Prep Sports: New laws designed to raise concussion awareness
Ryan Brown leaped to make a save during a youth soccer
tournament, but went down after being kicked by another player. The
young goalie, 13 at the time, hit his head on the ground and had to
sit out the rest of the game said his father, Robert “Bird”
Brown.
A few hours later, before the event’s championship game, an
athletic trainer asked Ryan five or six questions, his father said.
After answering them correctly, he was asked to run to the corner
flag and back and answer the same questions. This time, he gave
completely different answers, Brown said.
That was the second of three concussions for Ryan, now 15.
Brown, girls soccer coach at Westminster High and a founder of the
Westminster Wolves soccer club, said that experience helped awaken
him as to what concussion signs to look for.
More emphasis is being brought to concussion awareness for athletes
participating in high school and recreational sports in Maryland
with House Bill 858 and Senate Bill 771, Education – Public Schools
and Youth Sports Programs – Concussions, which became effective as
law July 1, according to the Brain Injury Association of Maryland
website.
The law states that public school students younger than 19 who
participate in interscholastic sports, and their parents or
guardians, must receive and sign to acknowledge that they have
received information about head injuries.
According to the law, a youth sports program using a public school
facility will need to provide a statement of intent to comply with
the regulations regarding concussions and head injuries each year
to the county board of education or board’s agent. Also,
participants in such programs and their parents or guardians, if
applicable, need to receive and acknowledge receiving information
on concussions and head injuries – provided by the county board or
a third party -according to the law.
In the case of a suspected concussion for a high school or rec
athlete, the youth must be taken out of play and not allowed to
return until receiving “written clearance from a licensed health
care provider trained in the evaluation and management of
concussions,” the law states.
Brian Pugh, executive director of the BIAM, said there is a need
for more individuals trained in concussion and brain injury, and he
said the law may be able to highlight the need for funding in
regards to outreach, medical research and medical support.
Carroll County schools go beyond the law’s requirements, said
Manchester Valley athletic director Dave Dolch, who serves on a
concussion management committee chaired by Jim Rodriguez,
supervisor of athletics for Carroll public schools.
All students who play a contact sport will be required to take a
baseline impact concussion test before trying out for or practicing
with a team, Dolch said, adding that impact testing is a step
forward in regards to monitoring safety.
“The safety of the student-athlete is the No. 1 issue here,” he
said. “We want to take all the medical precautions that are
available to us in the county.”
Ned Sparks, executive director of the Maryland Public Secondary
Schools Athletic Association, said all coaches at public high
schools in Maryland were required to have training in concussion
recognition last year and are also required to this year. Most
coaches take a 20-minute course online, he said.
Sparks said the MPSSAA provided informational magnets to 50,000
families of student-athletes at the greatest risk – football,
soccer, basketball, wrestling and lacrosse.
Paul Welliver, sports medicine coordinator for Maryland SportsCare
Rehab and head athletic trainer at Winters Mill, said the new
law doesn’t change much, aside from providing more awareness for
parents. He said it will make it easier to keep a player out of
action because it will be unlawful for them to return until they
are cleared, meaning less pressure will be put on coaches and
trainers.
Carroll is one of only a few public school systems in Maryland that
have a certified athletic trainer in each high school, said
Welliver, expressing his belief that all schools everywhere should
adhere to that standard.
“Don’t tell me concussions are really important now when you don’t
have the people to take care of them,” Welliver said, comparing
concussions to MRSA four years ago as just the injury of the year
whereas their care has always been important to trainers.
Welliver said an athlete may appear fine despite having a
concussion, but may not be OK after exertion or exercise – as was
the case with Ryan Brown – and that a person may be able to pass
the impact test even if he or she has a concussion.
He said for years certified athletic trainers have known that a
gradual release is important, and he also mentioned the term coined
by Dr. Lyle Micheli – “second impact” syndrome – which is when a
person’s concussion is ignored and that person is then hit again.
That can cause death, Welliver said.
While concussions are all unique, treatment for a concussion is
rest, he said.
Sara Figuly, girls soccer coach at Century, said she has had at
least five concussions from playing soccer. During her junior year
of college, after two concussions, she retriggered a concussion by
heading a soccer ball. Now, she said, she feels more prone to
getting them.
She said even after the headache from a concussion goes away, a
player should still wait at least a week or two before going back
into play even if he or she feels OK.
She said she thinks the new baseline testing will help with
diagnosing concussions and ensuring that student-athletes are OK to
play.
“It’s not an injury that you want to mess around with at all,” she
said.
Pugh said the term concussion, and other terms like “getting your
bell rung” are euphemisms for “mild traumatic brain injury.” He
said he hopes the law brings more light to the seriousness of
concussions.
He sees treating a concussion and returning to play as a team
effort. Along with the athlete, he said, parents and guardians,
coaches, certified athletic trainers, sideline personnel, EMTs,
emergency room doctors, family practice doctors or pediatricians,
specialists, administrators, guidance counselors and teachers all
have a role.
Some athletes might have symptoms of a concussion but try to ignore
them because they don’t want to seem weak, Pugh said.
He said he hopes the new law’s outreach will provide athletes and
parents with the knowledge to recognize concussion symptoms.
Parents may notice their son or daughter acting strangely, or a
fellow athlete may talk to a coach about a teammate, he said.
Once they have the knowledge, an athlete may consider a concussion
as a possibility if a friend falls and hits his head skateboarding
or if a grandmother hits her head in the bathroom.
“We’re hoping,” he said, “that this is the stone in the pond that
ripples out.”
Reach Times Corresondent Vanessa Junkin at 410-857-7896 or
sports@carrollcountytimes.com.
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