Broward Coaches Get "Coached" In Sports Safety
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - Next week hundreds of thousands of students will head back to class at the start of the new school year.
Many athletes, however, are already back at practice under the hot summer sun.
On Wednesday, hundreds of coaches from across Broward County got together with health specialists to talk sport safety.
"South Florida can be brutal and not hydrating properly, not doing the things that you really need to do as an athlete, proper training, it could be dangerous, it could be fatal," said Andre Henry.
"Obviously we want to have a high level of competition but safety is paramount and I want my coaches to have all the information they need to have in the event something catastrophic happens," said Mike Collins, athletic director of South Plantation High School.
In Broward, approximately 24,000 public school students are involved in sports. Health experts say educating the men and women who watch over them could make a life-changing difference.
"We'll be the first ones there to respond. We need to know the signs that they were taking about for instance sudden cardiac arrest," said Adam Ratkevich. "Those early warning signs cold save a young man or woman's life so it's extremely important."
Coaches learned about the importance of physicals, proper hydration and how to look for signs of a concussion and sudden cardiac arrest.
"As a coach when I have the kids go out on 10, 20 mile runs I'm always concerned because I can't be there every second and with every kid so you want to know the signs of things that potentially go wrong," said Henry.
A few years back Miramar high school student Isaiah Laurencin collapsed during football practice and died. These coaches want to make sure a similar tragedy never happens on their watch.
"We want to make sure that we're getting the best information and latest trends and everything we need to be watching for," said Linda Gancitano, who coaches volleyball and soccer at Driftwood Middle School. "There were some things in there that I've never heard of before"."
Passing on the information to the athletes is another goal that will help keep the team protected.
"Age old problem, everyone wants to hide their weaknesses, they get injured and they don't want to tell the coach. So we're constantly fighting that, just be honest kids, let us know so we can help you," said Collins. "It's the stuff we need to arm our kids with so they don't hide it from us, worried about losing playing time well it may sideline you for the rest of the season or you could die from it."
