Poor field conditions, inexperienced players cited as main reasons for injuries during games

Senior management major Eric Connolly has been a four-year participant in Intramurals at Georgia College, participating in every sport except basketball. And he’s seen his fair share of nicks, scrapes and bruises along the way, from getting hit in the leg by a line drive to landing painfully on his shoulder diving for a flying disc.  Connolly knows, however, that injuries are just a part of the game and competition.

“As a participant, I realize that there are dangers present,” Connolly said. “I know line drives can hit me, or I can hurt myself making a play. Ultimately it lies with the student taking the assumed risk.”

This year, 2,353 students have participated in at least one intramural sport, which amounts to more than one third of the student population at Georgia College. With so many players and so many games going on, injuries can become inevitable. Program Assistant Chris Russell said there is at least some sort of minor injury every night, and the number of major injuries, which include anything from head injuries to broken bones to sprains, varies.

“If we’re counting everything, including busted fingers or scraped knees, it happens all the time,” Russell said. “Major injuries, where we have to call EMS can sometimes happen four times a week, or sometimes we can go two to three weeks without one. I say on average we call EMS around once a week, maybe a little more than a week.”

In one instance on March 13, an officer from Public Safety was dispatched to the intramural fields after a participant was struck in the head with a softball. The student suffered a fractured skull in what Russell called a freak accident.

“The kid was running to first base, and the ball was thrown and tipped off the first baseman’s glove and hit the kid in the head, and it fractured his skull,” Russell said. “We’ve had some head injuries before, but that’s the first time I’ve seen one resulting from a throw.”

With the types of equipment used such as aluminum bats, softball may very well be the most dangerous sport Georgia College RecSports offers. With that in mind, Russell said certain precautions have been taken in an attempt to cut back on serious injuries.

“Certain bats are designed to generate a greater force when the ball comes off of them, and so we have banned certain ones that are proved to be more dangerous. We periodically review the banned bat list and make sure we are up to date,” Russell said. “We also buy balls with a softer core.”

As far as softball players wearing helmets, there have been no formal rules put in place.

“We’re definitely not against players wearing helmets or cups or other protective gear, but we have never said they have to wear it either,” Russell said. “We look at this as a recreational setting, and unfortunately things like this happen from time to time.”

Another general safety concern has been the playing condition of the fields. The current total budget for Intramurals at Georgia College  is $60,000, and the department has spent $76,282.

With a growing number of participants and the subsequent need for a larger staff, the vast majority of that money is allotted to paying employees. $14,440 of the funds goes toward operating supplies and expenses, which includes field maintenance. The Student Activity Budget Committee now allocates one percent of its yearly budget specifically toward intramural field maintenance. Last summer, the Department of Intramurals was given money to redo the infields on the three softball fields, but so far the outfields have had little maintenance. SGA recently granted $10,000 to be used specifically for maintenance to and upkeep of the fields.

“We had a bunch of rocks in the infield, and we laid down some fresh soil and got everything leveled out,” Russell said. We do a lot of wear and tear in the outfields between flag football and Ultimate. By the time that’s done, the grass is already dead. I think a lot of the new money will go toward resodding the outfields.”

Ultimately, the liability of risk lies with the participants themselves. All players participating in intramural sports at the university must first create an account on the IM Leagues website and sign a release waiver of liability in order to play. The waiver essentially states that intramural sports are a recreational activity, and participants are taking an assumed risk of injury and cannot sue the university if they are injured.

Still, Russell said the most common reason for injuries is more than likely inexperience with the sport being played.

“A lot of people come out and haven’t played the sport. Some come out with improper equipment or improper footwear, Russell said. “So we try to make sure people are wearing some kind of athletic shoes or tennis shoes. That’s generally where a lot of our ankle injuries occur.”

Connolly agreed that unfamiliarity with competitive sports can increase the likelihood of injury.

“A lot of it does have to deal with the athletic level of the students,” Connolly said. “Some people may not know their own bodies or how to use them, and so they overexert themselves and wind up getting hurt.”

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Apr 21 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.