Col. Co. BOE shares safety procedures for athletes following deaths of two teenage football players

EVANS, Ga. (WJBF) – Football is in full swing in the CSRA–but the sport often brings tragedies that no one sees coming.

For the second time in recent days, another young football player has died after suffering an injury on the field.

“It’s a very sad time for the community,” said Associate Superintendent Penny Jackson. “Your heart goes out to them, and you always do think, what if that were to happen in our district? How would we respond?”

Just within 24 hours, two young football players have lost their lives, playing the sport they love.

In West Virginia, Cohen Craddock suffered from brain-bleeding and swelling after making a tackle.

Even while wearing a helmet, he died at just 13 years old.

“When you read stories like this all across the country, your heart breaks for the families and the community–and you just pray that it doesn’t hit you in your community,” said Director of Athletics Chris Hughes.

Craddock’s death comes on the same day as Caden Tellier–a 16-year-old quarterback from Alabama who died from a brain injury after a routine tackle.

We asked Jackson and Hughes what procedures are in place to ensure safety for student athletes around the county.

“We have a partnership with Burke Health and Legend Orthopedics–they provide great trainers for all of our schools, so all of our schools are covered for all of our games and practices,” Hughes said. “We also have licensed physicians on the sideline during our Friday night football games, which helps out tremendously. So we’ve taken precautions to make sure that our student athletes are taken care of.”

All coaches are also trained in First Aid and CPR to respond in the case of an emergency.

Jackson says while you can never predict tragedies in a sport, their goal is to ensure safety for all athletes, and letting them have fun in the process.

“It’s part of the high school learning experience–academics are certainly first, but extracurricular plays such a big part in memories that you make for a lifetime,” Jackson said. “You just want to make sure that you want them to enjoy it, and not be worried all the time. But you just want to make sure that the process we have in place just enables them to do so.”

Week 3 of WJBF Football Friday Night is this Friday, August 30th.

Game Night Live will feature the South Aiken Thoroughbreds traveling to the Lakeside Panthers, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 PM on MeTV.

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