Huntsville Residents Have Opportunity To Take Sports Safety Course

Author: Denise Taylor

Huntsville leading Alabama in participating in sports safety training

Huntsville, Ala. --- Tennis courts, swimming pools, golf courses as well as baseball, softball and soccer fields are or will soon be full of activity. Are you PREPAREd to respond to safety issues such as injuries or weather precautions? The City of Huntsville's Recreation Services Department has partnered with the National Center for Sports Safety in educating the public on basic procedures for parents and coaches of youth sports.

Mayor Loretta Spencer thanked Alabama State University and the National Center for Sports Safety for offering the training free of charge and commented, "Being PREPAREd to take appropriate action in the event of an injury or an emergency is an extremely important part of a quality youth sports program."

This educational program is offered at no cost to the citizens of Alabama. It is provided by the State of Alabama through a grant with Alabama State University and the National Center for Sports Safety. The goal is to decrease the number of injuries by helping youth and high school sporting events to become safer venues through emergency action planning.

"We are very appreciative of the overwhelming support we have received from Mayor Spencer in making this project a success in Huntsville and taking the initiative to keep athletes in Huntsville safe," Kathryn Gwaltney, director of Operations/assistant executive director of the National Center for Sports Safety stated. "In all the municipalities we have worked with in Alabama, we have had an amazing turn-out for our course and activities, but Huntsville's participation has been staggering."

More than 200 coaches from the Huntsville area have taken the online course. The course takes about two to three hours of time to complete and it is designed to work for a period of time stop and go back and continue to work at a later date. The deadline for completion is May 30th and there is no charge for this class that is valued at $28.00.

"If you are experienced in first aid/safety, this course is a good refresher. If you need more education in this area this is a good starting point," Greg Patterson, director of the city's Recreation Services said. "The time that it takes to complete the course is minimal when you consider the benefits of knowing how to respond in an emergency and is a course that anyone might use regardless of whether you are coaching or not."

Here are instructions in order to get started:

Go to www.sportssafety.org
Click on the blue square labeled "Click here to start PREPARE course"
Find the underlined statement "click here to start the course"
You may find it easier to print the page after you have clicked to follow the instructions
Go to online courses on the left hand side
Click add to cart on the right hand side
It will now prompt you for your coupon code which is HUNTSVILLE2-5/2008
This should show that you owe $0
Go click on the checkout button and this will take you to a screen to create a new login
The next screen is to fill out your shipping information
The last screen is for confirmation. Make sure you click that you agree to the terms and conditions, then click place order.
You will be shown a page with your order and you enter the test by looking for the underlined "click here"
The next page will show you all seven modules to the course. Start the first one by clicking start.
If you start your test again before you have finished go back to www.sportssafety.org Then you will go back in by clicking the green square "click here if you are a returning user"

If you have any questions please call 256-564-8026.