weekend news

[jazzypom]

Comments

[ms_geekette]

Ramos heading them in this year. Some American parents want to ban heading from soccer. Oh

Well, I'm sure those parents are concerned b/c of the focus the other football has been getting when it comes to head injuries. It is something that does deserve more study.

And since pros can't even prevent knocking their heads badly when going for headers, I imagine it's much worse with younger players who are more advanced and going for lots of headers in games. It's not like there are really paramedic teams or a doctor at the field for most youth games, after all.

[marsyke]

There would be a case for it. I think that the potential damage from 1 header in football is a lot lower than the damage from one hit in American football or Ice Hockey but a footballer probably heads the ball millions of times. And then there are the accidental knocks between 2 players when both go for a header.
I think they should forbid it for the kids.

[ms_geekette]

I was just thinking of what happened to Dries in that CL game. Children being insured here is getting better, but if they weren't insured and had to go to the hospital, it could be pretty devastating for a family trying to make ends meet if they didn't qualify for some sort of financial assistance. There are no well-off clubs footing the bill for things like that, since most kids playing here are not doing it through an academy.

Of course, that's not going to stop kids from doing it, but it might cut it down a bit.

[marsyke]

If a kid here in Belgium would go down the way Dries did, there is no doubt in my mind that he would go to hospital, get checked over and maybe even get a scan and a night in hospital, depending on the hit and the symptoms. Every kid who is a member of a football club is insured for that, it should be the matter for all sporting clubs.
And even if that doesn't covers it, people here are a lot more protected in terms of insurance and medical bills.
So for us it's more about preventing the long term complications and brain damage.

But I understand that the situation is different in other countries so maybe it would be a better idea to just ban it altogether although it would be massively difficult because it would change the game.

[ms_geekette]

I don't think kids here are insured through the organization that they play for. I think you are on your own. Of course, I haven't looked into team sports in a while....just playing for a company softball team (and if anything happened, we'd have to use our personal health insurance).

When I was playing as a child, I suspect my parents had to sign a waiver to allow me to play. One of those "you can't sue us/you are on your own if anything serious happens" sort of thing. It's mostly volunteers, so it's not like there is a lot of money there to access.

[marsyke]

Seriously??? How terrible is that?
I don't know exactly how it works but I worked in ER for a few months this year and everytime I saw kids or adults with injuries they got while playing for a sports club, I had to fill in forms for the insurance company of the club and they cover for it.
My sister hurt her finger during volleyball training and the club covered for the X-ray.

I think that our system is slightly better as every kid is certain of getting medical help if they need it, regardless of the money their parents have.

[ms_geekette]

It's pretty standard here, although kids do have more opportunities for getting personal medical insurance than adults - but their parents would have to apply for them. It's possible more sports organizations are trying to allow for insurance coverage these days, but most insurance companies probably wouldn't want to deal with covering people for however long the playing season is. Most sports here usually only last a few months.

I am wondering if your sister had to pay a lot to play volleyball or if it was subsidized in some way. That might be the difference, since usually here you're only on the hook for personal equipment and league fees, if any. And the league fees would be used for stuff like practice space rental and the like. (I did volunteer for a few roller derby leagues, and in addition to playing space rental, they also paid for paramedics to come to games, but you still were personally on the hook when it came to insurance.)

[marsyke]

No it's low amateur level. I was intrigued by this so I looked it up and if you are part of a club that is part of a federation, you get insurance. For example you are playing for a football club registered with the Belgian Football Association, you are automatically insured for physical harm and at least a part of your costs are covered, for example, you get 3 renewals of plaster if you break an arm but also if you need to spend a day in hospital after a concussion.
But the key is that in Belgium insurance is mandatory and the system is completely different.