The Role Of Concussions In Youth Sports

Steve Almond’s story “You Knock my Brains out This Sunday and I Knock Your Brains out the Next Time we Meet” speaks to the underlying truth about America’s Sunday pastime and how concussions can be prevented not only by the industry, but by its viewers as well. Football is well known after having been brought to the public’s eye as study after study was released proving that there was a link from football to head injuries. Although in our modern society we have already subconsciously made the connection between football and concussions. The fact that this problem is not decreasing, could be surprising, as the lack of understanding about who has control and the ability to influence change. We hear that football helmets and pads, are getting better, but that does not stop concussions. We do not hear how helmets make players feel and change their play style based on the feeling of invincibility that people feel while wearing a helmet. Pads and helmets do help protect the players but false senses of security due to lack of knowledge on what

For this research synthesis I choose to write about concussions in football, specifically in youth football. I chose to focus more on youth football because concussions are such a big problem within the football world, so instead of focusing on them at a professional level it should be looked into at the entry level. If things can be done in youth football to prevent or lower the risk of concussions, then those steps should be taken. The main thing I wish to focus on is if tackling in youth football should be allowed. I came to choose this topic because I was deciding between whether or not football players should have to go to college before the NFL or concussions in football, but I chose concussions in football. Concussions in football was the topic I ended up choosing because I felt there would be more information about this topic. Also, I chose a topic dealing with sports because I grew up playing them, so I have always like them and I am a sport administration major, so I picked something that is talked about a lot in the sports world. This is an important issue because concussions can cause serious, lifelong medical issues, so they are something that needs to be addressed. My classmates should care because most of them have either played football or had a family member that played and they could have been effected by the negatives of concussions.

Soccer, being the most popular sport across the nation, currently has millions of fans and approximately 25 million registered players in the United States alone (Niedfeldt). Since the early 2000’s and continually seventeen years later, concussions are among the highest sustained injury to soccer players. While the sport is increasing in popularity, fear of injuries is increasing as well. In response to the arising panic, several companies have come together in order to create, promote, and sell protective headgear to concerned soccer players and their parents. The creators of this gear claim that their products will reduce concussions and any negative neurocognitive effects in relation to heading balls in soccer. Although some believe that

While in recent years there has been increasing awareness of the topic of concussions there is still much to be accomplished in the way of education of youth sport participants including

Concussions occur on a large scale in football. During a concussion, the head can experience a blow directly or can have whiplash. When the head is hit, the brain hits the inside of the skull, giving it a temporary bruise. This bruise or tearing of the brain can lead to mental impairments that can affect a person’s emotional state of being, physical problems like deteriorated mobility and sensitivity to light and sound. Doctors are quick to point out one of the major reasons that youth receive concussions, saying, “... children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks… that elevates the risk of concussions,” (P6). Along with a lack of education and care for the protection of athletes, youth are already at a huge risk. When children wear their football helmets, they are saving themselves from many injuries that could have occurred without them, most especially protecting the brain. But, in many cases, this is not enough.

4%-20% of all injuries in soccer are head injuries. Concussion and head injuries are a big part of soccer, many younger players should have to wear protective headgear while playing. Also, many of these head injuries that players sustained during soccer can affect them for the rest of their life with things such as CTE. Even though many people don’t want to change the game of soccer, at a certain age players should have to wear headgear if they want to head the ball because the brain damage kids can get from heading the ball can affect them for life, and it would decrease the amount of concussions the sport has per year.

But alas, Miss Sifferlin's goal wasn't to be logical or analytical. The goal of her paper is to appeal to parents and coaches about the ramifications of letting kids “play through pain”. Sadness wells up for the amount of children affected by concussions, worry for their safety, and hope that more precautions will be taken. It's not the most delicate of subjects to talk about, but it is one that she broaches with the same type of seriousness and finesse that most will find refreshing.

Football being one of the most physical sport it is, I grew a love for it in all aspects. I’ve been playing the game of football for 10 plus years and can’t stress enough the importance of technique and player safety. In recent years people have become concerned with the long term effects of head related injuries caused by repeated collisions on the field. Head injuries such as concussions often leave participants of all levels permanently injured for life if the correct treatment isn’t provided. This is why studies around the country are being constructed to keep athletes safe and prevent any further injuries.

In “Concussions Among University Football and Soccer Players” J. Scott Delaney, Vincent J. Lacroix, Suzanne Leclerc, and Karen M. Johnston created a survey to observe concussion behavior among 240 Canadian university soccer players throughout a year. Out of the 240 soccer players, 62.7% had a confirmed concussion the year before, but only 19.8% realized that they had been concussed at the time. Of those with a concussion, 81.7% had more than one concussion. The authors’ conclusion of the study is that University soccer players appear to have experienced a multitude of concussions while paying soccer. Things that appeared to increase the chances of getting a concussion were if the athlete had a history of getting concussion, and the rate of

Imagine that one day you woke up and could no longer do the simple things you enjoy in life. What if you couldn’t even read the paper or watch a movie with a loved one? Many current and former athletes are suffering through this every day, and the reason for this is long-term brain damage which is a direct result of concussions. Unfortunately concussions have been rising at an alarming rate. This trend has not only been occurring in big money professional sports, but also in amateur sports like youth soccer. Concussions are quickly becoming an epidemic across the entire sporting world. Each year about 300 000 amateur and professional athletes suffer head injuries (Mcphee 1). Athletics must make

We are pleased to say that we were able to play a role in improving the safety of children playing the sport soccer in the US. Soccer players have two ways to hit a ball forward: use your legs or your head. Concussions in sports have increased dramatically in recent years, due to a wide amount of reported cases -- including many examples of brain injuries – mostly involving football players. Last year, British parliamentarian Chris Bryant published a report titled "Concussions Can Kill" and called for children to not be allowed to use headers while playing. While preferring that children should use softer balls rather than to have them stop learning altogether how to head correctly, Headley acknowledges that he finds research on the damage

Brianna Scurry a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, goalkeeper for the USA women’s soccer team. “It was the crowning moment of her career” stated by Washington Post, “a shootout save in the 1999 World Cup Final against China- was a dramatic, across the goal dive memorialized on sports pages around the world. Surry Yelled and fist pumped but she didn’t really smile”. (Dewey, 2013)

There has been extraordinary improvements of helmets from the old leather to the modernized-plastic football helmets along with the face mask and energy- absorbent padding. In addition, the concern over preventing concussions, have led to helmet changes, impact testing methods and reconstruction of injuries during play helping to provide insight on concussions(4). Helmets have been successful in decreasing the risk of traumatic brain injuries, but there is much concern over concussion; therefore, scholars argue the importance of technology development to address concussion(5). As the author(s), David Viano and David Halstead discusses, there is room needed for understanding the types of collisions associated in youths and the impact condition addressing collisions. There are many variables to consider addressing concussion and where they occur.

This was the first study to knowledge that was done to associate head collisions relevance in youth football leagues with dissimilar coaching instruction programs. This study was one of the biggest models of youth football players to wear accelerometers throughout a complete youth football season. Largely, the study established that youth football players who partook in Heads Up Football associations received fewer collisions to the head per practice at both the 10g and 20g starting points. Over the progression of a 12-week youth football season with an average of 3 practices per week, this would compare to 90 less collisions over 20g or 36 lesser over 10g. These alterations were also continued when studying the 8- to 11-year and 12- to 15-year

Football is America’s most popular sport; however, recently controversy has been arising pertaining to the injuries and violence connected to football. Within the last five years the topic of allowing youth to play football has blown up. Though the injuries vary dramatically, what has really been the key subject is head related injuries, typically concussions. Parents around the country are debating whether or not their children should play the sport, specifically contact football. Although football and most sports in general have injury related risks attached with it, there are still arguments why kids around the country should be able to enjoy one of the most liked sports. Reasons such as building teamwork, physical activity and free will can lead to why many believe that there should not be a dispute regarding football.