Rochester high school sports coaches, players, parents react to Damar Hamlin injury

While injuries are a part of sports that causes pause, tragedies during games bring a shocking jolt.

Ask Meaghan Keil, or almost everyone else who watched Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapse after a routine tackle on Monday Night Football.

Keil, the varsity softball coach at Webster Schroeder, was also watching the men's basketball game between Rutgers University and Purdue, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation. When Keil dialed back into the football game a few moments after the tackle, she was stunned.

"I know a few years a back it happened to an RIT lacrosse player," Keil said. "It's scary."

Keil has a daughter who plays softball and basketball in the Webster School District after years of playing ice hockey. “I don’t foresee it but I’m not an expert," Keil said when asked whether Hamlin's collapse will have an impact on high school sports.

"I know that things like this happen, but not on national television. I just don’t know how you monitor it. The timing (and where the impact was on Hamlin's body) was just horrible."

Isiah Young wouldn't be surprised if teams will be required to have athletic trainers around more often during practices and games, and possibly more training sessions. UPrep's football coach is proud to have a trainer multiple times a week now after having limited access to one when he first arrived.

"This puts things into perspective for people," Young said. "They see their teammate go down, that's one of their best friends, it makes the game itself a lot less important than the person who got injured.

"I pray that we never see this in the high school level."

Safety risks and guidelines for high school athletes

Manny Sepulveda, a track and field athlete at East Rochester and a standout high school football player in the region, said Hamlin's tackle appeared odd while watching a replay.

"It was almost like his head stayed in place but the rest of his body went backward," Sepulveda said. "When I saw him fall (again), I realized it was serious. There’s hard hits and career-ending injuries but I haven’t heard of possible life-ending injuries.

"My track coach actually talked to us about it. He told us what happened and told us that if you get hit in the wrong spot at the wrong time, it can stop your heart, and that’s what happened. I never heard about it before, until (Tuesday, the day after Hamlin's severe injury)."

Sepulveda said that safety awareness during his days as a football player became heightened as he grew older. He recently committed to run track and field at the University at Buffalo.

'We started talking about heads up tackling (to avoid possible paralysis and head injuries) and the timing of tackling, he's going down so you don't have to hit him unnecessarily. We had to do a lot of drills focusing on that.

"The referees did a good job of keeping us aware of that. They would come up to us before games and say, 'Make sure you are tackling with your head up or else we have to call you (penalize you) for targeting and throw you out of the game.' "

Athletes receive other reminders about risks when playing sports.

Pittsford Sutherland senior Ava Bleier had an older sister who was also a standout high school field hockey player. She once suffered a broken nose after a stick to the face during the faster moving college game.

"It's definitely quicker in college, it's a different field, Astro Turf," Bleier said. "The shots are way harder, it's a whole different level. (The players) are non-stop running. There's no one on the field who isn't, when the ball is moving. Sometimes the stick brings the ball up to your face, if it goes up your stick wrong. The ball is very hard, too. I've gotten bruises, on my knees especially."

Watching the reaction of Hamlin's Buffalo Bills teammates was a jolt of realization for Bleier.

"Sometimes I think about (potential injuries), but I've been lucky not to be injured severely," Bleier said. "It’s more watching sports that I don’t play. Football is scary. I remember Tua (Tagovailoa suffering the first of two concussions), that was so scary. "

UPrep senior Darius Poles said Hamlin's cardiac arrest helped him to consider learning CPR. He empathized with the Bills players pouring their emotions on the field.

"When you see stuff like that, when you're playing, you never expect it to happen," Poles said. "So when it does happen, it makes you rethink how you're playing the game."

Parent who coaches weighs in

Jasson Jobson, who coached high school football at Eastridge the last 20 years, is an assistant lacrosse coach at Webster Thomas. All three of his children have played sports, including two sons who are on football and lacrosse teams.

The collapse of Hamlin was "scary" to Jobson, a reaction underlined by the coach's additional knowledge of cardiac arrest with lacrosse players, in some cases local.

"I've heard stories about high school football players dying on the field," Jobson said. "We've had multiple incidents (in lacrosse), they have changed the equipment. (One of) my kids, is a goalie.

"You have to wear specific pads that protects your heart, because kids would get hit with the ball."

Jobson imagines high school coaches in every sport will now keep in mind the location of a defibrillator as much as their team's game plan.

"(Webster Thomas varsity lacrosse coach) Rob Ruller saved someone's life in an adult (lacrosse) league," Jobson said. "Our football coaching staff at Eastridge was trained to perform CPR and (administer) the AED.

"We would know who is calling 911. Who is getting the AED. Who is doing the CPR. We would do that every summer. We would tell the kids where the AED is."

UPrep's football team similarly uses a system where each coach has a definitive role when a player is hurt. When Chris Poles' son injured his shoulder in the fall, he was pleased to receive a quick text from associate head coach Victor Davidson from the field on Darius' condition.

"I trust the coaches and training staff," Chris Poles said. "They immediately gave me information. It's tough because we love this game so much, our children love this game so much, and at any moment he could be hit at the perfectly wrong time."

The former player and coach is a longtime Bills fan who comes from a football family and never steered Darius away from playing, but recent high-level injuries to the likes of Hamlin and Tagovailoa has worried Chris Poles.

"You jump into parent mode. That could be anyone's child," Poles said. "It makes you second guess a little bit. This is a worst-case scenario."

Hamlin's condition may very will impact high school sports. But there are very few people who can convince Jobson to turn his children away from sports.

"You have to keep preaching about the pros and the benefits of the sport of football," Jobson said. "You have to keep preaching that they outweigh the risk of that crazy thing happening.”

NYSPHSAA outlines for player safety

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association was unavailable for comment Tuesday, but both the NYSPHSAA and New York State has outlined requirements and recommendations for trainer availability, AEDs and other emergency action plans.

For football, NYSPHSAA recommends a physician is present at every game. If a physician isn't available, it's recommended that an EMT, nurse or health care professional be present.

All coaches are required to have current CPR, First Aid and AED certification by the NYS Education Department. Trainers are recommended for all athletic events on campus, with state certified trainers provided by the NYSPHSAA at the organization's championship events.

Since Louis’ Law was passed in 2001, all NYS public schools are required to be equipped with AEDs at all sporting events. Every NYSPHSAA championship event is also required to have AEDs. The NYSPHSAA staff is CPR and AED certified.

"Anyone Can Save a Life" is a free program that suggests action plans for athletic teams. The NYSPHSAA promotes the program throughout the year along with a mandatory AD workshop every fall.

Hope in the future?

The day after Hamlin's collapse, East High/World of Inquiry football co-coach Steve Flagler was certain he would soon need to talk to the players he coaches.

“I don’t know what I’ll say yet," Flagler said. "You put it into perspective, how lucky you are for being able to participate and perform.

"I don’t think it will drive away kids, but you have to appreciate (the ability to play sports). It was a freak accident, we don’t know all of details, but you never know. Appreciate it."

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Damar Hamlin collapse heightens safety awareness in Section V sports