Concussion awareness needed for amateur athletes
Amateur athletes and their families must be on alert to prevent concussions and should not assume new equipment will keep them safe, according to a sports medicine specialist.
Dr. Jeff Pike, a Moncton doctor, said during a speech at the annual New Brunswick Physical Education Society conference in Riverview on Friday, that coaches, parents and physical education teachers must recognize concussion-like symptoms, such as headaches, shifts in mood and concentration problems.
He said that’s especially important as children approach middle school age.
“What happens though in children, around the age of 11, they start to participate in more and more activities unsupervised by adults,” he said.
“Or are less supervised by adults than when they are younger. So they’re involved in more risk-taking activities. The risk of injury to their brain gets higher at that age.”
Pike is trying to encourage the sport community to battle against concussions. However, he said his fight against concussions has nothing to do with some of the advanced forms of sports equipment that young athletes are now using.
The doctor said young athletes shouldn’t think they are immune from concussions just because they have the latest in sports equipment.
“Players and families are out there with a false sense of security that this equipment is going to keep them from becoming injured,” Pike said.
“And what they have to understand is, no, it doesn’t keep them from becoming injured. And so you still have to play with respect.”
The debate around concussions has escalated in recent years, especially around sports such as hockey and football.
Both the National Hockey League and the National Football League have taken steps to recognize concussions in their players and to try and minimize the risk of those injuries.
The federal NDP has also introduced a bill to set up a concussion registry and national guidelines on how to handle head injuries.
Glenn Thibeault said earlier in October that he would like to see national training and education standards for coaches and volunteers, as well as financial incentives for amateur sports organizations to implement those new standards.
Hockey fans have watched the NHL’s best player, Sidney Crosby sit out almost a year because of a concussion he suffered last January.
Pike said Crosby’s injury and the length of time he’s taken to recover has clearly demonstrated to many players and parents the severity of these brain injuries.
“Now that I think people have seen how Sidney Crosby has handled this, and that he hasn’t been the one pushing to come back and he’s taken a lot of time and he’s done it all properly,” he said.
“I think people are taking sitting out more seriously.”