The story
We sat down with school board member Bill Kassler to talk about…sports.
Huh?
Been following this whole girls lacrosse issue? It’s the most interesting news to hit Bedford in A WHILE. Dr. Kassler wants the board to require the players to wear helmets to, you know, protect their heads. The players are completely opposed. Parents seem opposed. Actually a lot of Bedford seems opposed. We don’t remember people caring this much about the turf.
Is it over the top?
That’s the underlying question. Is injury just a risk that players accept when they step on the field? Because you can’t put kids in a bubble. That would be snowplow parenting and that’s against the school handbook. Though we would be in favor of bubble sports. We feel like bubble soccer has the potential to be much more entertaining than real soccer.
So, acceptable risk you say?
Uh huh. All athletes are required to wear protective gear as mandated by NHIAA and to sign a form that they understand they could get a minor to catastrophic injury, or die. Way to cover yourselves, BHS. But no one really knows where the line for acceptable risk falls, especially since it’s different for every sport.
Who decides this line?
It seems like it’s a mix of individual choice and policy from some sort of governing body, like NHIAA or US Lacrosse. But is it a school board’s job? Dr. Kassler thinks so, calling it their ethical responsibility. Just like everyone else, he has the right to bring issues forward. The problem with this risk threshold though? It’s subjective. Dr. Kassler told us it’s hard to put acceptable risk into policy since there isn’t one method to assess risk.
And for girls lacrosse?
Well, does head injury fall under the umbrella of acceptable risk? Dr. Kassler says no, specifically for sports with higher risks of head injuries. He’s less concerned with orthopedic injuries because you can’t protect against everything. He initially wanted to look at all BHS sports, and safety measures to reduce head injuries. He ended up settling on girls lacrosse.
Why again?
Because it’s the only non-helmet sport with helmets and standards approved by its governing body (US Lacrosse in this case). Dr. Kassler said that these sports policy discussions focus on the magnitude of the problem and availability of a solution. He’s citing studies that aid his argument about the size of the head injury problem, and they have an actual solution. Badda bing badda boom.
The Runaway
It seemed like the case was closed with an unofficial 4-1 for the helmets at the October 15 school board meeting. But no. The issue was prolonged. We have to talk about helmets even more. The school board plans to vote on November 12. So we shall see…
What to do…
When your week doesn’t seem to be as filled with sports games as it was…
Maybe do homework? No, you’re right. Obviously still go to every game, maybe even pick up some JV games. But the field hockey season is over, eliminating a spectator sport. They lost in the first round of playoffs to BG 3-1. They finished this season in 12th, with 5 wins, 9 losses and one tie. This is a huge improvement after two years of not making playoffs. Why the sudden change? The new coach, Anneke McStowe. She has some knowledge…only played in college… This season, she focused on the fundamentals and undid the bad techniques taught by the previous coach. According to a player, while they have good people, they finally learned to play as a team. McStowe was even nominated for Coach of the Year because of how much she did for the team. So are we on our way to the top of another sport? Possibly. Coach McStowe puts a lot of emphasis on how Lurgio and BHS are one field hockey program, so the upcoming girls should be good additions to the team.
When you’re secretly happy that your week isn’t as filled anymore…
Rejoice that we are in the home stretch of fall sports. Girls and boys soccer and volleyball are entering playoffs, and football has one regular season game left: Pinkerton. Girls soccer finished the regular season in fourth and will play the first round of playoffs against Windham, who we already beat 2-1. Boys soccer won the regular season and has a bye for their first round. They’ll play either Exeter or Concord in the quarters, both of whom we’ve beaten. Aren’t we looking good? Volleyball finished their season in ninth, and will play eighth-ranked Salem in the first round. They beat us 3-1 in our regular season matchup. But it’s ‘yoffs. Anything can happen.
Things to Know
Time for Presents
Just a suggestion for bribing teachers with Q1 coming to a close…
Click, Juniors, Click!
8 spots left for the Italy/Greece intersession. Signups are Tuesday.
Change in Outfit Plans Thursday…
Costumes are encouraged. ‘Nuff said.
Break in Tradition
Where’s the 5k in the Witch Way? What’s all of this wellness stuff? Are we giving up candy? Just a hint at the biggest issue facing us this week.