The medics
Once when I was in fourth year high school, and was watching a football match.
It was the Coke-Go-For-Goal provincial finals, our team then hasn't lost in a finals in nine years. I don't remember the result of the game, though I think we won. What I couldn't forget is what happened late in the second half.
Our striker beat the offside trap perfectly, too bad, the ball was just about midway between him and the goalkeeper.
He went in.
The keeper went in.
Feets clashed. The result?
The ugliest injury I've ever saw. The striker lay down, screaming.
The teachers panicked. The coach couldn't do a thing, the Coke coordinator wasn't there. There was no medics.
So who took charge.
We were the fourth years, just a year out of playing in the Coke go for goal. We ran to the striker, and saw the clean break. To describe it here would spoil breakfast and lunch or dinner.
We couldn't lift him up nor move him. So, somebody ran to the faculty room, got a folding bed and we used it to carry him to a jeepney, that a teammate flagged down, so we could rush him to a hospital.
It was horrible. He never got to play football again.
My take on this thing. If the CebuFa is scrimping on funds, then scrimp on everything except the medics.
I once ask (I forgot who) in a recent tournament (Not sure if it was the Aboitiz U18) why there were no medics.
"No budget"
Nobody can ever accuse me of being anti-CebuFa.
But in case of the missing medics, the CebuFa erred and they should be grateful no untoward has happened.
Yet.
It was the Coke-Go-For-Goal provincial finals, our team then hasn't lost in a finals in nine years. I don't remember the result of the game, though I think we won. What I couldn't forget is what happened late in the second half.
Our striker beat the offside trap perfectly, too bad, the ball was just about midway between him and the goalkeeper.
He went in.
The keeper went in.
Feets clashed. The result?
The ugliest injury I've ever saw. The striker lay down, screaming.
The teachers panicked. The coach couldn't do a thing, the Coke coordinator wasn't there. There was no medics.
So who took charge.
We were the fourth years, just a year out of playing in the Coke go for goal. We ran to the striker, and saw the clean break. To describe it here would spoil breakfast and lunch or dinner.
We couldn't lift him up nor move him. So, somebody ran to the faculty room, got a folding bed and we used it to carry him to a jeepney, that a teammate flagged down, so we could rush him to a hospital.
It was horrible. He never got to play football again.
My take on this thing. If the CebuFa is scrimping on funds, then scrimp on everything except the medics.
I once ask (I forgot who) in a recent tournament (Not sure if it was the Aboitiz U18) why there were no medics.
"No budget"
Nobody can ever accuse me of being anti-CebuFa.
But in case of the missing medics, the CebuFa erred and they should be grateful no untoward has happened.
Yet.
Comments
Could the presence of medics have prevented his injury from getting worse and keep him from playing again?
I don't think so.
But, what I do know is that, a bunch of medics rushing to him is a whole lot better than a group of students rushing to him with a folding bed.
P.S.
I read somebody's comment regarding ronaldo's son. Now, I've made this clear before. If you have any problem with somebody's view or opinion and stick it to that person. Don't involve anybody else, especially the children.
They are just playing the game for crying out loud. Whatever problems you have with their parents, then stick it to them.
the problem with the CebuFA waiver, as i pointed out, isn't about putting blame on the CebuFA whenever injuries occur on-field. the problem with the waiver is that their isn't any assurance on the part of CebuFA that they will provide medical/emergency aid. i'm not demanding that a MASH unit or a surgical team be on the field - nobody expects or even asked for that. but let us require that at least a nurse should be there. i've seen well-meaning persons approach players with severe sprains and pulled the injured part thinking that it was the best thing to do. with the presence of a nurse, we could prevent an injury by becoming serious if there is a competent person nearby to at least administer proper first aid.
CebuFA has been critizied for this issue before by the PFF. that was the national U19 finals when their was no medical aid on standby.
i can't understand CebuFA policy nor their supporters' defense of it when it comes to this issue. why make waivers by Milo, GTZ, Solar and others organizers as a basis for CebuFA policy. we shouldn't strive just to be the same with others, we should be better. as the governing body, our standards should be above that of everyone else.
what really concerned me about the waiver is that it also mentions sanctioned-tournaments. for me, that statement encourages organizers not to make medical aid a big deal. we are already paying registration fees, setting aside a few hundred pesos for a nurse or at least snacks for ERUF personel should put that much of a ding on budget.
people calling me "anti-CebuFA" - no big deal, but they are way off their mark. i am against anything anti-cebufootball. we shouldn't concern ourselves with making CebuFA look good. our concerns should be all about cebufootball doing and looking good.
another thing about that "player registration form" is that it might be used as the basis for the CebuFA player database. again, i have pointed this out, without an NSO birth certificate attached to that registration form, that document will be unreliable. if we are finally going to make the database, then let's do it right. also, attach a picture of the player to the document as a means of further verification that this particular player is actually the holder of this particular birth certificate.
On the birth certificate, I presumed that the Cebu FA will demand from the coaches/sports coordinators of each school who will submit the form, to hand in, as well, the NSO birth certificates. in my case, have submitted birth certificates to our coach and Cebu FA many times already.
i need to be explained regarding the function of the Centers for Football Excellence. if i got the concept right, it's supposed to identify and train talented 12 year olds as part of a national training pool, right ?
last year, the first CFE tryout were for players born 1992, thus it was U14. this is were i get lost. is the CFE for U14 or for P12 ?
next question would be this 2 year-span between CFE batches. do we have tryouts every two years ? again, for what age group - U14 or P12 ?
next question, once an U14 or a P12 player is identified, does the CFE train and nurture him for two years only until the next CFE batch comes along, or is his training by the CFE depends on the player's commitment and goes beyond 2 years or until he is brought up to the national team ?
perhaps a xerox copy of the NSO document with the school registrar's verification may suffice. the coaches can perhaps facilitate that. but frustrating as it may be to get another one, original NSO certificates will be more reliable. anyway, this player registration is just a one time requirement (i hope). we won't be doing this over and over again.
Again nothing is happening with the investigation of the Hiroshi Boys 14?
got something to ask regarding age-cheating:
if the tournament organizer/manager discovers an over-age player listed in the final lineup submitted by the coach - but the tournament has not started yet or the player has not played in a single game - does this constitute age-cheating or is it a lower infraction ?