Published: February 08, 2010 05:55 pm      

Death of teammate leads to push for safety

ASHEBORO — The death of a high school teammate led Herb Appenzeller to push for safer conditions for athletes. Some 60 years later his efforts began to pay off. Appenzeller spoke to the Asheboro Rotary Club recently about his “mission in life,” which he said “was to help athletes avoid catastrophic injuries.”

The longtime athletic director, coach, teacher and dean of students at Guilford College is one of America’s most respected authorities on sport law and risk management.

He’s consulted with athletic programs from the high school level to Division I universities and NFL teams.

Appenzeller told the Rotarians that he was in a high school football game in New Jersey on Armistice Day, 1941, when one of his teammates left the game with a head injury.

Later, he told the coach he was OK, went back into the game, was reinjured and died at the hospital.

Later as a graduate student at Duke University, Appenzeller said, he did his research on athletic injuries. That resulted in the 1970 publication of “From the Gym to the Jury” and his travels all over the country talking to coaches about safer athletic equipment and practice conditions.

“We’ve finally got team doctors and athletic trainers,” said Appenzeller. “Finally, the NFL got interested,” providing money for a study whose results will come out in a book soon to be released. Appenzeller wrote the chapter on risk assessment.

Much of the interest in sports injuries is the result of what Appenzeller called “staggering” court settlements. Athletes with catastrophic injuries are suing their teams and schools and receiving awards in the millions of dollars, he said.

“There are some things happening (in sports risk management) 68 years after I saw one of my teammates die,” Appenzeller said.

Common areas of risk he said he often sees include unpadded gym walls, uncovered swimming pool drains, unanchored soccer goals and the denial of water during practice session.

“By trying to save money (on safer practices), schools wind up paying big settlements,” he said.

Even after federal law required drain covers in swimming pools, some drains remain uncovered.

Despite the small cost of anchoring soccer goals, many are still unanchored.

Appenzeller is adamant about providing fluids to athletes, especially in the heat of summer.

“You can’t deny fluids,” he said, adding that some coaches seem to believe that denial of water makes ball players tougher, when in fact that’s been proved to be untrue and can lead to permanent damage or death.

Athletic directors, Appenzeller said, “often don’t use their authority to correct problems.” He used the example of one college football power whose coach gave the order that there would be “no water” during practice. Later, two of the players collapsed during practice. Appenzeller said the athletic director knew what was going on and should have stepped in to correct the practice.

“It’s so important that we’re aware of these things that are going on,” he said.