AUSTIN, Texas “”mdash; When the Texas football team starts
practices this week, the most important defense they’ll run
will not be the 3-4 or the dime.
Keeping players healthy in the sun and avoiding injury have
become bigger priorities this year for every football team because
of increased NCAA regulations on practices. While the Longhorns
rely heavily on their offense and defense, their most important
special team is the sports medicine department. With trainers and
doctors, the department combines expertise with quality facilities
to ensure a healthy season for all Longhorn athletes.
Before practices start, the sports medicine department holds
training to educate coaches about the indicators of heat exhaustion
and heat stroke. Supplements and overall heavier players have
created an increase in heat-related deaths over the past few years
at almost every level of football. The increased liability has
changed the practice schedule, moving most of the drills to the
early afternoon or morning.
However, football practice schedules around the nation have been
altered because the NCAA’s recent ruling puts several limits
on preseason practices. For instance, two-a-days cannot be held on
consecutive days, freshmen can’t report early, and teams are
limited to 29 practices before their first game.
“For all the outdoor sports, you want to hold practice
early in the morning or late at night,” said Dr. Mark
Chassay, who specializes in sports medicine. “If practice
times cannot be changed, coaches have to increase their water
breaks and do anything to decrease the risk.”
In addition to heat-related risks, injuries can quickly become
problems during practices and even during games. The sports
medicine doctors treat athletes and look for an injury pattern to
help prevent and minimize future problems.
“During practices, athletes see us about their injuries,
but at games we’re more waiting for things to happen,”
Chassay said. “We have trainers who do the first line of
care, and we also have emergency crews. We have the facilities to
take care of them well.”
In addition to the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletics Complex, the
sports medicine department holds a clinic in the Student Services
Building. Proper facilities are never a problem; the department is
equipped with a bit more than heat pads, tape and ice.
“No expense is spared for us, pretty much anything we
need, the administration provides,” Chassay said. “Even
if it’s automatic defibrillators, if it’s dealing with
the safety of our athletes, we get it.”
Even with excellent training and facilities, tragedies still
occur. One of the current issues in sports medicine is the death of
Texas A&M football player Brandon Fails last year. Fails
developed a blood clot, which his parents’ lawsuit claims
came from complications involving a knee surgery that was performed
a month earlier by a member of A&M’s sports medicine
department.
“People die every day, and it was unfortunate, but whether
they’re an athlete or not, they’re still a
person,” Chassay said. “But because he was an athlete,
it was put in the newspaper.”
Eric Ransom writes for the Daily Texan.