I am listening to the local news and they are reporting on the new government laws that are being put in place for all team sport coaches, schools, any facility carrying children in a passenger van.
I am sitting here rolling my eyes.......why you ask? I was a teen who played high school sports whom travelled in a passenger van, in poor weather no less. Why? Because the 2 coaches of each team decided to run the game regardless of weather. Smart eh?
That is the problem here, yes it also counts that the coaches who are running 15 passenger vans are licensed and capable of driving a larger vehicle with about 12 of our valuable children on board but really the major factor lies on the coaches who have no common sense running our children on the icy roads, just to play a game.....a "game" that is what they call it, no less the verb ahead of it is "play".
Check the weather reports, my favourites list on my internet has about 8 different weather sites with radar loops and all. 2 hours before leaving you can't be watching that?
I feel terrible those children lost their lives at Bathurst High School. I cannot say it was due to the coaches driving or the road conditions but I will say that poor coach will have to live with this tragedy the rest of his life and that is not worth it. Not one bit, he lost his wife's life and many mothers no longer have sons. I bet he is regretting the decision to drive back to Bathurst on that one fateful night.
As a coach "YOU" are responsible for those children. YOU make the final deciscions on what is best for everyone. YOU decide. Not their parents. YOU must make those children's lives your top priority. Although playing the game is fun and important to standings losing childrens lives is not.
Volunteer coaches are invaluable to our children's skill building but those volunteers also have to take full responsibility of everyone involved when making decisions for the team. Lives matter, keep our children safe.
1 comment:
Well said Mel.
I have to say, I too feel bad about what happened to those Bathurst kids. My heart goes out to the families left behind. There were so many factors involved - driving, the van, the road, the weather .... there's was no one reason. The mothers who keep pushing for the government to do something ... I feel bad for them. I realize they are looking for a bigger reason as to why their sons will never come home. They don't want to hear the reality, which is a lot of the time, crappy, bad, awful things happen to good people. No rhyme, no reason. But then, that's true for anyone who has to deal with the loss of a loved one.
Post a Comment