Campus Council tasks its Club Sports Committee with investigating injury prevention and care practices among club sports teams. The committee will first look at Quidditch, then at all other club sports.
Sheamus Dalton
Sports Editor
Campus Council (CC) is working with members of club sports teams to review how injuries sustained by club sports players are managed and to ensure that necessary safety regulations and precautions are put in place to prevent future injuries.
Last Thursday, CC discussed an email received by Interim Dean of Students Carolyn Buxton concerning the number and severity of injuries sustained by members of the Quidditch team and the present procedures for managing these injuries. CC tasked the Club Sports Committee with investigating how club sports injuries are handled. The Committee will spend two weeks looking at Quidditch specifically and then move on to other sports.
Head of the CC Club Sports Committee Giorgio Tramonto ’18 will meet with the executive board of the Quidditch team after press time to review the procedures and manner in which the team treats injuries sustained by its players. Rachel Messenger, assistant director of Student Activities, explained that the review will be important to ensure the safety of all club sport competitors.
“We are just checking up to make sure we are doing what we can,” said Tramonto. Quidditch, as a full contact sport, presents a particularly concerning case for Tramonto and CC where injuries are concerned. The team competes against many schools across the country, some of which have Div. I varsity sports teams.
“What we fear sometimes is schools who are Div. I, and they have players that didn’t make the Div. I team,” said Tramonto.
According to Tramonto, players from these schools could make games dangerous for Wooster’s players, and CC wants to ensure that necessary procedures are being taken to prevent and manage injuries.
Wooster’s Quidditch team does abide by safety guidelines established by the U.S. Quidditch Association (USQA). These guidelines include safety requirements necessitating medical and concussion training for team members as well as paid referees at every tournament.
Charlotte Tierney ’16, a captain on Wooster’s Quidditch team, said that the USQA regulates these guidelines closely to ensure safe competitions across the league.
Last semester, Campus Council published a manual on how to properly report and manage injuries sustained during club sport activities.
According to the manual, all injuries sustained during participation in a club sport competition, practice or club sport-related activity must be reported to Student Activities by a team captain or coach.
Messenger explained that while the manual was approved last semester, club sports teams have not yet reported any injuries to her.
It is unclear whether members of the club sports teams are aware of the reporting requirements.
Emilio Bartlett-Asenjo ’17, a member of the men’s club frisbee team Ram Jam, said that he did not know about the procedures. He has had several injuries and sought treatment from athletic trainers in the Scot Center and the Wellness Center but made no formal report to Campus Council or Student Activities.
“There are plenty of instances where players play through injuries,” said Bartlett-Asenjo.
However, he added that while players do play through injuries, the team takes them seriously, and players will not participate if the injury is serious.
Tierney explained that the Quidditch team shares a similar mentality toward injuries amongst its players.
“We never let people play or practice unless they are physically well, comfortable and safe from further injury,” she said. “We don’t have any written team guidelines for dealing with injuries, but every injury is reported to the practice leaders or captains, and that player is expected to stop practicing until they are comfortable playing or until a medical professional has cleared them.”
Tramonto hopes that by meeting with members of the Quidditch team and enforcing procedures for reporting injuries sustained by club sports players, Campus Council and Student Activities can monitor trends in the reports and create necessary safety measures for players.
Tramonto emphasized that a strong line of communication between Campus Council, Student Activities and club sports teams will be crucial in these efforts.