A recent sports medicine summit held in Boston, Massachusetts focused its presentations on this topic. The keynote speaker gave an address on “Child Athlete Abuse Syndrome: A New Disease” (Minix, Sr., 2011).
The premise of the presentation was that when “winning” is the only thing in sports, the abuse of athletes becomes rationalized and even accepted in sports. It may be viewed as a necessary consequence of preparing a winning team. However, the message that was loud and clear from the summit was that athlete abuse is a crime and needs to be reported as such (Minix, Sr., 2011).
Child Athlete Abuse Syndrome (CAAS) is under-reported for many reasons including fear of reprisal, guilt, loss of team status, and anger from peers for reporting a coach. However, it is not on the shoulders of the young athletes to end this problem. It is the job of the adults surrounding these athletes to speak up and stop the abuse.
Education is a key component to reversing this trend. Personal physicians, emergency room physicians, parents, coaches, and athletic administration need to clearly understand CAAS, and stand up against it to be able to put a stop to it.
Examples of Athlete Abuse
According to Dr. Minix, Sr’s presentation at the Boston Summit (2011), approximately 8,000 child athletes are treated in emergency rooms daily. Of those 8,000, approximately half are the result of preventable, non-accidental injuries, or CAAS. While accidental injuries are accepted as a risk factor in competing in sports, injuries sustained as a direct result of a coach’ actions should not be accepted as a normal part of sports.
There are number of examples that can be considered CAAS including:
- Water deprivation that leads to heat stroke (often fatal);
- Exercise to exhaustion in extreme heat that leads to heat stroke and/or rhabdomyolysis;
- Faulty equipment (preventable injury);
- Mismanaged concussion (permanent brain damage);
- Negligent cheerleading stunt training (brain injury and/or spinal injury);
- Playing injured (additional serious injury); and
- Assault by a coach (physical injury).
Child Athlete Abuse Awareness
While 2010 has become known as the “Year of Concussion Awareness,” 2011 needs to become the “Year of Child Athlete Abuse Awareness.” Actions by coaches resulting in youth athlete injuries need to be taken seriously by both the parents and by athletic administration. Immediate action should be taken by the team’s athletic administration to remove the coach, report the incident to the local authorities, and assist in providing the authorities with their full cooperation during any ensuing investigation.
Unfortunately, while sports can bring out the best in developing young people, it can also bring out the worst in some coaches. Unfortunately in Brian Jordan’s case, he suffered permanent damage to his left arm and now faces three months of physical therapy. Jordan was diagnosed with acute compartment syndrome associated with rhabdomyolysis.
While his life was saved, it did take seven surgeries to remove all of the dead muscle tissue from his arm. The usual cause of rhabdomyolysis in athletes is extreme physical overexertion associated with high temperatures and inadequate hydration.
Was Jordan’s coach negligent during that training session on May 4, 2011 and did that negligence contribute to Jordan’s injuries? While the final decision may be up to the courts, the family has taken the initial steps of reporting the incident and retaining legal counsel.
Holding coaches accountable for negligent behavior can help protect future athletes from death and/or catastrophic injuries and send an important message to all coaches in youth sports. An athlete’s safety should never be compromised in the name of “winning”. Negligence that leads to injury in youth sports can and should result in criminal charges.
Now is the time for accountability in youth sports. Let’s work together to ensure a safer environment for our athletes.
References
- Jordan, S. (July 4, 2011). Personal correspondence.
- Jordan, S. (July 1, 2011). Personal correspondence.
- Minix, M.B. (April 29, 2011). Child Athlete Abuse Syndrome: A New Disease. Presented at the Athlete Abuse Summit, Boston, MA.
- Nytimes.com, “Muscle Injuries Rattle an Oregon High School”, accessed on October 25, 2010.
- Prentice, W.E. (2010). Essentials of Athletic Injury Management. (8th Ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education: New York, NY.
- Suite101.com, “USC Strength Coach Sued for Negligence in Athlete’s Injury”, accessed on July 4, 2011.
- Suite101.com, “Hospitalized Athletes May Have Suffered from Rhabdomyolysis”, accessed on July 4, 2011.
- Suite101.com, “Coaches: Protect Yourselves from Litigation”, accessed on July 4, 2011.
Terry Zeigler - Educating through writing with over twenty-five years of experience as a Kinesiology Professor and Certified Athletic Trainer.
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