Coaching Guidelines for Keeping Athletes Safe

Coaching Safely Takes More Than Knowing the Rules of the Game

Oct 6, 2009 Terry Zeigler

Coaches are hired primarily for their knowledge and expertise of a sport. But keeping young athletes safe takes more than sport knowledge.

Unfortunately, catastrophic injuries happen in the world of sports. Catastrophic injuries as a result of unforeseen circumstances do occur and are an accepted risk of the game. However, catastrophic injuries that occur due to a coach's ignorance are not acceptable at any level.

Basic First Aid and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training

Basic first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training should be a required prerequisite for all coaches regardless of their coaching level. Unfortunately, there is less professional medical coverage the lower the age level of the child. Because of this, it is a necessity for coaches to have the knowledge to provide basic emergency first aid and/or CPR until help arrives.

This training would enable a coach to perform rescue breathing and CPR in the event an athlete becomes unconscious and has no respiration and/or pulse and continue life saving measures until professional help arrives.

Learning to recognize and treat common sports injuries should also be a basic requirement. Knowing how to respond when a significant injury occurs could keep a young athlete stable and comfortable until help arrives.

Learning how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) should also be recommended training. Although CPR can continue to circulate blood to vital organs, an AED can actually restart the normal rhythm of the heart. Although AEDs are not accessible at all venues, they are becoming more available and more commonplace in public.

Education in How to Design Conditioning Drills

Conditioning drills are an accepted part of the sports experience. When properly conducted, conditioning drills are designed to improve the cardiovascular system leading to an athlete who can run harder and farther before getting tired.

Conditioning drills should be designed with a purpose. Drills should be age and fitness-level appropriate. Athletes should be carefully monitored for signs of physiological stress.

Running athletes until they vomit is not good practice, although this conditioning goal is used by some coaches. Besides overstressing an athlete’s capacity to perform, this type of practice also degrades the trust that athletes place in their coaches.

Conditioning as Punishment: Crossing the Line

Coaches often use conditioning drills as punishment for their athletes. They are used to either make athletes “pay” for poor play or to send a message to the team as a whole.

Conditioning drills can be used to send a message if they are used properly, the drills are designed not to intentionally hurt athletes, and the athletes are carefully monitored throughout the drills for signs of physiological stress including:

• Hyperventilating
• Inability to catch breath
• Profuse sweating
• Confusion/disoriented
• Dizziness
• Collapse
• Vomiting
• Inability to speak

Running athletes can be good. Intentionally injuring athletes is wrong no matter what the age level.

If a drill is designed for the sole purpose of overtaxing an athlete’s system to cause injury or catastrophic system failure, the coach should be held negligent for the injury caused.

When to Sit an Injured Athlete

Sometimes the desire to win overshadows the best interest of the athlete. When an athlete is young, the parents should be the ones to protect their children from an overzealous coach. However, there are circumstances when even parents become more concerned about "the win" and lose perspective.

In the absence of a team physician or certified athletic trainer, coaches are responsible to make decisions on when to play or sit out athletes when they are injured or sick. The younger the athlete, the more conservative should be the approach.

For lower extremity injuries, the athlete should be able to be fully weight bearing without a limp in order to play. The coach can also ask the athlete to perform some simple functional tests including jumping, hopping, jogging, sprinting, and sport specific drills. If the athlete is not able to perform these activities at full speed without pain, the athlete should not play.

If an athlete has an upper extremity injury, the athlete should be able to use the limb with a full range of motion (compared to the uninjured side). The athlete should also be tested with sport-specific functional activities to determine if the athlete can perform the activities in full without pain. If the athlete is not able to perform these activities at full speed without pain, the athlete should not play.

Coaching young athletes is a complex multi-faceted job. The goal in youth sports should be to teach and train athletes in a sport, but to also do it safely. Having training in basic first aid and CPR is a must. Additional training in how to properly treat and condition athletes is also important. Keeping the focus on the well-being of the athletes and not on “winning at all costs” is essential.

The copyright of the article Coaching Guidelines for Keeping Athletes Safe in Sports Medicine is owned by Terry Zeigler. Permission to republish Coaching Guidelines for Keeping Athletes Safe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Teen soccer athletes

Young soccer players

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