Smithson Valley Texas JV Football Player Taken from Game by Air Life

A Smithson Valley JV football team member was injured and air life was called during Thursday night's Canyon Lake vs Smithson Valley game in Spring Branch, Texas. The game was the first season home game of the district's newest high school Canyon Lake High School. Spectator reports stated that the player was hit, left immobile, and began to seize. The game was called to a halt just before the last quarter to await air life.

"You could cut the tension with a knife," one parent said. It could happen to any one of us at anytime. Our kids play on these teams, give it their all, and then something like this happens.

According to "High School Football Head Injury Risk: Severe Football Head Injuries 3 Times More Common in High School Players Than in College Players," by Miranda Hitti, webmd, catastrophic head injuries are rare but are 3 times more likely to occur in high school football. Also, of 94 cases reported from 1989 to 2002, to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, only two occurred in college games. She went on to report, of that number, eight were fatal and 46 were permanently paralyzed, suffered memory loss, seizures, or other permanent injuries.

The article stated that several of the injuries that incurred permanent damage were related to previous injuries of players who continued playing the sport. Injuries not from the same game, on the same day, same season different games. They proceed to return to play before complete recovery from the original injury. Why?

What kind of training do our kids under go? Are they taught to hit too hard? Are they pushed to hard to win? In my book, winning isn't everything. Do your best and try to do better next time.

Perhaps parents need to intervene. We should encourage our kids to succeed, but not to the point of injury. States should require better training for coaches to prevent these injuries. And coaches shouldn't push the boys so hard.

I know it's all part of the game you must win. If you don't win, you won't be a championship team. But at what cost? Should we be expected to suffer the untimely death of our children for victory of the team? I don't think so.

If you want to see some frightening reports just Google "high school football injuries." Over 10 million hits are going to show. Think about that the next time you sign one of those permission forms that release the school from incident.

As I watched air life carry the boy away, I prayed for him and his family. I hope for non-permanent injuries and a speedy recovery.