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Health & Fitness

VW Commercial Reminds Us About Being a Grown Up Coach

Coaches have a moral and legal responsibility to manage safe play. Safe play is a constant vigilant task. You want to be there five minutes before the next accident.

Have you seen the latest Volkswagen commercial; the one that begins with a little boy who is deciding whether to buy a 10-speed bicycle? Shrewdly he stands with a confident erect imitating a posture of a mature male negotiator. Firmly gripping the straps on his back pack his asks, “is it fast?"  Next we see him as a teenager studying a purchase of a moped: same pose, same question, “is it fast?” A few years later he stands in a used car lot, same pose, hands on back pack straps same question as he ponders a sports car, “is it fast?”  In final scene, he is now in his early 30's with enough money to buy a new car. But this time as he stands up from reading the window sticker, hands again remaining on pack straps, he asks, "is it safe?" - as his son in a back pack is revealed!

Tell me if that doesn't hit home! How many times did we plead with our parents justifying a high risk activity only to get rebuffed by the old fuddy-duddy? Many of us now find ourselves in the eyes of our children as the “severe conservative;” the role of the boring safety minded adult.

There is another similar commercial for Lipitor. A middle age man stands with his bicycle at the top of the hill remembering his days of speeding down that hill, sans helmet! Well today I know better, he continues. Most of us do grow up. Safety becomes more important than the high risk of the moment. As coaches we weigh the memories of our younger days of spontaneous risk against the maturity of our experience. We have packed on ice too often, been in too many emergency rooms. It comes with the territory.

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It is good for coaches to remember that safe play is more important, that winning the game, or a seasonal trophy. A great example of that was seen in last year’s NCAA College World Series when UVA 's coach Brian O'Conner removed a very sick pitcher Danny Hultzen, from a crucial game. Coach O'Connor said he did so because the 2011, #2 overall draft pick, had a marvelous career ahead of him and it wasn't worth the risk of destroying that potential for winning one game, even if it was the College World Series.

Coaches have a moral and legal responsibility to manage safe play. Safe play is a constant vigilant task. You want to be there five minutes before the next accident. It is also a parent’s responsibility to intervene when safety is abridged. Too many coaches believe they are protected from law suits because they have a signed waiver holding them harmless. That is not true. As a consultant to law firms on injuries in baseball, I regrettably witness severe injuries in environments which are not mature, reasonable or cautious. The fleeting fame of the win is lost in the tragedy of injury.

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Many Injuries are caused by laziness; a failure of consistent supervision. Expedience, poor planning and disorganization can lead to recklessness. As we move into the outdoor season where balls and bodies move at high rates of speed, we should remember the responsible adult question, is "is it safe?"

Email john@pinkman.us and follow Pinkman baseball on Facebook and You Tube.

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