PLAYING A GAME OF RISK : DESPITE IMPROVING SAFETY STANDARDS, FOOTBALL REMAINS A DANGEROUS SPORT.

Byline: Bill Schlotter Daily News Staff Writer

At 6-feet-2, 240 pounds, Burroughs High School coach Robert dos Remedios wasn't exactly a lightweight when he played football at Burbank High School in the early 1980s.

``I was one of the bigger guys,'' dos Remedios said.

Not anymore.

These days, dos Remedios is often dwarfed by players half his age as he walks the Indians sidelines.

``It's weird,'' he said. ``I think the kids are definitely getting bigger and stronger. It's kind of strange when a lot of the kids are bigger than you are.''

Bigger, stronger, faster kids having high-speed collisions on the football field.

It can get pretty dangerous.

Almost 40 percent of those who played high school football last year were injured, one study reports.

Four died.

Factor in the deaths of two more Southern California players - from still-undetermined causes - last month, and the question asks itself:

Is high school football safe?

Those who supervise the sport and those who monitor it say it is.

While players have been bulking up in the weight room, they say, coaching, equipment and medical treatment have also gained strength.

But not every school takes advantage of such improvements, critics say.

And the game could be safer still, they add, if some schools required more extensive physical exams for potential athletes, provided a higher level of on-field medical care at games and obeyed rules requiring equipment safety.

Despite the deaths and an increase in total injuries reported in 1995, most high school observers say the sport is safer than ever before.

``I think it's safer now than it was 25 or 30 years ago,'' said Dr. Fred Mueller, a professor of physical education at the University of North Carolina and director of the university's National Catastrophic Injury Prevention Research Center. ``I think it's a lot safer than a lot of other things kids can do, like getting in a car and driving.''

NCIPRC statistics monitoring high school football injuries back to 1931 suggest the sport is safer.

Four deaths directly attributable to high school football were reported in 1995, down from a high of 26 reported in 1968. And while an average of 16.6 high school players each year died from causes directly related to playing their sport in the 1960s, the '90s are experiencing an average of just 2.0 per year.

``The numbers are pretty dramatically down,'' Mueller said.

Meanwhile, a study done for the National Athletic Trainers Association last year showed the number of those injured in football games in 1995 was slightly higher than those injured between 1986 and 1988, though major and moderate injuries were down.

``One of the encouraging things we saw was that the more severe injuries did represent a smaller proportion of this year's data than it did in the 1980s,'' said survey author Dr. John Powell.

While not all experts accept the theory that bigger, stronger players pose a greater threat to one another than players of old, all agree there is inherent danger in playing the game.

``When an athlete participates in a sport such as football, there is risk involved as there is in any sport,'' said City Section commissioner Barbara Fiege.

But many feel advancements in coaching, equipment and medicine have reduced that risk.

Former Granada Hills High School coach Darryl Stroh saw many changes he considers advancements during his 30-year tenure in prep football.

Blocking below the waist, which endangers opponents' knees and legs, was banned in most instances.

Spearing - plunging a tackler's helmet into his opponent's chest - was also banned, eliminating the legality of one of the leading causes of neck injuries.

Tackling and blocking theory changed. Instead of encouraging players to put their faces into an opponent's chest, they are now taught to keep their heads up, move them to the side and block with the shoulders.

Offensive linemen now are allowed to block with their hands, arms extended, to keep their heads and necks a bit safer from traumatic contact.

``In the old days, you used to block with the head a lot,'' Stroh said. ``But here we won't even let a kid play unless he learns not to keep his head down on a tackle.''

Stroh said he always let his players drink freely during workouts. In the old days, water was a sign of weakness and at times its absence led to players suffering heat stroke.

Many schools have team doctors to provide sideline aid to injured players.

And advances in medical technology have made diagnosis and treatment of sports injuries better than ever before.

Dr. Richard Ferkel is one of the new breed of sport-injury specialists. He and his colleagues at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute provide medical care to 12 local high schools and four colleges.

``Treatment of injuries has dramatically improved over the years,'' Ferkel said.

But perhaps the key area where medical attention has improved, he said, is in early diagnosis and prevention of injuries.

``We're much more aware of injuries now,'' Ferkel said.

Development of diagnostic tools such as magnetic resonance imaging has also moved sports medicine forward, he said.

``Twenty years ago, there were no MRIs,'' Ferkel said. ``So when a guy hurt his knee, his coach or his doctor would say, `You sprained your knee, sit out a game or two.' And that was it.''

But not every school has a team doctor.

City Section rules call for the home team to have a medical person present, but don't require that it be a doctor.

``It can be a licensed physician, an EMT or paramedic or it can be the school nurse,'' said Fiege.

While many City schools nonetheless have a paid or volunteer team doctor, Verdugo Hills satisfies the requirement by employing a nurse from a nursing placement agency.

Verdugo Hills athletic director Don Scott Sr. said the nurses he uses have provided excellent medical care to his athletes.

``If we have any problems, I carry a cell phone and we can call an ambulance,'' he said.

But a nurse alone doesn't cut it with Birmingham athletic director Lou Ramirez.

``A doctor is the best guy to make these decisions,'' Ramirez said. ``I'd certainly much rather have a doctor on the sidelines than a nurse.''

Dr. Robert Brown, team doctor for Simi Valley and Royal high schools, also recommends that a doctor be at each game, preferably one with sports-medicine experience.

``For us, it's stuff we see every day, it's second nature,'' Brown said. ``You take a guy who's the world's greatest pediatrician, and he may have a tough time making decisions on the sideline.''

Ramirez has team doctor Todd Molnar at all Birmingham home games. Molnar often goes on the road with the team, too.

The Southern Section leaves the matter up to its various leagues until playoff time, then requires the home team to provide a licensed doctor.

Medical care for all football players begins with a pre-participation physical, but the required evaluations vary in their extent.

In the L.A. Unified School District, results of the physical must be submitted on a district form that asks doctors to take a patient history, make a variety of examinations and to check bodily processes such as active and resting pulse and blood pressure. A urinalysis is also required.

The L.A. Baptist High School medical form requires only that the physician attest to the fitness of the athlete. The tests and examinations performed are left to the doctor and are not recorded on the form.

Brown said a thorough basic physical that includes a complete patient history is sufficient to determine an athlete's fitness.

But he admits physical exams aren't what they used to be 20 years ago, when it was common for an orthopedic doctor to team up with an internist and a cardiologist to conduct team physicals together.

``We just can't get the manpower anymore,'' Brown said.

Concern over the comprehensiveness of her son's high school physical, coupled with a family history of heart disease and the recent deaths of high school players, led one mother to spend $1,700 on extensive cardiac tests for her son.

Amy Joyce, whose son Cody plays at Hart High School in Santa Clarita, said a casual conversation with a cardiologist a year or so ago caught her attention.

``He was saying that the physicals given high school players just aren't sufficient,'' Joyce said. ``He said unless there is some kind of obvious condition, those physicals aren't good enough.''

Joyce said too that heart disease is present in both sides of the Joyce family. Nonetheless, she put off scheduling the expensive tests because of their cost.

Then came the recent deaths.

``I said, `I don't care (about the money), we're going to do it.' ''

``We found out Cody is very healthy,'' Joyce said. ``Which is what we expected.''

Ferkel said he has been impressed with the care and concern expressed by coaches toward injured players.

And he said he strives to show the same concern in his role as physician.

``We want these people not only to play on Fridays but to play in five and 10 years from now with their families,'' Ferkel said.

The protective gear worn nowadays is also better, officials say.

``The equipment is constantly evolving, starting with the helmet,'' said Southern Section assistant commissioner Bill Clark.

``The shoulder pads are better and there are a number of other pads for ribs and hips. And rules mandate that they be worn at all times.''

Before each contest, referees ask each head coach if his team is properly equipped, Clark said. If a referee notices a player not wearing required gear during a game, a 15-yard penalty is called on the coach.

``Two penalties, and the coach is ejected,'' Clark said.

Another key process, Clark said, is annual certification of football helmets to meet standards set down by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment.

John Kidder, a sales representative for Riddell All-American, said schools are required annually to send their helmets back to the manufacturer. They are sanitized and inspected, with 10 percent of any given lot further subjected to stress tests.

Any helmets found wanting are destroyed, he said. And Riddell has a company policy of pulling any helmet more than 10 years old.

But a few coaches, Kidder said, try to save money by reconditioning helmets themselves rather than paying to have it done.

``There is a sticker that goes in each reconditioned helmet (at the factory),'' Kidder said. ``If officials checked every helmet of every team, they would find helmets that aren't certified.''

Riddell also cleans, inspects and repairs the shoulder pads it sells, Kidder said.

Parents are best football sentries

So, mom and dad, just who is ultimately responsible for keeping your child safe from football injuries?

According to Dr. John Powell of the National Athletic Trainers Association, you are.

``We would never turn our kids over to a day-care center without checking the program, the staff, the grounds,'' Powell said. ``The same thinking should apply to a football team.''

Powell recommends parents to:

Ask about the qualifications of the coaches. Are they qualified and competent teachers of safe blocking and tackling techniques?

Find out about training procedures. Do the coaches allow the players plenty of water breaks in hot weather?

Find out what kind of medical personnel will be on the sidelines during games. Also, ask about the team plan for dealing with serious injuries on the road, at home and at practice.

Check the helmet and pads for wear and tear. Do they fit? Does your child know how to put them on properly?

Are the field and practice grounds safe?

``If all of those things feel good, then the program is probably OK,'' Powell said.

``And I tell parents there is probably less inherent risk in playing football than in a lot of other things kids do.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Grant's Marlon Rios stretches an injured legduring a game with San Fernando.

(2--cover) no caption (player carried off field on stretcher)

(3--cover) no caption (cheerleaders pointing in the air)

Joe Binoya / Daily News

Box: Parents are best football sentries (see text)