Woelk: It's Not About Football; CU Student-Athlete Health Initiatives Will Benefit Entire University
June 14, 2019 | General, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It's not just about football.
That might have been the most positive takeaway from Thursday afternoon's presentation by the University of Colorado's Athletic Department to the CU Board of Regents. Several members of the board listened, learned and expressed a firm desire to move the conversation on student-athlete health and wellness forward in a positive direction.
It is, quite clearly, the most productive path. As the University of Colorado continues to cement its standing as a national leader in the area of student-athlete health, it can be another area in which CU can put itself in the spotlight for all the right reasons.
It can also be another area of which everyone connected to the university — in any capacity — should be proud. There is no more important quest in the world of sport today than improving the health of athletes, and for Colorado to be a trailblazer in that regard is something that should be encouraged and celebrated.
In case you missed it, here's a nutshell account of what happened at Thursday's presentation:
A panel of experts — three CU professors, an orthopedic surgeon (and former college football player) and a senior associate athletic director of health and performance — each presented to the regents what Colorado is doing to continuously improve the health of CU's student-athletes. (Note: every panel member has an impeccable resume´, and to suggest that any of them would compromise their ethics in any way is an insult to not only their integrity, but that of the university they represent.)
Panel members noted that CU has been asked to lead a variety of research projects by the Pac-12 as part of the Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being Initiative. They noted that CU continues to be on the cutting edge when it comes to improved practices and protocols to provide better concussion education, prevention and recovery. They also noted that the medical staff that attends to CU's student-athletes has grown exponentially, as have such areas as nutrition and mental health services. Research being conducted by CU's professors is having a direct and positive impact on CU student-athletes every day — and that information is being shared nationwide to help other schools as well.
The presentation was followed by a question and answer session and the conversation was quickly steered specifically to football (even though it was pointed out that women suffer concussions and head trauma events at a higher rate than men).
But several regents — among then chair Sue Sharkey, Glen Gallegos and Heidi Ganahl — made sure that the conversation would not be focused on one sport. They made it clear that any discussion concerning the health of CU students should not be limited to just football players.
"It's limiting to just talk about football," Ganahl said. "Let's not silo this to just talking about football."
Added Sharkey: "Why do we just talk about football … why aren't we talking about women and the sports women participate in?"
And, Gallegos noted, certainly CU's student-athletes aren't the only CU students who are injured playing sports. Colorado's robust intramural and club sports programs — which all receive funding from the school — also have their share of injuries.
No doubt, football is at the center of the topic because of the national conversation surrounding head trauma. But football is not the only sport that produces such injuries. Soccer, rugby, hockey, cycling and snowboarding also have high incident rates of head trauma — and CU sponsors club programs in all of those activities. If CU's regents are indeed concerned about the health of all CU students, it would be folly to limit the conversation to one sport.
Instead, the continuous work being done inside the Athletic Department and with the studies being conducted in conjunction with the Pac-12 should be encouraged and supported in every way possible because it could prove to be invaluable to CU's entire student body.
That, of course, should be a priority for all of CU's regents.
CU Athletic Director Rick George, who moderated the discussion, said he would welcome more conversations on the topic. He said the Athletic Department would be glad to host a national panel discussion with a variety of participants.
But what George also wanted to make clear is that the CU Athletic Department is not doing just what other schools do in the areas of student-athlete health. CU is not doing just what is mandated by either the NCAA or Pac-12.
Colorado is doing more — through research, through daily practices, through continuous education — than any other school in the nation. As San Jose Mercury News columnist Jon Wilner tweeted earlier this week, "No school is doing more to get ahead of the issue than CU."
That is something that should be celebrated. It is something that should be encouraged and promoted. But not something that should focus on a tiny portion of CU's 30,000-student population.
It's not just about football.
It is about Colorado's entire student body — and CU's Athletic Department is on the pioneering edge of helping improve the edge of every one of those students through the research and work being done every day.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu