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First published online March 28, 2017

Coaches’ Implementation of the USA Football “Heads Up Football” Educational Program

Zachary Y. Kerr, PhD, MPH [email protected], Emily Kroshus, ScD, MPH, Joseph G. L. Lee, PhD, MPH, Susan W. Yeargin, PhD, ATC, and Thomas P. Dompier, PhD, ATCView all authors and affiliations
Volume 19, Issue 2
https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839917700398

Abstract

An integral part of the Heads Up Football (HUF) educational program is the Player Safety Coach (PSC), who is responsible for teaching other coaches within a youth football league about safer blocking/tackling and injury prevention. This study examines the association between youth football coaches’ interactions with the PSC (i.e., attending the PSC clinic at the beginning of the season and seeing the PSC on-field during practices) and their subsequent implementation of the HUF educational program. Data were collected via online questionnaire completed by 1,316 youth football coaches from HUF leagues. Data were analyzed with frequencies and logistic regression. Nearly half of coaches (44.8%) did not attend the PSC clinic; 25.9% reported not seeing their league’s PSC on the field on a regular basis. The lack of PSC on-site presence was significantly associated with worse implementation for “concussion recognition and response,” “heat preparedness and hydration,” and “sudden cardiac event preparedness.” PSC clinic attendance was not associated with implementation. Opportunities exist for improvement in the HUF educational program as there appears to be inconsistent implementation. Further research is warranted to understand how to optimize the role of the PSC in the youth sports context.

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Published In

Volume 19, Issue 2
Pages: 184 - 193
Article first published online: March 28, 2017
Issue published: March 2018

Keywords

  1. process evaluation
  2. program planning and evaluation
  3. injury prevention/safety
  4. unintentional injury

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© 2017 Society for Public Health Education.
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PubMed: 28351166

Authors

Affiliations

Zachary Y. Kerr, PhD, MPH
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
[email protected]
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Emily Kroshus, ScD, MPH
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
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Joseph G. L. Lee, PhD, MPH
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
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Susan W. Yeargin, PhD, ATC
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
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Thomas P. Dompier, PhD, ATC
Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention, Indianapolis, IN, USA
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Notes

Zachary Y. Kerr, Assistant Professor, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 313 Woollen Gym, CB No. 8700, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8700, USA; e-mail: [email protected].

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