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Youth Sports Safety is Jim Mackies passion project. With over 50 years working as an AT, he can sit back and turn the profession over to the younger crowd, but instead, he continues to give time and effort to help improve healthcare for all athletes
Mr. Mackie have you ever had to perform CPR?
Had a coach drop dead on the goal line after a game.
As I am headed that way I see the firetruck pulling out, and this was before we AEDs readily available.
Jim, What is happening in Youth Sports Safety?
Florida is # 1 in sport safety but much to be done. Laws re Concussion, CWI, AED, EAP, etc. but much education and compliance are needed.
There are a lot of causes or task forces, why did you choose Youth Sports Safety?
Obviously, there was a big void legislatively & in the knowledge base. Allows me to put many years of experience back into the community to advocate and educate.
Where is it headed?
Progress is being made but we have to see more implementation of best practices done consistently. With many schools without an AT there requires more district education, especially in our rural communities.
What roadblocks are we seeing?
Resistance and slow to change the culture, especially in youth leagues. Many are volunteer-driven and they rely on what their personal experience was and not best practices as well as the effort it takes to implement.
We have discussed social media a lot recently, what role does it play in Youth Sports Safety?
Podcasts can help to educate and influence the public. They see a lot of situations that happen and yet are dismissed or diminished in a 24-hour news cycle.
Youth Sports Safety Podcast – tell me about that.
Started in 2021
We have been opportunistic and gotten some really high-profile doctors and Athletic Trainers.
Call to action:
Take the time to educate kids, parents, and coaches on the best practices. Raise the expectations of those you entrust your child to at their sports venue. Take the steps to create a venue-specific EAP, learn CPR, have AEDs accessible everywhere, and connect with an AT.
Jim Mackie – jdmackie@comcast.net
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