Now I know some of you like the sport of rugby and some of you don't well here is an interesting article that introduces the physical demands needed to play at an elite level.
1) What kind of physical demands are the players worried abot?
2) How is this a world issue?
3) What other sports have the same kind of issues?
4) Should this sport be played at the high school level? Why or why not?
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/may/05/england-rugby-union-squad-workload-players-welfare
Players are worried that the constant demand of running, dodging and hitting people in back to back games will impact there short term and long term health. I personally know that sometimes the impact of colliding with another person can feel like a truck has hit you. When playing more than 32 games in a season, being hit multiple times in a game, that will start to effect ones health. In the professional sport world, almost every sport has a tendency to hold players to a huge physical standard. In the MLB there is 162 games a season; NHL 82 games, NFL 16 games. Players are expected to be at every game ready to preform at 100%, through illness and injury sometimes. Any athlete at a professional level is expected to preform at an almost unnatural level. Players of each of the sports take cortisone shots if they need to just to finish the last few games in a season or they play injured and expect to heal while season is over. It is not just rugby that leads to injuries and crazy expectations; it comes with all professional sports. I believe that holding these players to these standards in front of the world is becoming a world issue. The insane athletes are painting an image to the world to be better than you can be. This has lead to a lot of high school and college level kids taking performance enhancing drugs and spending unhealthy amounts of time pushing their bodies. In my opinion, this image of training non stop, taking drugs if you need and only caring about the sport is wrong. I think this is a social issue (S from the PEES). As far as rugby at the high school level, the sport needs to be played correctly to be safe and players should all understand that like many sports, it is very physically demanding.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.downeastorthopedics.com/assets/Cortisone-Injections.pdf
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130730/PC20/130739937
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/40044350/
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ReplyDeleteI agree that it is okay for this sport to be played at the high school level. Being an athlete at the professional level is hard, and it takes extreme dedication. It is also a lot of pressure, which can cause stress and poor mental health, adding to the complications caused by physical health
ReplyDeleteMARK THIS ONE: Rugby is a very alluring sport as it has such a variety of physiological demands and because each position and each match-up is distinctly unique. There are many physical demands that the players should be concerned about. Most obviously, the should be concerned about concussions and other sports related injuries. As this sport involves tackling, it has a high risk of concussions and other head injuries. They should be concerned about their drastic changes of energy sources. Movements such as rucking and tackling requires anaerobic energy supply due to its intensity. Players also need to be concerned because overuse injuries and traumas occur most frequently among rugby players due to the all the running and hitting.
ReplyDeleteI think that this deals mostly with the Social factor from the PEES. Students and other youth are being immersed into a sport with a high level of risk and are not often properly informed or prepared. Teachers and coaches of this sport need to teach the athletes how they could do their best to prevent injuries off the field and how to be safe on it. Economically this is also an issue for our government because they have pay for all the athletes injuries in our healthcare. With the overwhelming amount of injuries from this sport, it is not only upsetting to the athlete and family, but also to our budget.
Other sports that have similar risks are hockey, football, and occasionally soccer could be a rough game. They all have similar contact levels, agility required, and playing style. Players are always expected to play their best despite any injuries or difficulties, which is what essentially creates worsened injuries.
I think that this sport should still be allowed to be played in highschool, but more safety measures should be put into play. I know that in coaching figure skating, the first thing I am responsible for teaching students for is falling. I have to teach them how to fall most safely, and even though it is such a simple thing, I am sure it has helped prevent several injuries. Although I am unfamiliar with the teaching style in rugby, I am sure that there are some extra measures that could be taught to make the game a bit safer. If we concern ourselves with every little injury at the highschool level, I am certain that we would not be allowed to play almost every sport. Therefore, I think we should be cautious, but we shouldn’t overwhelm ourselves with fear.
Citations:
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/physical
http://www.catapultsports.com/media/3289/physical-demands
I don't personally understand why kids break their legs playing a game and then do it all over again, so I guess there must be something they like about it. I think head injuries are a really big deal for developing brains, and doctors don't know enough on treatments and such. It's very scary to think about all the side effects. I think the game should be able to put in more safety measurements, or maybe some safety equipment, but then again they are choosing to play violent sports over less violent sports. I don't wish these types of injuries upon anyone, but after a certain extent some people should really be asking if the sport is really worth the risk.
DeleteI completely agree with Annabelle. Because of these injuries that teenagers get while playing these intense sports, really disrupts the growing of the brain and can cause many weaknesses. I guess if people love the sport enough it is their choice to go through these pains but they also should think about their future.
DeleteThe majority of high school level sports are acceptable, however they often lead to mild injuries that put the person at risk should they continue in the sport. Playing at the professional level is hard, takes endless hours of dedication and practice (10,000 rule!). Often professionals in any area suffer with stress and poor mental health, however this is worsened by adding complications caused by physical aliments - especially from a young age
DeleteI agree, while I think that we can't necessarily coddle our players because in a sense it does prepare them for the sport of they continue after high school, but we also need to make sure they're safe and looked after. Injuries can often times affect their school work as well which is sometbing the coaches need to be concerned for as well.
ReplyDeleteKids have died playing rugby because they did not handle their injuries properly. It comes with the game, it should just be taken more cautiously. It is scary, however people seem to enjoy it
ReplyDeleteMARK THIS ONE
ReplyDeletePlayers rely heavily on both aerobic and anaerobic sources to repeat movement patterns and recover. Movements such as tackling and rucking are performed too quickly for the aerobic system to supply enough energy to the muscles, so anaerobic fuel powers these movements. The aerobic system stimulates recovery between dynamic movements. Tackling, being tackled, rucking and mauling all involve maximum efforts that challenge players’ strength and power. Expressing strength quickly produces power, and this is required to break through tackles, accelerate at a high speed to make tackles or jump to catch a ball. The high-intensity and contact nature of the game demonstrates the need for muscles to maintain stability to support the joints (including the knees, pelvis, shoulders and neck) during impacts. The most common and feared injury, the concussion is always a concern as well. This could be considered a world issue due to the fact that it deals with some of the PEES factors we have discussed in class, primarily the social and economic aspects. Rugby is introduced into some elementary schools and most high schools nowadays, this means that young children and young adults need to be taught properly how to play the sport safely, how to take care of injuries and how to avoid injuries. When injuries occur it is our government who is responsible for paying for treatment for the injuries with our healthcare. Other sports such as soccer, football, hockey and wrestling can have some similar issues in terms of injuries. All of these sports require contact, agility, and awareness. There is a certain drive that is involved in alk fp these sports as well which pushes players to do their best in every game they play, causing them to push themselves harder and potentially ignore signs of injuries to keep playing. I think that having rugby at high school level is perfectly acceptable as long as coaches and team players are taught how to address and prevent injuries. Being a rugby player myself your first job on and off of the field is to take care of your body. On Central’s team we are taught how to safely fall, tackle, ruck and maul without injuring ourselves. Many steps have been taken to ensure that players can remain safe. Mouthguards, scrum caps, and shoulder pads are available on demand. Recognizing that rugby can be a dangerous sport there are also important rules which penalize unsafe play. One of the main things to keep in mind for all contact sports is to take care of your body. A few years ago a student by the name of Rowan Stringer, a high school rugby player died after ignoring the signs of a concussion and continued to play which ultimately resulted in the tackle that ended her life. Although this is a scary story to hear there is now a new law in rugby which requires medics to evaluate players once they have taken a hit to the head or anywhere else on their body which causes them to come off of the field. The goal is to prevent something like this from happening again. When I experienced symptoms of a concussion during a game i was immediately taken off of the field and evaluated. Even though i felt as though I was fine to play, I was kept off for this very reason.
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/physical-and-physiological-demands-of-rugby
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rowan-stringer-ignored-concussion-symptoms-days-before-death-1.3077245
http://www.catapultsports.com/media/3289/physical-demands
mark this one:
ReplyDeleteThe players are worried about the constant demand of side to side movements to dodge players and the strength of hitting people back to back. From my experience of playing just under the Canadian level, I have come to learn that rugby whether 15’s or 7’s is not about just colliding with people but rather attacking and creating gaps for one yourself or a teammate. With these people playing the level they are, I was surprised they thought a certain amount of games was too much. I do recognize that with the impact of people being so strong and being hit repetitively, but so do hockey players and soccer players. Looking at the average rugby match, it is not just one single person being tackled over and over and for that reason I don’t think there should be a limit. Unlike other sports there are specific ways to do each skill in rugby. In my opinion if you can't handle the contact then perhaps rugby isn't for you. These people, like myself play for the adrenaline rush and the hype that comes along with it. I play for the atmosphere, people aren't literally here to kill you, because if they were, there wouldn't rules to the game. The biggest thing in rugby is safety first, yes the initial contact may have been hard but the landing needed to be safe or it would not slide by the ref.
This is a world issue because rugby is a Union. Everyone is very close, relaxed and there for the same reason! People all around the world are playing and seeing the health problems rugby brings them and trying to help prevent this for others. Right now in Canada we are an aging population and so our biggest concerns in health. We are so dependant on the baby boomers that we are constantly trying to find ways to keep them alive. As for the new generations I believe along with immigration, we need the ensure the survival of everyone as the Canadian economy, this goes for other countries as well as some are in the same situation as Canada and Rugby is become such a popular sport.
Yes rugby should be played at the highschool level. The earlier you are taught the skills the less likely you are to mess that us and cause injuries. Also, as you get older the pace gets quicker and if you wish to participate in the older ages, to prevent injury it is best to begin learning the skills at a younger age. Finally, there are protection in rugby if you need to wear them. It is proven that scrum caps are effective in preventing certain injuries; while some other people wear shoulder pads and those who are injured or have minor concussion symptoms are not allowed to play etc. Rugby is a fun sport that everyone who doesn't play thinks is too aggressive and scary, but once you're in, the adrenaline will keep you going!!!
http://www.kewgardenshealth.com/sports-injuries/protective-effect-of-scrum-caps/