For sure. But one would expect fair play when they choose to play on a team. One would also want to protect themselves with mouth guards and such. (It’s unclear at this time whether the player was wearing one.)
I agree, Christine, that there can always be injuries. However, when someone is born male, goes through puberty and develops male musculature, as this male player had (playing this HS varsity sport for four years), then the level of force is greater than that of a female athlete doing the same maneuver.
I agree that it's going to be more forceful. But the way I read the article it's like it's the *only* reason it happened. A female can also cause that type of injury--granted maybe not as much force depending on the individual.
The rules in MA say that if there isn’t a team available in a particular sport (in this case, field hockey), then anyone can play on one that is available, male or female. From other articles I’ve seen, it appears as if the superintendent is asking for these rules to be re-looked at, from a safety perspective, based on what he saw when this team returned home, and all were highly distraught over the sheer magnitude of this injury - players, families and coaches.
All good questions.
And it sure seems like a lot of High School athletes are dying, so does make me wonder about the value of High School sports.
Depends on your definition of "a lot". Does it happen? Yes. "A lot"? I don't think so.
Okay, maybe "too often" is a better choice of words.
Personally I think there is a lot of value in HS and college sports. (Speaking generally, because, of course, there are exceptions.)
Well said!! And, I know my son and other teenage boys I know would not want to play on a team where they are the only boy. Males that have gone through puberty have a distinct advantage over most girls.
My mom was a Surgical RN on the Orthopedic team at her hospital. Mondays and Tuesdays were the days they fixed all the sports injuries from the weekend. Too many of the injuries would leave permanent disabilities. So that clearly had an impact on my view point. But, my son did play High School baseball. He certainly made friends, and learned a valuable lesson in life......that politics not skills can impact teams.
There were girls teams WAY before Title IX.
I know (and love) your Mom! We are similar. In my work I see a lot of heart disease, problems of obesity and sedentary lifestyle, and drug addiction, etc. Often in young people. It’s very sad. As a parent, I took my chances on injuries, and I still would today. We had our share, but thankfully, nothing truly debilitating or life threatening. This week I took care of someone who was hit by a drunk driver and left on the sidewalk to die. Wound up with all kinds of surgeries and rods, etc. Unfortunately, injuries happen everywhere.
Yeah, my mom understood injuries from accidents. Her issue was, she felt sports injuries were avoidable.
Correct, Title IX requires equal funding for boys and girls sports. Which in some cases prompts schools to add girls sports even though there isn't much interest from the students At my daughter's high school, she went to the first tryout for the soccer team. First thing she was told was, anyone that had tried out for soccer and didn't make the soccer team was automatically on the La Crosse team. They even put on La Crosse training camps because most of the girls knew nothing about La Crosse. My daughter hated the environment of both teams and dropped out. But title IX was the reason. They had funding for a girls La Crosse team because they HAD to spend that money on girls sports and the school picked La Crosse as the team to add. 14 years later, they still have a girls La Crosse team and last I saw, they are still waiting for their first win.
But at what cost?
