Fear V.S. Injury

Put yourself in this position, You're a player and you are injured during or prior to a game. You know the injury is bad and you know it may compromise your playing time. Would you want to be play? What if you didn't want to play? Should your coach be alloweed to force you to play?

Now, Picture this. You're a coach, you have your star player. You know he's hurt but, he's good. Maybe the best player you've seen in a while. What do you do? Would you go with your gut instinct and do what's best for the player even if that mean compromising your season? Or, do you got with what your pride tells you and force the player to continue to play knowing your have more than your season at risk.

If I Mike's coach I would immediately have taken him out at the sign of pain. Although an injury may not be severe to start with, the injury could progress to be something extremely worse. Mike may have been a great player and may have had that full ride but was it really worth playing still.

1. Was Mike worried about losing his full ride to collage?

Kyle Hadrick had a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. But a knee injury put his future on hold. He would now only play six minutes in each game. His scholarship and his future were put on hold. This brought to my attention the fear that most players may have. College or professional players may worry about the compensation/scholarship. "If I am hurt, what do I have at stake?" Unfortunately for them it could be a lot worse than a paycheck or a full ride to college.

Fortunately for student athletes there are more protections for their saftely then that of a paid professional. That is why the player is then taken out or forced to leave the sport. If not, this player could recieve worker's compensation in the state he/she was injured in. But, this doesn't make it any easier for Kyler. “He gave up everything for this university and then he was treated like this,” his mother said. “They gave us nothing back but goodbye.” So personally I believe that this is why some would try to then hide their injury. Fear is definitely something I think a lot of atheletes think about.It is understandable from their viewpoint, but, I feel bad for the player that believes his sport is more important then his saftey. You only get one body.


Sometimes I believe coaches can be prideful people. You as a coach are winning. You may be at the top of your game. Team does flawlessly every single year. "Mike" plays and is injured. You know it, but you ignore it. It's not right of you, but you blow it off. You say to yourself "He'll be fine, He's fine. He's young he will bounce back fast." So, you contiune to let and or force him to play. He's injured bad now, he's admitted into the hospital. You know your at fault. And now not only could you have changed a student/persons life for the worst, you have officialy compromised your title as coach. There is a lot more a stake now than your golden season. I believe all coaches should think about something other than themselves. Because in this case, Mike was not fit to play. The coach had to of known it. He should've done the right thing. Do the right thing.

If I was the attorney, My arguments would be:
1. Did you know of Mike's injuries?
A. If yes, why would you contiune to let him play?
2. Did you ever ask Mike if he needed to come out, or did you just assume he was alright?
3. As the coach it is your job to not only lead the team to victory, but, to protect your player and look out for them. Did you believe that Mike's injury was not severe enough to worry about?
A. What if mike can never walk again? Do you believe it is your fault?


As for professional players that recieve compensation when/while they are injured, In this case I do not believe this is right. Yes, to them and most their sport is their job. But, as previously stated in Kyle's case (an possible in Mike's Case) There is a higher level of protection for high school and college level players. If not, they would be compensated. Sidney Crosby is a very highly appreciated hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But could his concussion cause him to retire? In a february article it was stated that Crosby could receive $20 million due to the disability contract he purchased several years ago. Does he deserve this? All because he was under contract by the NHL, he suddenly deserves to be compensated for something that he wanted to do. I understand that getting hurt on the job is very serious and requires some form of action to take place. However, I personally believe that the actions that are taken for athletes shouldn't be as severe. Or, possibly make it so that injured college athletes don't lose their scholarships if they were injured at a game.








Cassilo, D. (2011, November 9). For College scholarship athletes, Injury can spell finacial disaters. Retrieved January 3, 2013, from The Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/09/for-college-scholarship-athletes-injury-can-spell-financial-disaster/

I thought your post was interesting Victoria. I like the points you made. I really like how you made the list of questions and comments describing what you would say if you were the attorney. I thought it was a good added touch. I feel that your questions and comments in the list are good points to make in this situation. Overall, I thought your post was very good.