Pre-screening elite athletes

Pre-screening elite athletes fits under physical preparation in Sports Medicine, where you are asked to learn about pre-screening and to analyse different sports in order to determine priority preventative strategies and how adequate preparation may prevent injuries.

There are currently lots of sports that are pre-screening elite athletes in order to ensure it is safe for them to participate at the elite level. These sports include the NFL, and many European Football clubs.

Within European football, there have been a number of instances where an elite footballer has suffered a heart issue while on the field. One of the more prominent scares was Fabrice Muamba, former Bolton Midfielder, who collapsed during an FA Cup match at Heart Lane in March 2012. This has resulted in the pre-screening of athlete’s hearts in particular. This screening seeks to identify abnormalities in the athlete’s heart which may lead to heart failure during a match.

Isaac Fanin BBC report on Heart Screening in Football from Isaac Fanin on Vimeo.

The American Heart Association recommend such screening to ensure the safety of participants in elite sport.[1] The British Heart Foundation say:

Sudden death in young adults and athletes is usually caused by ventricular fibrillation, a chaotic heart rhythm disturbance that causes the heart to stop pumping, known as a cardiac arrest.[2]

Such a condition is fatal unless CPR and defibrillation is administered quickly. In the States, they are beginning to push for heart screening to become mandatory even at the high school athlete level. [3]

Such practices have the potential to save lives, but screening procedures need to become more accurate and reliable if they are going to be relied upon to choose to end a players career.

So, as you consider pre-screening, which is often used to focus on the aged athletes who may have heart or other conditions. Take a moment to think about pre-screening elite athletes, it may help you to succeed in HSC PDHPE.