States, schools focus on concussion injuries
As high school football teams begin practice this week and games
in less than a month, they will be doing so with new legislation in
place that reinforces concussion awareness and prevention.
The Missouri and Illinois governors each signed bills in July
that address the issue, and education of concussion-related topics
continues to dominate conversations at local, statewide and
national levels of the sport.
“Concussions are the hot topic in football right now,” Travis
Brown, the athletics director for the St. Louis Public High League,
said Friday during a coaches’ safety seminar for the PHL.
The similar legislation in both states mandates that a student
must receive medical approval before resuming play. The Missouri
bill signed by Gov. Jay Nixon on July 13 requires players appearing
to have a concussion or brain injury to sit out for 24 hours, which
mirrors the return-to-play policies of both the Missouri and
Illinois high school athletic associations. Both mandate education
for coaches and athletes about concussion symptoms. The Illinois
law was signed July 28.
The two state athletic associations are spearheading much of the
education process. Craig Anderson, assistant executive director for
the IHSA, said head coaches and officials will receive concussion
awareness training in meetings. He said awareness, as much as
anything, is key.
“I think coaches are becoming more aware. The awareness is there
now. I think in our state — and hopefully across the nation — kids
are getting proper instruction,” Anderson said. “My hope is that we
will steadily see a decrease in concussions.”
Anderson noted that an uptick in the number of concussions is
possible in the near future, and that may be a good thing. A
researcher from Purdue University estimates that 67,000 concussions
occur in high school football nationwide, and the same amount go
unreported. With a broader awareness, Anderson said, the number of
concussions reported may initially go up.
The speaker at the PHL’s concussion training, Dr. Tom Martin, a
neuropsychologist from the University of Missouri, reminded the
coaches that younger athletes are particularly at risk of brain
injuries. He said it is difficult to compare the concussion
treatment of a high school athlete to one seen at the professional
level because the adult football player has a different, often
quicker, healing process.
Martin emphasized that younger athletes are more vulnerable to
concussions, have more severe symptoms and may take longer to
recover than an adult athlete.
When it comes to preventing the injury, he said there are
several ways.
“I think prevention can take on many faces,” Martin said. “One
is looking at ways to change rules to minimize possibility for a
brain injury, and the second one is education is key so people
understand the signs and symptoms.”
And education is exactly what Brown hoped Friday’s event would
accomplish.
“My goal is to educate all the parents and the student athletes
and the coaches and make the community at-large aware of
concussions,” Brown said. “My goal is to spread this to everyone
involved. Parents need to know the signs of concussions. They need
to know the symptoms of concussions. The kids may not play in a
school organized league, but they may play in a recreational league
in their community. They need to educate their student
athlete.”