by Two high school athletes died suddenly yesterday. By all accounts, the boys were exemplary young men. Read the story in the Houston Chronicle.
Surprising deaths are a phenomenon that seems to be on the rise in the US. Are we pressing kids to be too good, too fast? In these recent cases, preliminary evidence indicates otherwse.
In my experience, some twenty years gone by now, athletic practices are frequently grueling and beyond the capability of all but the most fitness-dedicated adult. However, as a well-conditioned young man, I, like most of today’s young athletes, had no problems in completing them.
Nonetheless, it would not offend me to have the intensity of high school sports toned down a notch, particularly in practice. Football coaches will cry foul, claiming their tradition of “two a day” practices are a necessity; however, there is no merit in this position. One practice per day is ample for any sport at the high school level.
