Sudden Death & the Coach's Handling of It.

At 7:00 P.M. ON JUNE 14, 1998, 12-year-old Christopher Sprenger of Clarkson, Wv, had just reached the end of a 100-yard freestyle relay in the Fairmont (WV) Field Club pool.

The race had gone smoothly up to this point. Christopher had dove off the block nicely, swam smoothly, executed a solid flip turn, and finished strongly.

Only 10 seconds after 7:00 p.m., Christopher was pulled out of the water by a finish judge and was fighting for his life on the deck of the pool.

Everything was done for Christopher. Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was immediately administered by certified by standers, 911 was called, and the ambulance arrived within a matter of minutes.

Lifesaving techniques were performed by the Emergency Medical Team, and Christopher was rushed to the hospital where doctors and nurses worked feverishly to save his life. Christopher was never able to sustain a heartbeat on his own, and at 9:00 p.m. his parents were informed of his death.

The grief was, and still is, difficult to bear. How does a coach handle such a humbling and devastating experience? How is it possible for an athlete with a normal health history, an apparently normal physical exam report, and a history of fitness and athletic achievement die during an event?

It is important to realize that when the unthinkable happens to one of your athletes, it ceases to be a statistic and becomes very personal. The questions now come quickly and strongly.

Did I treat the athlete well?

Did I coach as well as I could have?

Did I place his (or her) well-being above my own self-interests?

Did I want to win at all costs?

These and many other questions will torture the coach, and the only way they can be reasonably answered is by developing a coaching philosophy that includes devastating circumstances.

The starting point, we believe should come straight out of Vern Seefeldt's Code of Ethics for Coaches:

Probably the single most important principle in dealing with young people is to treat them in the same fashion you would want your own children to be treated.

Yes, this is clearly a cliched thought, but it is too often forgotten or ignored in our desire to be successful.

As the legendary Tom Osborne has frequently stated, "You don't have to be a tyrant and run a boot camp to be successful. You should treat your players the way you would want your own children to be treated. If you let them know you care about them, they will respond."

Regardless of playing status, regardless of statistics, regardless of mistakes, no athlete deserves to be berated, embarrassed, or humiliated for any mistake or lack of understanding. But we all know coaches who believe in getting into their athletes' faces in order to stimulate their effort and output.

Our better coaches do not rely on fear or intimidation to get the most out of their athletes. They adhere to two basic principles in developing a respectful relationship with their athletes:

Treat them as you would want your children to be treated (the golden rule).

Put yourself in the athlete's place before you respond or react to him (empathy).

Could this be considered "going soft", that it might encourage coaches to accept average or even poor effort by the athletes?

That is not what we are advocating. Though coaches can never accept less than the athletes' best effort, they can be demanding without being intimidating. They can let the athletes know that they are not playing up to their potential or the coach's expectations without embarrassing them.

Coaches have to let the athletes know what is expected of them and what the consequences will be for failure. But coaches also have to understand that athletes want to excel at their sport and expect a high level of coaching.

They want to be pushed to even higher levels, and the coaches would be doing them a disservice by not prodding them.

Treating the athletes with respect does not mean coddling them or not being demanding. Demanding coaches can have a very positive influence on the athlete.

"Sudden Death"

The death of a young athlete will often link the coach with the athlete's family forever. After all, he was the last coach for whom the athlete played and that becomes very meaningful.

While the coach cannot be expected to play "healer" all the time, it is important for him to understand how the family views him and how he is connected to all their memories of the athlete.

Parents forget wins and losses. They never forget how the coach related to the athlete and how he conducted himself with him or her. They will remember the coach's ability to motivate the athlete, and how much the athlete enjoyed playing for him and learning from him about sport and life in general.

David Cluphf was Sprenger's last coach, and the family remembers him for all the right reasons--how the boy improved both as an athlete and person under his guidance. And they made it a point to thank him for all he did for the boy.

The Coach as Trainer

One of the primary duties of every coach is to provide for the physical safety and welfare of the athletes. That includes the ability to implement emergency procedures in life threatening situations.

At schools which do not have an athletic trainer, the coach will usually be expected to take over in emergencies. The wise coach will prepare for such situations by seeking certification in first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

In Christopher Sprenger's case, CPR was immediately administered by certified bystanders and continued until the ambulance arrived. Although attempts to save the boy's life were unsuccessful, the effort was made.

The Christopher Sprenger family was assured that everything possible was done to save the boy's life.

Recommendations for emergency situations:

* Be knowledgeable in first aid and CPR.

* Recognize the inherent risk in catastrophic events in the sport.

* Have a first aid kit available at all times and know everything in it and how to use it.

* Know where the nearest telephone is (or have a cell phone available), and know exactly what number to call and (if possible) who to ask for.

REFERENCES

Athletic departments have to be prepared to deal with emergency situations. Any kind of negligence is certain to invite litigation.

* H. Falsetti: Cardiac Causes of Sudden Death in Athletes. Available online: www.ocnow.com/recreation/health-fitness/sportsmed/falsetti.Premature2 html (1999)

* BJ Maron, JM Gardin, JM Flack, SS Giddinq, TT Kurosaki, & DE Bild: Prevalence of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in a General Population of Young Adults. Echocardiographic annals analysis of 4,111 subjects in the CARDIA study. Coronary Artery Risk Development in (Young) Adults. Circulation (1995).

* F O'Connor, J Kugler, R Oriso: Sudden Death in Young Athletes, Screening for a Needle in a Haystack. American Family Physician. Available online: www.aafp.org/afp/980600ap/oconnor.html (1999)

* Rice University: Sudden Death in Athletics. Available online: www.rice/edu/jenky/sports/suddendeath.html (1998)

* Vern Seefeldt: Director, Youth Sports Institute, Michigan St. U. (1979).

* Sports Illustrated: June 1, 1998.

* Van Camp, SP: Sudden Death. Clin. Sports Med. (1992).