Following the recent death of a Yukon Christian school student-athlete and another high school football player this year in Lexington, Oklahoma Watch is exploring the issue of school sports and safety.
The risks of serious injuries in school sports and the perspectives of families and schools in preventing them will be the topic of an Oklahoma Watch public forum this month in Oklahoma City.
The forum, which is free, will be 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22 at the Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive. Those interested in attending are encouraged to register online.
Oklahoma Watch Executive Director David Fritze will moderate the discussion. Audience questions will be allowed during the program.
The featured guests are Amy Cassell, who chairs the sports medicine committee for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association; Leander Walker, head of the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers Association, and Allison Taylor, present of the Oklahoma Parent Teachers Association.
The latest state and national data on sports injuries will be presented.
The recent deaths of football players in high school and middle school in the state has prompted new concerns about brain and other injuries in sports.
Southwest Covenant Schools’ sophomore Peter Webb, 16, died after sustained a severe head injury during the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ Sept. 13th game against Strother.
But football is not the only risky activity, and girls as well as boys suffer injuries.
What can parents, students, schools and regulators do to minimize risk and preserve the appeal of a sport?
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Amy Cassell has been assistant director of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association for 20 years. She is staff administrator for the association’s sports medicine advisory committee and administrator for the sports of cheer, fast-pitch softball, swimming, and slow-pitch softball.
Leander Walker is president of the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers’ Association and head trainer for Yukon Public Schools. He is also an instructor in the district’s Medical Professions Academy. Walker has worked at the Yukon district since August 2007 and was instrumental in growing the athletic training program into a staff of three certified trainers.
Alison Taylor is president of the Oklahoma Parent Teachers Association and is involved with the Collaborative Solutions for Safety in Oklahoma Sport.
Oklahoma Watch is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501©3 corporation whose mission is to produce in-depth and investigative journalism on public policy and quality of life issues facing the state.
Its mission is to dig beneath the surface of issues of public importance, provide insightful analysis and reveal meaningful trends, facts, issues, underlying causes, and possible solutions.
Oklahoma Watch is non-partisan and strives to be balanced, fair, accurate, and comprehensive.
