In class we watched the video Football High and I will admit it was intense. I totally understand being dedicated to sports and wanting to win; however these high school kids are pushed to the extreme. When the coaches were being interviewed they said they don't cancel practice because they have to win. I'm sorry, but if it 100 plus degrees outside those boys should not be out running back and forth with a full set of football pads on.
This video definitely relates to Klosterman's example of intimidation culture. The teenage boys in the video were huge. It had been drilled into their heads that if they did not lift and work hard to become big they wouldn't have a very strong chance at winning. Intimidation culture is kind of a scary thing if you really think about it. One of the coaches in the video said its kind of like a chain reaction. If team A is full of tiny guys and team B is full of averaged sized guys then obviously team A is going to bulk up to be the size of team B. Now lets say team C comes along and they are ginormous (like the teams in the video) teams A and B will work to become the size of team C otherwise there is no chance at beating team C. It is going to continue to get worse and it will sadly lead to more concussions, heat stroke, and other related injuries.
I agree with what you said. It's hard to believe that these coaches care more about winning, than the health of their players. And the video even had a young boy who had died from heat stroke, because their coach didn't want to cancel practice.
ReplyDelete