can have unnotices physical problems. And while it’s tragic to hear about any young person dying, it would be even more tragic to hear that news, then learn their death could have been prevented.