With football season in full swing and the Super Bowl looming, concussions may well be on the minds, so to speak, of sports fans and parents alike.
Concussions are very serious business, of course. These traumatic injuries affect the chemical levels as well as the function of your brain. If you don’t allow time for recovery, a second concussion, called second impact syndrome, can lead to really serious consequences – like death.
There’s strong evidence of brain damage from multiple concussions among football players, including a recent study out of Boston University. It found that 101 out of 128 players from high school to the pros showed evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). That’s as bad as it sounds, with CTE linked to memory loss, personality changes, Parkinson-like symptoms and abnormal speech and movement. Since 2010, there have been at least nine suicides among players who were later found to have CTE.
It’s not hard to fathom. The power behind a tackle has become enormous. One NPR report noted that when the NFL was organized in the 1920’s, a typical lineman weighed about 190 pounds. Today they average 300.
A pro player can hit a guy with something like 1700 pounds of force, according to the report. Amazingly, the human body can withstand that safely if it’s spread out over the body. But if too much hits in one spot – say your head – it’s very bad news. The NFL banned helmet-to-helmet hits in 2013 despite criticism that it weakens the sport.
So what should you do when your 12 year old is begging to join the team?
Parent and high school football coach Robert LaGow remembers when his two boys started playing about a decade ago. There wasn’t much awareness of concussion risk. Not much in the way of safety standards either.
A former player himself, there was nothing more natural than to let his boys play the game. “The life lessons you learn working with a group, learning how to get along with other types of people, it’s the kind of thing that can form your personality and guide you for the rest of your life.”
In Fairfax County, VA, where he now coaches high school, the game is changing. There’s a real push for safety.
“The past five years, every athlete and their parents have to go through an online tutorial on concussion. We go to coaches’ clinic in the off-season and are very aware that someone has given us their kids to take care of. “
Fairfax is among those in the forefront of creating safety standards, but across the country it’s a patchwork of guidelines depending on local authorities, leagues and other interested parties.
The suicide of Ohio State player Kosta Karageorge in late November has made the debate even more urgent. The 22 year old had a history of multiple concussions and sent his mother a text shortly before his death. “Sorry if I am an embarrassment, but these concussions have my head all f—– up.” We don’t know for sure if CTE played a role, but his history and actions are part of an extremely disturbing pattern.
LaGow says that parents need to take responsibility too. “We had a kid that was working his way back from a concussion and his dad took him out playing paintball all day one Sunday. That’s just not healthy.”
One group that’s stepping up is USA Football, a non-profit set up in part by the NFL. In 2012, they created a program called Heads Up to address safety issues in youth (6-14) and high school football. They teach safety measures to coaches both online and in workshops, among them concussion recognition and response. They also train “safety coaches” who attend practices and games throughout the season. Heads Up works with experts like the American College of Sports Medicine and follows protocols approved by the CDC.
Heads Up spokesman Steve Alic says, “It’s a first. There were no national standards in coaching education, so we sought to establish standards and change behavior for the safety of young athletes.”
“The encouraging news is that more than half of the youth football organizations have registered for Heads Up football,” he says, and notes that high school use is growing.
But that still leaves a lot of territory, and a lot of parents, wondering what to do. In many areas of the country, significantly less numbers of kids are on the field.
LaGow offers some advice to parents who have to decide whether to let their kid join the team, based on his own experience.
“Unless you bubble wrap your child, there’s going to be risks in anything they do. One thing you want to make sure is that they’re playing with a reputable organization.”
“Make sure that the coaches are properly trained. Find out what the protocols are going to be for injuries. There’s nothing worse than having the decision of getting somebody back onto the field being made by the coach.” Athletic trainers or safety coaches should make those calls, he notes, removing the choice from someone who is driven by the pressure to win or a kid who simply says he’s ready to play.
LaGow also advises awareness. “Use your gut. If you go to a practice, and they’ve got kids lining up 15 to 20 yards away from each other running full speed at each other, that’s probably not a good idea. “
He adds that social media and a talk with other parents are great ways of checking out a coach. Lastly, figure out whether or not your child really wants to play, because an unmotivated player can be a dangerous one.
Football is a hallowed tradition, but concussions can destroy lives. Due diligence and balancing risk and reward are up to the parents.
“I think back on my high school days and draw from some of those experiences even today,” Lagow says. “Football teaches kids the value of teamwork and the payoff of hard work. That’s why it’s so important that it’s done right, with trained coaches and proper supervision.”
Representative sources:
Phone interview – Robert LaGow, 12/5/14
Phone interview – Steve Alic, 12/5/14
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2945234/
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/basics/complications/con-20019272
http://nccsir.unc.edu/files/2014/06/Annual-Football-2013-Fatalities-Final.pdf
© 2015 ShareWIK Media Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.