Birmingham, AL and Montgomery, AL……. This past year, the National Center for Sports Safety and Alabama State University partnered together with a very important mission in mind: to educate the coaches and parents of Alabama in sports safety education. The focus was on elevating awareness for parents and coaches of youth sports both on and off the field. The goal was to decrease the number of sports injuries by helping youth and high school sporting events become safer venues through Emergency Action Planning. This mission was provided at no cost to the participants of the course in Alabama.
The NCSS received a grant with Alabama State University to educate coaches through the PREPARE course, a sports safety course developed by the NCSS in conjunction with the National Athletic Trainers Association in 2002. The course covers 7 modules, including how to recognize symptoms of potentially dangerous conditions, preventing common injuries, and responding to emergency situations. The National Center for Sports Safety wants to "Set the Standard" in sports safety education, and the PREPARE course is the best way to meet this goal.
The PREPARE course was available online and was taught at several park and recreation and youth leagues through out the State of Alabama, including the Gadsden Park and Recreation, Selma Park and Recreation, Dothan Park and Recreation, the Birmingham Park and Recreation, and the Jefferson Shelby Youth Football League. The City of Huntsville also recommended for their coaches to take the online course. Overall the NCSS educated almost 1,000 coaches through the online and hands-on courses from October 2007-September 2008.
The NCSS and ASU have partnered to continue this important endeavor and to educate the state with this crucial tool for the 2008-2009 year. "We are excited to once again be partnered with ASU," says NCSS Executive Director, Matthew Lemak. "The response to the program in 2007/2008 was phenomenal, and we plan for it to be even greater in 2008/2009!"
"ASU sees the PREPARE Program as yet another way the University reaches into the community, and serves the people of Alabama," said Dr. Bernadette Chapple, Program Director at Alabama State. "We are excited about the significant impact this program achieved in 2007/2008, and we look forward to another successful year in 2008/2009."
For more information about this program, please contact Kathryn Gwaltney, NCSS Assistant Executive Director, 866-508-NCSS
©2012 National Center for Sports Safety. All Rights Reserved.
www.SportsSafety.org