Speech Statement On Concussions In Sports

Close your eyes and imagine yourself as Nick Fitzgerald running the ball across the goaline you get the snap and the Boom next thing you know you are being woken up by a trainer you just experienced a concussion (Attention Graber)

Over the past little while I have researched and learned quite a bit about the NFL and fan to fan, I'd like to share with you my findings. First off, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Robbie Wolanski, proud fan of the Green Bay Packers, and avid football fan. I'm sure that when most of you think about the NFL you think about watching your team on Sunday, big hits, and Tom Brady. Let me give you something else to think about. Is the NFL a perfect corporation? Do they have any issues? Today I will be answering this and going into detail about the NFL.

Concussions are a rising issue in the daily life of many athletes in the sports of hockey, soccer, football, and skateboarding. Every 21 seconds, someone in this country encounters a brain injury. Concussions are brain injuries caused by jolts or hard hits around the head. When the tissue of the brain slams against the strong, thick skull in your head, a concussion is very common. This leads to either swelling of the brain, “torn blood vessels, or injury to the nerves.” (Haas) Eventually, the result will be immediate, delayed, or even permanent loss of your own brain. In the next four paragraphs, I will describe to you how a concussion is important to you and others, what the world can do to stop this issue, and what you can do to prevent

“For example, collision sports such as football and ice hockey characteristically have more acute traumatic injuries than sports such as swimming and track. Boxing has more head-related trauma because of the focus of the sport. Within each sport, a general injury pattern and specific types of injury are unique to the sport. One type of injury that can occur in any sport or physical activity is concussion”. (Cerebral Concussion: Causes, Effects, and Risks in Sports).

In the world of football, big hits are something that are looked at in a positive light. They are seen as a way of asserting dominance over other players and it is celebrated by teammates. Big hits are a very crucial, almost necessary, part of the game that millions of people gather to watch every Sunday. However, in the past decade, the NFL and other organization have realized that concussions can lead to very serious problems later in life. One of these problems is known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). It is a degenerative brain disease, much like Alzheimer’s, that mainly effects individuals in high contact sports such as boxing or football. Over time, this connection between concussions and CTE has become more common knowledge and more people have started asking the question “do the risks of children playing football outweigh the benefits?”. The answer to this question is yes, football is entirely too violent for children to be playing. According to “Big Hits, Broken Dreams”, one in ten football players gets a concussion, and 35% of players have more than one. The video also states that only 50% of high schools in the United States have a certified athletic trainer on the field (CNN, 2012). If concussions are really a concern for the schools, then why are there not more athletic trainers on staff at these schools to deal with sports injuries? This also forces the public to question these schools even more because if they are willing to cut costs and not hire a

Concussions have become a major controversy in the United States. Because of uninformed students and negligent coaches, many student athletes are experiencing the severe complications that accompany the injury. High school athletes seem to be the most affected and for this reason are more vulnerable than other students to experience concussions. Not properly managing concussions in time could have significant and problematic injuries that could potentially effect the victims overall ability to live a healthy life. For this reason, athletes should have to stay out of any physical activity for the necessary time to allow their brain to properly heal.

Cindy Dancy Mrs. Gambill 3rd 4/27/18 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy What I am going to talk about today is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) for short. But first I would like to explain what a concussion is to help you better understand why this happens.

People are intrigued when they see men that weight over 200 pounds crash into another man creating over 1000 pounds of force. Although this is very exciting to watch, how well do football players, fanatics and parents know that physical contact can cause brain damage? For example, writer Chad Asplund from the British Medical Journal states that “Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was first described in American football players as a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome leading to neuronal loss coupled with protein and plaque deposits in the brain as a result of repeated mild traumatic brain injury”. Every hit that a football player takes to the head will experience dead brain cells that could affect them in the future. To add on, author Nicki Karimiour from the Journal of Sports Media reports that a study done by the NFL reported that football players ages 30 through 49 are 19 times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other memory problems. What's even worse is that writer Hamish Kerr from The Mediatric Annals journal states that players who experience three or more concussion are expected to have long-lasting neuropsychological deficits which will limit their function to control the body. All of this is very important to take seriously because football is a well know sports that people enjoy to play and watch. Brain damage could be avoided as long as physical contact is not in use when playing

The Improvement in equipment has greatly decreased the cause of brain injury in high school sports. Now, in 2017, we have equipment far superior to even ten years ago. Also, now have a better medical understanding

Concussions in sports have become a very popular issue in the past century. Athletes are becoming bigger, faster, stronger, and more aggressive. With this, though, comes more injuries as a whole and injuries that are more dangerous as well. Parents, coaches, fans, and athletes have become more aware of how dangerous concussions can be and what effect they can have on an individual throughout the rest of their life. Many advancements and changes have been made in an attempt to keep athletes and players safer and more protected. Some individuals believe parents, coaches, and trainers are becoming overly protective and are ruining the entertainment of the game and the competitiveness of the players. Any sort of traumatic brain injury can have many effects on the individual; there are short-term, medium-term, and long-term consequences of concussions that can continue affecting the individual for fourteen years after he or she has suffered the head injury. Although many advancements have been made and preventing concussions has become a priority in the ‘sports-world,’ authority figures and athletes still ignore the symptoms of concussions to allow the athlete to continue to participate. However, in order to continue the entertainment that sporting events bring fans and the enjoyment that they bring to the participants, more precautions should be made to keep the players on the field and in good health.

“Studies show that approximately one in five high school football players suffer concussions or more serious brain injury during their brief high school careers. The rate at the collegiate level is one in twenty” (Longe, 965). Even though this study showed twenty present of high school football players recorded concussions, many concussions go unreported or unrecognized. Dr. Wayne Langburt surveyed Pennsylvania High School football players after their season. The survey was anonymous and the term concussion was replaced with a generic definition. “The share of players who claimed to have suffered a concussion the previous season was not four percent or even fourteen percent, but was forty-seven percent! Those who received concussions claimed an average of 3.4 each season” (Nowinski,

Brain trauma is extremely dangerous and in some cases fatal. It is imperative for anyone participating in sports to learn the signs and symptoms of a concussion as well as the long-term effects. Educating the youth of these consequences will teach them that it is key to abstain from high intensity, contact sports until completely healed to ensure their best possible health. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you

Concussions are not only a football injury, but they occur in many other sports. Frederick Erdtmann, who is on the Board of Health Populations for the Institute of Medicine wrote in his article that “Among males athletes at the high school and collegiate levels, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, wrestling, and soccer consistently are associated with the highest rates of concussions” (Erdtmann 1). Football is hands down the sport with the most concussions, yet it is not the

“CDC reports show that the amount of reported concussions has doubled in the last 10 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics has reported that emergency room visits for concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade” (Head Case, 2013). It is reported that between 5-10% of athletes will suffer concussion during any given sports season. Football is the most common sport with concussion risk for males with a 75% chance. It has also been found that 78% of concussions happen during games as opposed to during practices (Science Daily, 2014).

New surveys and data reports showing that repeated trauma to the head can cause CTE which seriously affects the brain and human body overall. Symptoms such as dizziness all the way to the most extreme like loss of motor function, dementia, etc. With all of the recent buzz about this phenomenon, The NFL, NCAA and state sports committees such as the WIAA have been trying to prevent the future generations of athletes and sports players suffer from these diseases. Acts such as reducing practice time allowing full contact and also schools buying the best helmet protection available shows how schools are really working to help kids across America. In addition, the NFL has publicly shown responsibility for head to head injuries and the lack of supervision and serious along with them. The organization is actively pushing technology to protect the brain as best as