Citation

Kerr ZY, Kroshus E, Lee JG, Yeargin SW, Dompier TP. Health Promot. Pract. 2018; 19(2): 184-193.

Affiliation

Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention, Indianapolis, IN, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Society for Public Health Education, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1524839917700398

PMID

28351166

Abstract

An integral part of the Heads Up Football (HUF) educational program is the Player Safety Coach (PSC), who is responsible for teaching other coaches within a youth football league about safer blocking/tackling and injury prevention. This study examines the association between youth football coaches' interactions with the PSC (i.e., attending the PSC clinic at the beginning of the season and seeing the PSC on-field during practices) and their subsequent implementation of the HUF educational program. Data were collected via online questionnaire completed by 1,316 youth football coaches from HUF leagues. Data were analyzed with frequencies and logistic regression. Nearly half of coaches (44.8%) did not attend the PSC clinic; 25.9% reported not seeing their league's PSC on the field on a regular basis. The lack of PSC on-site presence was significantly associated with worse implementation for "concussion recognition and response," "heat preparedness and hydration," and "sudden cardiac event preparedness." PSC clinic attendance was not associated with implementation. Opportunities exist for improvement in the HUF educational program as there appears to be inconsistent implementation. Further research is warranted to understand how to optimize the role of the PSC in the youth sports context.

Keywords: American football

Language: en

Keywords

injury prevention/safety; process evaluation; program planning and evaluation; unintentional injury