‘Extra layer of comfort’: CSN mandates heart screenings for athletes
The College of Southern Nevada has become the first school in the state to mandate heart screenings for all its student-athletes.
CSN has partnered with the charity Vegas Has A Heart to set up free annual screenings for its athletes across nine sports as well as its cheerleaders. The school hosted its first screening with the organization, which wants to prevent sudden cardiac arrests in young athletes, Sunday at its North Las Vegas campus.
Athletic director Yvonne Wade said the decision was a “no-brainer” to add an “extra layer of comfort” for CSN’s student-athletes, coaches and parents. She said Troy Roques, CEO and founder of Vegas Has A Heart, reached out to the school to get the initiative started.
“We were all in,” Wade said. “We want to know what’s not known. Our student-athletes are our utmost concern. We want them to be healthy and know what’s going on and this is a part of our physicals.”
The next goal for Vegas Has A Heart is to offer free screenings for Clark County School District students.
Renee Kim, a member of the charity’s executive committee, said it is in the “last steps” of finalizing a memorandum of understanding with CCSD that would cover the next five years. She said she hopes to start screening athletes before the year is over.
“Being able to have that extra layer of safety that you can say you checked for it and see there’s nothing wrong is amazing,” Sierra Vista boys basketball center Xavion Staton said.
Staton was the Gatorade Nevada Boys Basketball Player of the Year last season after helping the Mountain Lions win the Class 4A state title. He was given a grant to donate to a charity of his choice as part of that honor. Staton, who gets screened every six months because of a history of heart concerns in his family, said it made sense to choose Vegas Has A Heart once he learned more about the organization.
“It’s unpredictable. It’s one of those things that you don’t know until you know and that’s what sucks about it,” said Staton, who is the state’s top basketball recruit in the class of 2025, according to 247 Sports. “The preventative maintenance is 100 percent way better than sudden things happening. … Being able to have this outlet to help these athletes is very beneficial.”
Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death for young athletes, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Desert Oasis flag football player Ashari Hughes died following a game in 2023 after going into sudden cardiac arrest.
Hughes’ aunt Nikole Brooks works for Democracy Prep, which hosted a free screening with Vegas Has A Heart. Brooks said it was emotional when she first learned about the organization’s goals.
“(Ashari) went out that day to do the very thing she loves, which was play flag football, and little did we know that it was going to be the last,” Brooks said. “We never knew and neither do you, so it’s important to get your screenings. … I would hate for anyone to feel the pain that we have felt because you just didn’t know.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
