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National Center for Sports Safety & Georgia High School Association team up to train Community Coaches

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Birmingham, AL & Thomaston, GA – May 12, 2010 – The National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS) and the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has finalized a partnership to educate Georgia’s interscholastic community coaches in the area of sports safety.

NCSS began conversations with Georgia early last fall about the importance of sports safety and the GHSA approved an initiative to train coaches through the NCSS PREPARE program.

"We truly believe in PREPARE's ability to reduce the number and severity of injuries to children who play sports, and we are excited that Georgia sees the value in this kind of training for their community coaches," said NCSS Executive Director, Pat Lynch.

The PREPARE class will be taught in classroom instructional settings and will be taught starting tonight at three different locations around the state of Georgia. Additional classes will be available on May 13th and May 15th at various locations. A specific schedule has been set through February 2011. For further details about upcoming PREPARE classes, please contact GHSA.

"The Georgia High School Association is very proud and excited to join forces with NCSS in its PREPARE program. We see this sports safety course as highly practical, very informative, and extremely current. It is the type of course curriculum we sought in order to advance our community coaching program," said Mr. Gary Phillips, Assistant Executive Director of the Georgia High School Association.

Dr. Lawrence Lemak, NCSS founder, said his vision for the organization is not only to offer a resource for education but also to show coaches and parents the grave importance of sports safety training for parents, coaches and athletes.

"There is not one parent that would drop their child off at a local community pool if there was not a certified lifeguard on duty. That same standard of care should be observed on the playing field," Dr. Lemak said.

GHSA contact: Ms. Julie Jones, Community Coach Program Contact, 706-647-7473, ext 1

NCSS contact: Kathryn Gwaltney, Associate Executive Director, 866-508-NCSS, kgwaltney@sportssafety.org

About

The National Center for Sports Safety, a non-profit organization formed in 2001, was founded by Dr. Lawrence Lemak to promote the importance of injury prevention and safety on all levels of youth sports through education and research. PREPARE is a sports safety course that was developed in 2004, in conjunction with the National Athletic Trainers Association, which educates coaches and volunteers how to prevent common injuries, how to recognize symptoms of potentially dangerous conditions, and how to respond in emergency situations. Visit the NCSS at www.sportssafety.org

The Georgia High School Association is a voluntary organization composed of over 400 public and private high schools. It strives to promote good sportsmanship and a cooperative spirit among its member schools. It endeavors to maintain high standards so that each pupil competing in each school is on the same basis. In the field of athletics its interest is the safety of the participants; it is on this principle that its athletic rules are based. Visit the GHSA at www.ghsa.net

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