Birmingham, AL and Pittsburgh, PA – Bauerstown Baseball and Softball Association is joining forces with the National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS) to encourage its members and require its managers to take PREPARE, an online sports safety course. Understanding that sports safety is a vital component to a winning program, the Bauerstown Baseball and Softball Association has partnered with the NCSS to encourage their youth sports coaches to get educated. BBA has safety as their focal point for this year.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, more than 775,000 children under age 14 are treated in emergency rooms each year for sports-related injuries and nearly half of these injuries were preventable. To combat statistics such as this, and to raise the national standards of coaches responsible for the safety and well-being of millions of young athletes, NCSS, in conjunction with the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), developed PREPARE, an online sports safety course. This course is targeted at all individuals working with youth athletes to provide them with the basic sports safety education they need.
"We now have first aid kits attached to our equipment bags but someone needs to know what to do with it and how to react to injuries and potential threats of injury," said Jim King, President of BBA. "The manager is usually the take charge person out on the field. With that in mind we want our managers to not only be aware of their responsibility for the safety of their kids, but to promote sports safety throughout the team, our organization and other associations we are aligned with."
PREPARE is aimed at educating coaches on how to prevent common injuries, how to recognize symptoms of potentially dangerous conditions, and how to respond in emergency situations. The three-hour course is available at a low cost of $36 and the flexibility of online learning allows the participant to complete the course at their own pace. The online course is available at www.sportssafety.org or at www.bauerstown.com . After completing the course, each participant will receive a sports safety patch and a certificate of completion.
The PREPARE course covers seven topics:
"We believe parents with active children will be heartened to know that PREPARE exists," says Lawrence J. Lemak, M.D., founder of the NCSS. "There is not one parent that would drop their child off at a community pool that did not have a certified lifeguard on duty, and that same standard of care should apply to every sports facility in this country." PREPARE will provide coaches and parents with the knowledge to appropriately respond in an emergency situation until professional help arrives.
About NCSS
The NCSS was founded to promote the importance of sports safety through education and research.
About Bauerstown Baseball and Softball Association
BBA is starting its 52nd season and consists of about 300 families in Shaler Township. BBA is focused on enhancing their children's BBA experience, through quality programs, interactions of the parents and responsible leadership from coaches and manager on up.
Contact
NCSS, Kathryn Gwaltney, 866-508-6277
BBA, Jim King, 412-983-1175
©2012 National Center for Sports Safety. All Rights Reserved.
www.SportsSafety.org