Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
How did this happen? And is it preventable?
Those are two questions that get asked any time a serious injury occurs in any sport — contact or otherwise.
After Balgonie teenager Hunter Gronick suffered a brain bleed during a high-school football game with the Greenall Griffins in Swift Current earlier this month, those conversations are happening in football circles right now.
“What ends up happening is usually once an incident occurs, there’s a reaction to it,” said Football Saskatchewan executive director Mike Thomas. “What are the measures being done, or is there anybody doing anything different, or what are certain people doing?
“While it’s unfortunate that it takes an incident to occur, (it can) reinvigorate a conversation or just reassure ourselves within our sport in terms of what’s going on.”
After expressing his well wishes to Gronick, who remains in a Regina hospital after having a portion of his skull temporarily removed to alleviate swelling, Thomas said the procedures following the incident reaffirm the protocols they have in place when dealing with an injury like this — which is basically unprecedented.
“I’ve been with Football Sask for 21 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Thomas. “And prior to me, talking and hearing from Bernie Schmidt, who had been with the organization for 31 years; that’s over 50 years of being here in our province and never having anything like this occur.
“It’s definitely brand-new territory but (we’re) very thankful that there were the right people in the right places at those facilities and venues that were able to be on guard and ready when something occurred.”
Injury protocols — along with preventative measures — are two things that could be discussed at Football Canada executive director meetings this week.
“We will talk about: is what we are providing enough?” said Thomas. “Would there be anything that would preclude an injury like this to occur? With so many things that can happen in a game and not knowing exactly what specific incident or occurrence it took for that to happen, it happened, and so now it’s like, ‘OK, let’s analyze the situation.’ Let’s see if is there anything that could have been done to prevent it, or from a measurement standpoint, what measures could be taken to lessen opportunities for that?”
Hockey went through a similar conversation in 2023, after a player in Europe, Adam Johnson, died following a skate cut to the neck, which led to a widespread implementation of neck guards in many leagues, including the Western Hockey League.
Conversations about safety in football have always been top of mind, according to Thomas.
“This conversation is ongoing and has never stopped,” he said.
And it’s not just at the youth level, but both the NFL and CFL have had serious conversations in recent years about brain injuries and concussions, which led to both leagues mandating Guardian caps to be worn over top of helmets during practice.
While it’s slowly catching on in games in both the NFL and CFL, with Saskatchewan Roughriders running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon being one of those that wears a Guardian cap during a game, there are also an increasing number of players wearing them at the high school and youth level.
We’ll never know if a Guardian cap, or any other safety measure, would have prevented Gronick’s injury — but you do have to ask what else can be done even if it was a freak accident.
Sabrina Gronick, Hunter’s mother, never thought an injury like this would happen to her son. Hunter’s older brother, Andrew, played with the Regina Minor Football’s Mighty Mites right through to high school with the Griffins and was just fine, she said.
“That’s kind of what you just think, right?” Gronick told the Leader-Post in an interview last week.
Thomas said the priority is Gronick’s recovery and what can be learned from the incident.
“The biggest concern, obviously first and foremost, is to ensure that Hunter gets the adequate care that he’s getting here in our province,” said Thomas. “Nobody ever wants to see this happen and if and when this does happen, everybody wants to make sure that we can be in the appropriate space to help as best as possible.
“Safety conversations are always prevalent in the game of football,” he continued. “From looking at rules analysis in terms of ways to ensure player safety on the field at all times or in all situations, to off the field from a coaching education standpoint, player development standpoint, and then even from a resource component, which would be equipment purchasing.”
Last year the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation donated 1,000 football helmets to teams across the province to ensure more adequate protection is in place.
Additionally, Football Saskatchewan also offers a free program where equipment can be inspected before the season and after the season.
“Coaches and those that are within those team structures are provided the education in terms of what to look for and how to see or witness any deficiencies or issues that could come about with anything,” said Thomas. “And they’re able to contact our provincial equipment inspector should anything come up.”
When it comes to on-field safety, Thomas pointed out Football Canada’s “Safe Contact” program, which is an educational training program that teaches “safe tackling and blocking techniques along with safety education and awareness.”
All Saskatchewan high school coaches must be Safe Contact certified.
“That ensures the language that is being utilized in regard to how to teach players is universal,” said Thomas.
It’s one measure that Thomas, and others associated with Football Saskatchewan, bring up to parents who may be apprehensive about their son or daughter playing football.
“We explain the measures that have been taking place collectively over the years to ensure that coaches are taking the appropriate courses to be able to teach and coach tackling; not just how to tackle someone but how to get tackled,” said Thomas. “That is probably one of the biggest improvements I’ve ever seen in the game.
“And if you’re not on board, then you’re not coaching, which is a very good thing and a safe thing in the sport in itself.”
Thomas also said they’ve reached out to the Griffins to offer any support they might need as a team.
“You want to ensure that those involved directly with the team have an outlet to ensure that they’re able to express themselves appropriately,” said Thomas. “They’re still kids that witnessed or saw someone that they became close with, a teammate; someone they connected with, get injured and hurt in a manner that they’ve probably never seen or heard of before. You want to make sure that they’re able to have someone there for them.
“We’ve connected with the team to ensure that there’s mechanisms in place from our standpoint to assist, and that we want to make sure that we can be as close as possible without overbearing, but wanting to ensure that all is well as much as possible in this time.”
The goal of each of these safety measures, and whatever is implemented in the future, is to prevent an injury like Gronick’s from ever happening again.
“It’s a continual conversation,” said Thomas. “The efforts that are being put in place to ensure that player safety is at the forefront across this province is probably at an all-time high.”
