Students
from Torrey Pines High School and La Costa Canyon High School participated in a
sportsmanship summit on October 28th at San Dieguito Academy. Athletes Saving Athletes™ was part of this
summit in an effort to teach students potential life-saving information and
improve cooperation among the students.
The hope was to create student leaders who could reinvigorate a positive
competitive spirit among the athletes and their fans.
According
to published
reports the summit focused on improving leadership skills
and sportsmanship between athletes at the schools because of a growing number
of incidents at LCC vs. TPHS events. The
most cited event was the boy’s lacrosse championship game last May and thenegative fan behaviors and post-game actions.
While students involved in the rivalry say it is typically healthy
competition on the field the number of negative actions of spectators has
become increasingly more common. The
rivalry has been ever present given the quality of the athletic programs at LCC
and TPHS, but sportsmanship has waned in recent months.
The
summit included guest speakers, often alumni of either LCC or TPHS along
with the ASA™ program. The ASA™ program
presented its typical “head, heat, heart” program along with teaching
Hands-Only CPR™ and how to use an AED.
The program creates student leaders, ASA Ambassadors, who are expected
to go back to their teams and share what they learned. The program also provided hands-on
opportunities for students from each school to work together. The ASA™ program was a key addition to the
summit because of its ability to empower students with potential life-saving
information, irrespective of team/school affiliation.
Beth
Mallon, Advocates for Injured Athletes founder and CEO was originally contacted
by Kari Digiulio, Athletic Director at LLC to help “restore the relationship
between the LCC and TP communities.”
Those involved thought it was important to start with the athletes
themselves and the ASA™ program seemed the perfect fit, as LCC already had 70
athletes who went through the program last spring. Additionally, the Athletic Trainers, Sam
Villa (LCC) and Christina Scherr (TPHS) taught the curriculum as an example of
cooperation between the communities.
Each
school nominated and selected 100 athletes to attend the summit. The summit was
held at a neutral location (San Dieguito Academy) in an effort to promote a
sense of common ground. Athlete safety
is a concern for everyone and knowing how to recognize potentially catastrophic
conditions and where to locate AEDs on campus is important for all athletes
whether they are teammates or opponents.
Beth
Mallon made the following statement regarding the experience:
“We were honored to participate. We hope the
program has a lasting positive impact in the lives of the athletes. We hope the
athletes see each other as competitors, but also as the one who might need to
step up someday and save a life. Our motto is "What you know may save
someone you know".
The group of athletes was AMAZING honestly, I
was extremely impressed with the students attending the program. They were
polite, respectful, engaged and attentive. It was truly a very special group of
young men and women. They should feel very proud they were selected by their
coaches and their administration to attend the summit and represent their
school. We are proud as an organization that they represent ASA.”
Submitted
by Heather L. Clemons, MS, MBA, ATC
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