Just got done with the early game in the consolation bracket of the Aiea 14U Tournament. Lost to Boom, 36-17 (something like that). It was close, 14-12, early in the second half and we just didn't have the depth to stay with another older, taller team. But I really liked our effort and ability to improve along the way. Some of our new guys (and girls) who struggled against the press early in the game did much better in the press breaker.
Tanielu was a big energizer for us, grabbing boards, hustling for steals and loose balls. Chris dove on two or three loose balls even though he's a big guy. He hustles a lot like a little guard sometimes.
Tanielu got hurt on a play on the sideline in the second half. He was dribbling upcourt and lost control of the ball. As he reached out to grab the ball, a defensive player sprinted in from the side and collided with Tanielu right on the head. He took a shoulder to the nose and virtually flipped backward. He got clotheslined.
It was a tough play as far as how it affected us. There was no foul called on the play. That was bad enough. But the officials didn't take the time to make sure it wasn't a serious head injury. They assumed because Tanielu got up that he was OK. I asked the official on our sideline for an explanation why there was no call on a head injury. He refused to listen to anything I said. I just wanted an explanation, and I didn't yell.
But they gave me a technical foul anyway. The officials never conferred, never checked with each other to be sure they got the call right. WORST OF ALL, they didn't check on Tanielu. Within a minute, he asked to come out of the game. He told me he wasn't feeling good.
I was told by the lead official that they were concerned about the game schedule and keeping everything on schedule. Beyond that, it was clear by their actions that their priority was NOT the health of a kid with a head injury, but the clock and schedule.
Seriously...
The ball was still in play and I asked the officials for an injury time out. They gave us one on the next dead ball. I then asked Rob Godinez, the tournament director, for help with Tanielu, who was in pain and visibly suffering from the head injury.
Rob looked after Tanielu near an exit door, going through the procedure to check for a possible concussion.
It was disappointing and discouraging to see adults on the court do everything they could to avoid taking care of these kids who are 12, 13, 14 years old. They wouldn't talk to me. They wouldn't check with each other. They wouldn't check on the injured player.
To me, it's one thing to be robotic as an official and block out all human sensibility. But doing that to an extreme is DANGEROUS for all kids playing. It's a fortunate thing that Tanielu is a strong kid. If it had been a smaller kid, it would've been a more serious injury.
I vented quite a bit to Rob, who handled the situation properly and later discussed the non-call with the officials. But what I'm concerned with is the way they handled the head injury. Too non-chalant. Too robotic.
Rob requested a view of the video, which we had. He has also requested a snippet of the video to submit to the officials association. The actual play and collision is just part of this. What I'd like to see is this crew become much more sensitized to the children who play this sport and go beyond the standard "by the book" attitude. They didn't show an ounce of care, and that, to me, is far more dangerous than anything accidental on the court.
Adults need to step up every time, and sometimes that means being human rather than looking to tech a coach or player when a possible injury is involved.
It's been more than an hour since he got hurt, but Tanielu is walking and running around. He says he's fine, but we're taking precautions since (possible) concussions take time to develop. I know from experience. Hours could pass before you feel normal again, and sometimes symptoms show up later.
Mahalo to our parents for not reacting to the situation like other parents might have. It would've been easy to go after the officials, and I know even the nicest fathers and mothers would lose their minds and snap if they say their child take a hit like Tanielu did. He's OK right now, and even if I wanted to let him play our next game at noon, the tournament will not. It's good common sense.
I feel bad for Tanielu. He really, really wants to play. But we'll have him take it easy, and if he's fine overnight, we've got a 13U (and 15U) game on Monday (tomorrow).
Update, Tuesday: I checked in with Tanielu's mom on Sunday afternoon and she said he seemed to be all right, but a bit tired and maybe dizzy. He took a nap, got up and was better. I don't know enough about concussion treatment to know whether that nap was good or not. I just remember when I was in the hospital with a concussion back in my teen years, they told us not to let me fall asleep too soon.
Tanielu, though, was never as foggy or dizzy as I was during those concussions (yes, more than one). He woke up today and was fine, and he played tonight in our 13U game at CAL League. He hustled his tail off.
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