“Since there are so many more athletes competing in our high schools, the fact that athletes may not be in the best medical care during practice or play is of great concern.” High school sports coaches of different sports were tested on their sports medicine knowledge before and after an intensive 10-week course. The course covered basic sports medicine concepts such as sprains and strains, chronic illness, concussion, heat illness and eating disorders. Even after the training course, the coaches scored on average nearly twenty points lower than athletic trainers. "A good majority of high schools do not employ full time certified athletic trainers,” said Shapiro. “So most of the time student athletes spend in practice or playing a game, no one is there with a fundamental knowledge of important health concepts. The only person there is the coach. If the coach is ultimately responsible, they need to be more knowledgeable of these topics.”

According to this ongoing study, coaches did score much higher in testing following the training course. This, and the reality that budget restrictions would stop many school systems from hiring athletic trainers, leads researchers to call for the development of universal sports medicine certification for coaches.

They also urge athletes and parents to call for better standards of care from their school systems and athletic umbrella bodies.

"The ideal set up for schools is to have a full time athletic trainer on staff, in partnership with a local community doctor,” said Shapiro. “Combined with an athletic staff and better-informed coaches, you form a medical team to ensure athletes receive the care they need.”

Unfortunately most athletes don’t even realize when they’ve suffered from a concussion. There can be serious results if the brain isn’t given the chance to heal properly following a concussion and it receives another injury.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), together with the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and Dietitians of Canada, has recently released a joint position statement, Nutrition and Athletic Performance.

Physical conditioning is probably one of the most important things an athlete should do prior to the start of the season in order to decrease the chances of an injury, particularly the soreness that occurs during the first few days of practices.

"It's a mistake to think that exercise (output) without the right kind of energy intake will burn calories and reduce body weight appropriately," said Benardot. "The important thing is to be in balance, so that resting metabolism stays high enough."

Depression was significantly lower, reductions in anger were evident, confusion was significantly lower, and even fatigue, while markedly elevated immediately after the weight lifting exercise, was reduced at the two- and three-hour marks.

The last thing you need as a college athlete is a bout of the flu during the playing season. You may be able to avoid the flu or complications with these simple steps.

Dehydration can limit the body's ability to regulate body temperature by sweating and/or skin blood flow and may contribute to heat exhaustion, heat injury, and exertional heat stroke.

The college takes the position that the athletic performance, physical activity and recovery from exercise are enhanced by optimal nutrition, the paper recommends appropriate selection of fluids and food, timing of intake and careful supplement choices.

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