[Mb-civic] Locker Boxing - a violent concern!

[Harold Sifton]

I caught this locker room boxing thing on the news tonight

It is the violence thing that concerns me, it seems to be an extreme fighting underground thing. 

When I was a teen, I saw locker room brush ups, even was in one or two, but not like this!

These events are digitally taped and put on the internet, the new machismo ........  huh???????

Why so violent? CTV News aired a couple of scenes, and they are more violent than the ultra cage fighting on TSN ??

Culture is weird, but what is this all about and why?

Point being, I'm seeing so much violence in the community for entertainment and I do not get it! Nor that I want to, just why and how can it be stopped! 

I do not know?

Later H

Here is the story, I pasted it from CTV News

'Locker boxing'

 
Dr. Kevin Gordon of Dalhousie University

 
Scott Randles suffered a concussion from locker boxing two years ago.

 
Sharon Randles, told CTV.ca she was horrified by her son's injury.

CTV.ca News Staff 
  
Updated: Fri. May. 12 2006 9:40 PM ET 

Medical experts are ringing alarm bells over a so-called rite of passage for adolescents, played out in hockey and lacrosse locker rooms across North America, known as "locker boxing."

The battles, also known as a "cage match" or "helmets and gloves" are generally held after a game, with teammates sitting around cheering on the combatants. A match typically pits two players against each other in an all-out boxing match.

Required equipment includes helmets and hockey gloves as competitors attempt to land more blows to the head than their opponent.

Only punches to the head are permitted, and the match is stopped when one of the fighters gives up, gets knocked down, or their helmet is knocked off. 

An editorial in the May/June edition of the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine brings attention to the dangerous fighting game, pointing out the risks of concussion, in addition to the black eyes, broken noses and bloodied lips that often occur.

The editorial described locker boxing as "adolescent risk-taking behaviour with significant potential for concussion." 

"These are children who are getting concussions out of what they think is a sport, which is fairly dangerous for them," Dr. Kevin Gordon of Dalhousie University, the lead author of the editorial, told CTV News.

The editorial states that teen athletes often view the battles as a "time-honoured test of manhood," and feel peer pressure to participate. 

For Scott Randles, a 14-year-old from Lower Sackville, N.S. who suffered a concussion from locker boxing two years ago, it's had a life-altering effect.

Following Randles' locker boxing concussion, he had three other hockey-related concussions, one coming just three games after the initial incident. 

Now, two years later, his memory is weak and he has trouble concentrating.

"Sometimes I blank out and I'll look at the clock and it will be two minutes later," Randles said. "It's a lot harder to learn stuff, and it's a lot harder to remember things."

Contact sports are no longer an option, but he's taken up playing guitar and bass to fill the void.

His mother, Sharon Randles, told CTV.ca she was horrified by her son's injury.

"You hope not, but you're expecting that if your child is going to get hurt playing hockey it's going to be on the ice," she said.

The editorial describes three other adolescents who were involved in locker boxing matches. Two were male hockey players, while the third was a female hockey player.

In all three cases, the participants experienced concussion symptoms such as dizziness, pounding headaches and unsteadiness or the inability to stand on their own. But in all the cases described, the athletes played their next scheduled games and the injuries weren't reported for several days, because of the secrecy surrounding locker boxing. 

One of the males, a 15-year-old, was knocked unconscious during a match in a dressing room before a hockey game. He remembers hearing a teammate say "There's a haymaker," and then later regaining consciousness on the ground.

The second male, 13, was knocked out by an uppercut during a bout with a larger adolescent. He had already suffered two previous concussions in the preceding months.

In the third, and perhaps most surprising incident noted in the editorial, a female on an under-17 hockey team was rendered unconscious during a fight, and fell limply to the ground after being hit. When her coach came to the door to investigate, her teammates dragged her unresponsive body out of sight.

The editorial suggests that many coaches are aware locker boxing takes place, and that it is tolerated and even encouraged in some cases, particularly by lacrosse coaches.

Coaches need to be more proactive in preventing cage matches from taking place, the editorial urged, pointing out that Hockey Canada's rules outline requirements that make team officials responsible for locker boxing.

Rule 47 reads as follows: "Team officials shall be responsible for their conduct and that of their players at all times. They must endeavour to prevent disorderly conduct before, during or after the game, on or off the ice and anyplace in the rink."

The report also suggested that parents and coaches should increase supervision and ensure players are fully aware of the risks associated with locker boxing
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