The increased attention the MSM provides will motivate the state athletic associations and medical bodies to focus attention on this issue. Then we will start to see more action. At some point, ALL 50 states and ALL the governing youth sports organizations need to be on board. I am sure we will see programs to help educate coaches filter into clinics and association meetings so that this flows down to the grass roots level.
The NFL and the NCAA have led the way as the Ben Roethlisberger and Tim Tebow concussions focused attention on when and in what manner football players should return to play.
It seems as if the states led by WA, NJ, CA, PA ME and others will lead the high school and youth organizations in the future.
Good News all around.
from espn.com and the Associated Press
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4865622
Associated Press
At least a half-dozen states are considering measures that would toughen restrictions on young athletes returning to play after head injuries, inspired by individual cases and the attention the issue has received in the NFL.
Washington state led the way last year, passing what is considered the nation's strongest return-to-play statute. Athletes under 18 who show concussion symptoms can't take the field again without a licensed health care provider's written approval. Several other states, including California and Pennsylvania, have similar bills pending.
Estimates for the number of sports- and recreation-related concussions in the United States each year go as high as 3.8 million, according to the Brain Injury Association of America.
Although there were some initial concerns about how the law would be enforced -- and whether schools in rural areas would have access to enough medical services to ease the burden of complying -- Colbrese says the rule has opened some eyes around the state.
He says schools have claimed their athletes are suffering more concussions than last year, but the reality is that they aren't. "You didn't know about them last year," he said.
"We were on this topic way before Congress decided to launch hearings," she said. "I think that the media attention on all this, and certainly (other states) taking action, I think helps us to sort of say, 'What can we do to protect kids?"
Because younger athletes' brains are still developing, they often need longer to recover from a concussion, and the risk of a catastrophic injury is greater if they return to the field too quickly.
"We've ignored it for so long and now the baby boomer generation of athletes are coming to middle age and older adulthood and we're seeing the effects that the bodily abuse has had on them over the years," said Missouri Rep. Don Calloway, who filed legislation in his state. "You wonder what we could have done as a society or as leagues or just as citizens to perhaps have prevented some of that stuff."
Even these new laws can't prevent every tragedy. Colbrese said a high school football player in Washington died after a concussion this past fall -- he had been medically cleared to play.
The new proposals working their way through statehouses also would place greater responsibility on coaches and medical personnel to make the final determination on whether an athlete plays -- and they're supposed to err on the side of caution.
"Once it's a law, it becomes, I think, the next level," said Briggs, the Pennsylvania legislator. "You'll want coaches and parents and athletic trainers to take this seriously. There might be a lot of pressure on a kid to brush it off and ignore the symptoms."
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
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