The Issue Of Safety And Avoiding Injuries In Sports

Sports date back to a very long time ago in ancient calendars. Numerous generations have passed before us and they can certainly be associated with not less than two games that they used to participate in. Though, overtime the art of sportsmanship has changed due to emergence of new games, improvements to the already existing ones or even merging of two different games to create one. Amidst all these activities happening in sports, the most key issue in sport is player safety. That brings us to our discussion of sports safety in much details. Sport safety is a very broad area and, therefore, for the purpose of comprehension we will break it into small sub sections and look at them extensively. First, we would look into sport safety amongst kids. It is every parent or teacher’s joy that his or her kid goes out to play and comes back without any injuries or twists in regard to the game activities they are undertaking. Amongst children, outdoor games have recorded the highest number of injuries. This is due to the wide nature of such games thus, they cannot be catered for fully in a safety plan.

When I interviewed a sports instructor, who lives in my neighborhood, I learnt that when working to protect children from injuries in a not so formal environment like at home, guardians must consider the following set of guidelines. One, vicinity of the game or rather the place it occurs. It is highly advisable that children play in areas they can be seen and easily monitored. Two, parents should at least have a general idea about the game. Lastly, parents or guardians should know the participants of the game and their respective ages. According to Erickson, in an informal set up parents should always have a first aid kit just in case of any small injury or direct contact with appropriate medical facilities in case of a serious injury. Indoor games amongst kids are not so popular because of their nature of being active and lively. In case kids participate in such kind of games, guardians are therefore requested to check out the game contents and then remove any object that seems to pose a threat on their children’s well-being. It is recommended that things that can pierce or result in to electrical shocks should not be used unsupervised.

Focusing on the corporate or formal games played by kids e. g. football there is a lot to consider. Before letting your kid rush in to the playing area you are supposed to check on various factors. In addition to age and size, weight, physical development, emotional progress and a child’s interest in the game should be put into consideration.

Moving on to adult fields, not a lot is said in accordance to preparation to game because it is considered basic knowledge. Before a player moves to participate in a game certain physical conditions should have been met. After the basic factors have been put into consideration, the secondary ones can now be in operation. In a serious and professional game, there must be at least two trained physiotherapists. The work of these two medics is to ensure that each of the players is set and ready to play. They also have to tackle all injuries that arise from playing. Players should also be examined after the game to check for any uncaptured injuries that would be a hinderance to playing in the next game. During the game it is mandatory to have a standby ambulance just in case a player needs to get more attention elsewhere. In today’s sports, rules have been formulated to help play a simple, fair and injury free game. Referees are put in place to make sure that participants in the games follow these rules just for their own safety. Any irregularity or play that is not within these set rules is instantly punished to act as precaution to anyone that willing perform mischievous activities. The essence of proper safety gear and equipment cannot be dwelt on sufficiently. Most of this paraphernalia should be tailored down to be sport-specific. Some of these items include, protective eyewear for swimmers or riders, mouth guards for all physical sports, knee and shoulder pads for all sports and lastly helmets for physical games.

This safety equipment come with specific set of guidelines to be followed for their effective use. They should properly fit the user for comfort and ease while using them. To sum it up, sports gear such as bats, racks, baskets or goals posts should be in good and proper operating conditions. Any default to such kind of equipment should be dealt with appropriately by either repairing them or just getting new ones.

Different individuals have different body types, each game needs a specific body type for distinctive performances. For example, a rugby match would require someone with a bit of extra weight unlike athletics with mostly prefers leaner guys. For you to be fit to play and be safe in a certain sport your body physique should match its requirements. These types of attributes can set you in pace to know which kind of sport you can be strong or weak in.

Sports being a very physical activity, the importance of hydration can never be undermined. Most sports would include sweating as part of their routine. Sweating really causes the body to lose a lot of water. These lost fluids should then be substituted with the same amount of what is lost. It is there for important to drink water before, during and after every game. Avoid having large amounts of water at ago because it can result to stomach cramps. Small but regular amounts should be taken instead. Symptoms of dehydration can seem as medical ones. A dehydrated player will often experience extreme thirst, feel weak, have headaches and slight weight losses.

For players to be safe, there should be favorable or fair-weather conditions. Maximum consideration should be given to weather conditions before a game is played. Extreme instances of rain, heat or cold should automatically result into postponement of training sessions or races. In order to have enough guidelines for fair weather, sports providers should check with medical practitioners to determine weather conditions that are necessary for playing a specific game.

Coaches play a big role in ensuring the players are safe and fit for competition. Training and competing can adversely affect the players health. Coaches are therefore expected to formulate plans that are injury and disease free through proper planning and conducting of good programs. Strong trainings and competitions can lead to frequent illness because the body is not used to such pressure and stress. Certain sports will also put players in risky positions of contracting infectious diseases. Common cases of such diseases are hepatitis and a wide range of skin infections. These diseases are frequently experienced when the playing grounds are contaminated, players are sharing soiled things, exchange of other people’s body fluids and sudden change of weather. To prevent such predicaments, sport providers should immensely engage the health sector in these sports to protect the players from infections.

Drugs have also been a big hindrance to promoting sport safety. Social drugs are at the top most in our lists of things that negatively affect sport safety. Alcohol, cigarettes and cannabis amongst other drugs have unacceptable impacts on sports. Players who engage in these drugs are one way or the other the main source of injuries that occur during gaming. It is therefore prudent for players not to engage excessively on these drugs. Emergency response is another key area in sport safety. Sport providers should be well familiar with the pending risks and put in place effective measures of response in case of occurrence of such activities. These measures can include documentation of players emergency contacts, installation of rescue equipment or first aid kits and lastly recorded emergency procedures for medicinal use.

For sport safety to strive some things should be incorporated. Sport providers should be legally obligated to maintain and enforce safety measures to protect the players. Amenities used for games and sport equipment should be subjected to quality scrutiny to make sure that they meet the required standards. This will in turn prevent most of physical injuries during the game. When safety is key to a game, players spirits are boosted thus good results are initiated. Weather conditions decision will require expert examination. This will not only protect the player’s health but ensure that even the fans in attendance are able to enjoy the games in play. Education on matters concerning sports should be increased. Most injuries occur because of the little information that players have about the game. It is, therefore, highly recommended that players get enough and quality information about that particular game for a tactical and a safe play.

Athletics coaches and managers should train their athletes on strength and conditioning exercises. This is important in the sense that players are exposed to challenging conditions just like what they can find in competitions. This helps players to avoid injuries during the match day because they exposed to exercises similar to the ones they have done before. Players should, always, play within the rules and with a mentality of injury awareness. They should be explained to the adverse effects of getting injuries and trained to play safe to avoid unnecessary injuries. From this approach, it is easy to reduce injuries as we have involved the major stakeholders.

Games come with a lot of excitement and hype around them. From past experiences we have noticed that games attract a big crowd. The issue of safety will then cut across protecting the fans and players in action. This is a major concern and it is way beyond the sport provider. The state government or authorities should join hands with sports providers in fastening the issue of security. When fans and players are assured of their security a lot of positive strides are made across all the areas related to the sporting activities.