ASA Program Key Component of Sportsmanship Summit

Students from Torrey Pines High School and La Costa Canyon High School participated in a sportsmanship summit on October 28^th 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

Casinelli Survives Neck Injury to Return to Sports

This past week I had the privilege of sitting down with Samantha Villa to talk about October 14, 2011.  For those of you who do not know, Samantha was working a high school football game versus Carlsbad High School as the athletic trainer for La Costa Canyon High School that night.  The game was a typical high school football game when Sam Casinelli went to make a tackle on an opposing player and ended up face down on the field. 

One… Two… Three… and Sam has not tried to get up.  At this point Samantha ran out onto the field along with her team physicians to assess the situation.  Sam was conscious and complaining of neck pain, but was able to wiggle his fingers and toes.  He did admit to having numbness and tingling in both arms at the time of the hit.  Given this information, Samantha made the decision to spineboard Sam.  An ambulance was called during this time, since there wasn’t one on site and he was transported to the nearest trauma center.

At the hospital Sam’s x-ray revealed two fractured vertebrae in his neck.  Shortly, thereafter more testing showed damage to ligaments that stabilize the vertebrae as well, leading to surgery to repair this damage.  Sam was in the hospital for about a week and out of school for about 11 weeks.  Sam went through a rigorous rehabilitation process, but did not require a halo brace during his recovery. 

During this time, Sam and the family expressed their thanks to Samantha Villa as the athletic trainer and all the other health professionals involved in Sam’s treatment and recovery.  Neurosurgeon Sanjay Ghosh, M.D. wrote the following in a letter to La Costa High School and those involved in Sam’s care with the permission of the family:

“It is my opinion that if Sam had suffered at most 10lbs more of force during his injury, this would have rendered him permanently partially quadriplegic.  Furthermore, if it were not for the great attention to detail of the first responders in the field, I am quite certain that we would have had the same catastrophic result.  You and your staff are to be commended for attending to him in such a manner and recognizing the serious nature of his injury, as your care and attention clearly had a profound impact on this young man’s life.”

At the time of his injury, Sam was a junior at La Costa High School. He is now a thriving senior there who no longer plays football, but continues to be a key member of the school’s baseball team.  In fact, Sam was able to play baseball last spring (2012), just several months after his injury.  Sam was also a student-coach as a member of the football team this past fall, giving him the opportunity to continue to support his teammates.  For her part, the California Athletic Trainers’ Association (CATA) recognized athletic trainer Samantha Villa for her actions that evening with the Save A Life Award.  Her colleague Christina Scherr, who is also an athletic trainer in the San Dieguito UHSD nominated her.

If you would like to see more regarding Sam’s injury check THIS out. 

If you know Samantha take the time this March to thank her for being an athletic trainer, after all it is National Athletic Training Month.  If Samantha isn’t your athletic trainer, but you have one at your high school, be sure to take the time to thank him or her, you never know when he or she may be the one to save your life.

Submitted by Heather L. Clemons, MS, MBA, ATC