injured player

[mgaeta]

This is a gripe I need to vent about over a situation that occured during a JH tournament. In the first game of the match, a player injured her ankle, but the game continued without her being removed. She was in the starting lineup of the next game. As she stood on the court, I could see she was in extreme pain, as she was nearly in tears. After a few minutes she was subbed out and a coach put on an ankle support. She was then immediately put back in the game, limping and wincing around the court. There were at least 10 players who had been sitting the bench all day. The injured player was not a captain or the team star. To me, JH, especially tournament is about giving all players the experience of playing and learning the game. Even if the girl had said she wanted to play, why is a coach letting a 13 year old making that decision? It was irresponsible of the coach to put this player at risk for further, more permanent injury. I steamed silently, as we as officials are powerless in this kind of situation.