10 year old ds nearly blinded by hockey stick - what to say to the school

[maverick1]

I've changed my name for this because I will be easily identifiable by anyone who is an Mnetter at my school - so would rather use a new name with no posting history attached to it.

Ds (Y6) was hit very near the eye by a hockey stick yesterday at school. He has a swollen black eye today and he had a cut which needed attention at A&E right next to his eye. The A&E doctor remarked upon how fortunate my son was that the hockey stick didn't actually get in his eye - the consequences would have been grave.

All is well that ends well you may think - except it isn't is it. This was a dangerous near miss. Ds tells me that his hockey game was being supervised by a teaching assistant (the games teacher was coaching another group in netball) and there had already by some high spirits and messing about during the game. The actual incident occurred when one boy took a swing at the ball and missed it, the hockey stick then travelling through to hit my ds who was defending at the time. I feel for the other boy - he was in floods of tears when I went to collect ds, and I really am not interested in a ' witch hunt' or blaming the other child....

I never really played much hockey at school so I am looking to all of you for advice about what safety precautions and preparation schools should put in when coaching and supervising hockey. I can't help but feel that perhaps they haven't drilled into the 10/ 11 year olds how potentially dangerous hockey sticks are and that the children aren't taking the matter of safety around hockey sticks sufficiently gravely? Also shouldn't there be a policy of 'one strike and your out'? - i.e. if there is any silliness on the hockey field rather than being warned the offending child should have to sit out the rest of the hockey practice / game?

I don't want to leave the matter here - I want to write to the school and ask them to carry out an investigation and produce a report making recommendations to prevent any future occurrences. What should I ask? How should I put it - your thoughts would be appreciated

When I was 11 I accidentally hit my friend in the eye with my hockey stick. It was a complete and utter accident - she was standing behind me as I swung. It was nothing to do with the PE teacher or school, just one of those things that (thankfully) turned out ok. I think it sounds like the case for your son.

Dd is in Yr 6 and plays hockey at school and has also played club hockey for several years. They should keep their sticks down and, at this age, the ball should also be on the ground all of the time. I don't know that the school did anything wrong, but if you are concerned, I think I would ask in a low key way how come the sticks were high enough to hit someone in the face.

Ds (Yr 7) is a rugby fiend and, as a result, I have become somewhat blase about black eyes and the like. It would seem that a serious injury is one where you cannot walk off the pitch and cuts and bruises (including stud marks all over ds's face) are cool. I truely hate the game.

I am trying to be sympathetic to your concerns OP but am struggling.

Are you serious???????

You want a full blown investigation and a written report detailing any recomendations so future occurrences won't happen???????

You make it sound as though the school are completely incompetent at risk assessing a simple game of hockey. No matter how many times you drill kids into the dos and don'ts of hockey sticks, accidents, through silliness or 'just one of those things' are going to occur. Life is not risk free. And also what do you expect a 'qualified games teacher' can possibly do to prevent an accident from occurring that a TA cannot? I am also assuming by insisting you want a 'qualified games teacher' means you want someone is solely trained in the instruction of physical education?
Good luck with that! Most primary schools are not lucky enough to have the funding to employ someone to teach solely PE and games. Finally you really need to let this go. You sound like a helicopter parent.

YANBU
When I was at school we did loads of drill n skills to make sure we could use the stick properly for months before we ever got into a game.From memory you do close up passes by kind of pushing the ball with an upright stick , and only swing the stick back if you are passing way across the field

"I am trying to be sympathetic to your concerns op" - then try a bit harder, you're crap at it...and rude - how the fuck are you to call me a helicopter parent

'Who'

And you know that the OPs school hasn't done all that marina?

When I played hockey at school there was no 'taking a swing' and strict practice and rules about 'sticks'. As others have said here were sanctions from the ref.

But accidents do happen,

This one should have been recorded in the accident book?

I think it is reasonable to ask the school for a coy of the accident report and for an account of how it happened. But less reasonable to be so prescriptive in how they deal with it.

I hope your boy is recovering well.

I think you are completely over reacting. Your son got a black eye and yes all manner of things could have happened but they didn't.

In all likelihood the doctor was saying it could have been grave to make your son feel at ease that it really wasn't that serious, just a black eye and a little cut. He most certainly wasn't nearly blinded.

This was an accident. If the process is similar to my LA then an extra accident form gets filled in for head injuries and the school will have already reviewed what happened. There's a H&S document somewhere that says "bumps, bruises and the occasional broken bone" are a normal part of childhood.

Hilarious - a handful of you were clearly there, saw the wound "it was just a little cut" and are better equipped to assess how the school manages sport and whether there are likely to be issues with it than me (with 8 years experience of the school in question). However, vast majority of advice and comments have been constructive - thank you

reading the OP I thought I would be a lone voice defending the school but I see lots of hockey players here, it is indeed very dangerous, even if you have very professional coaches on the pitch rather than teaching assistants - agree schools should probably either not offer hockey or offer thorough safety briefings to make sure kids are aware of the dangers. When I played, teeth and finger protection was just starting to be more common, but in the early days I remember people breaking fingers or losing a tooth or even having their knees broken by a ball, and we had very professional coach (I played in one of the top European hockey clubs). Once I went to fetch a ball from behind the goal during practice, clearly warning everyone I was going there, but one girl who was a bit aloof didn't hear me and hit the ball into the net. It hit my temple and I could have died, but as it happened, I only got very badly bruised. I had my nose broken during one match as well, this was when I played the top girls' team in my country who made up most of the national / olympic team later. So this is just to say it doesn't mean your school is unprofessional or the teaching assistant is to blame...

If schools should let girls just play hockey for fun without proper precautions is another matter, in a way that debate is probably the same for rugby, the injury rates can be really high.

Sorry OP you omitted the number of stitches required for the wound so it's wrong anyone should make comments on the size

It should have been recorded in an accident book, ds3 split his head open playing tag and that was recorded and I got a follow up phone call.

But these things do happen so yes speak to the school if you are concerned but these kinds of injuries are a hazard of childhood and sport.