Tackling The Risks Associated With Contact Sports
The risk those in sports undergo to ensure that they entertain us and keep up with our expectations is so great. Going by the kind of rigorous training some of them go through to build themselves in order to be equal to the tasks, I wish they earn more than they do.
Sometime last year, a young boy in my community went to play football, in the process his opponent kicked the ball and in an attempt to defend his side, he blocked the ball with his chest.
I believe he didn't consider the fact that the ball was coming with a great force. After blocking the ball, he had to be substituted because he could no longer play. He complained about chest pain for a moment then later got relieved. His coach asked if he was feeling better, and he affirmed positively. So, no one bothered to do anything regarding his condition.
The next day, we got the news that the young boy died. His mom said, "He cried about his chest through the night, and by morning, he gave up the ghost."
My neighbor went to play football healthy, walking by himself but he was brought home with a dislocated ankle.
These sports may look easy and harmless but they have harmed a lot of players. Who could have thought that football which is meant for entertainment can lead to death?
I am tempted to say that any sport that involves contact with the opponent should be guarded by strict laws forbidding actions that can inflict injury on the opponent but I realized that if such laws were made then eventually that sport might die off.
In a sport like football which I am a bit familiar with, if two opponents don't clash, there is no way the ball can be taken from one side unless we want a game where any side having the ball, would be one to hold it until they either score or lose the ball deliberately.
When it comes to boxing and wrestling, we can't say "No" to some kicks and punches. However, I believe there are strategic areas that are forbidden to touch during the match.
A game with so many rules and regulations would be boring as it would make the players too conscious and try to focus on not breaking the rules rather than focusing on what they are doing and exploring their potential.
Sometimes, some of those actions that cause injuries happen as a result of an accident. I know there are people who intentionally want to harm their opponent but the majority of the players are not so minded.
Sport is like every other occupation out there. We can't deny the fact that accidents are bound to happen at one point or the other in all jobs.
Each occupation has its own risk involved.
A baker told me the story of how he got one of his fingers cut off by the machine while he was working.
Drivers used to have accidents with their beautiful cars, and carpenters used to miss the nail and land the hammer on their nails.
Accidents are certain to occur in every field. We can't help it.
For contact sports, that's their bad side, there is nothing we can do about it. Even if we surround the games with so many rules and regulations, accidents like that will still occur. The players will still get hurt and we can't do anything about it.
There is nothing we can do to terminate the kind of accidents that occur in contact sports. The best anyone can do is encourage the players to be cautious and play with love and not the mindset of winning alone. Probably that may reduce the "Do or die" energy some people play with and probably cause them to consider safety before anything else.
