Concussion legislation needed to protect athletes
Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby will return to the ice.
But he has made it perfectly clear that it will not happen until he has received absolute assurances from his doctors that he is completely recovered from the concussions that have kept him out of action for the past nine months.
If that’s the case with one of the biggest stars in sports, it certainly should be the case with every high school athlete in Pennsylvania.
Hopefully, it soon will be.
The state House last week unanimously passed the Safety in Youth Sports Act, which would require high school and youth sports coaches to immediately remove from a game any player who shows signs of a concussion, and mandate that a medical doctor, a medical professional designated by a physician or a neuropsychologist approve a concussed athlete’s return to play.
Coaches would also be required to undergo training on how to better recognize early concussion symptoms.
Given all the long-overdue and very much warranted attention that the issue of concussions in sports at all levels has received in recent months, we would hope that passage of this bill would serve as confirmation for what youth sports organizations have already adopted on their own.
Given all that we know today about the dangerous, potentially tragic, effects of concussions on athletes young and old, it would be sad to think that the old “shake it off and get back in there” mentality that was too prevalent for far too long still existed anywhere in the state.
There is no game — be it a Steelers showdown on a Monday night or a youth hockey scrimmage in the wee hours of a Saturday morning — that is worth putting the participants’ well being on the line.
The Senate passed a version of the Safety in Youth Sports Act in June, but because the House made changes to the bill, it now must go back to Senate before making its way to the desk of Gov. Tom Corbett.
The sooner those final steps can occur and this bill can become law, the safer all young athletes in Pennsylvania will be.