At an age when girls question whether their leadership is viewed by their teammates as bossiness or cockiness... I've never been more proud of a team as I was last weekend in Baltimore when every member of our Kirkwood 161 team pulled together, stepped up, and lead each other in overcoming a very emotional trauma that involved one of their teammates.

A close-knit group to begin with... these kids watched helplessly as a teammate struggled to breathe after laying out trying to keep the ball in play and hitting the floor hard. It was the scariest moment I've ever experienced in my 17-years of coaching as this young lady was in grave respiratory distress, fighting not to lose consciousness as two of our well-trained parents administered to her on the side-line for 15-to-20 minutes waiting for the paramedics to get there.

Watching a teammate and friend being taken away on a stretcher semi-conscious with oxygen being administered really put everything in perspective... The game just didn't matter anymore. Yet these 16-year old kids pulled themselves together, adjusted to the changes in the line-up and brought hard-fought play to the next match which was immediately following this incident. Words fail me when trying to describe my sense of pride watching these kids battle on the court while battling emotions over their fallen teammate. Seeing them all crawl onto the bed with her when she returned from the hospital, was extremely emotional... The fact that she is okay is PRICELESS!

Remember girls,... it's the friendships you make along the way that will mean the most of all. I'm proud to represent you... and I'm honored to be represented by you.

- clubcoach

vafan:

Thank you so much for your kind words of concern and support. Our player is doing very well considering the trauma that unfolded on the court. She is undergoing follow-up exams here at home to examine the extent the blunt trauma had on her heart as well as the current condition of her ribcage. It was obvious the urgency of the situation was not lost on the spectators or the VA team members. A few of your kiddos were so concerned for our player that they were offering up their own inhalers thinking this was an asthmatic attack. Because this athlete is not asthmatic nor has she ever presented panic attack tendencies, we knew immediately that we were dealing with possible trauma to the heart or a punctured lung due to a broken rib.

We are currently trying to spearhead a change in the Emergency Response Protocol at these National Qualifiers. The Arbitrator for the NEQ, who was not present at the time this event unfolded, has concluded that the NEQ trainers acted properly and in accordance with the insurance policies and response protocol. He claims, that based on talking with witnesses of this event, that the NEQ training staff responded with sufficient urgency. We know better!

Unfortunately they have decided to respond to this incident in a "Cover Their Ass" manner instead of truly re-evaluating and amending the current Emergency Response Protocol. With as many people that are in attendance at these Qualifiers there should be EMT personnel on site along with the proper medical equipment necessary to provide life-saving measures. They may claim this would be to costly,... and that would be BS!! Based on the annual reports and the money that is generated by these Qualifiers... one day it could prove more costly not to provide these on-site medical assurances.

Our goal is to make sure that proper Emergency Response Protocol is in place at these National Qualifiers along with life-saving medical equipment that can be administered by on-site EMT personnel. PLEASE, let's not wait for the loss of a life to spur our appeal for these services to be put in place.

With John's support we will start a new thread specific to focusing on the Emergency Response Protocol currently in place at these heavily attended USA Junior National Qualifiers. Support for this effort will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your concern and well wishes. We hope to meet up again with our friends from Virginia!