AFM RSS Feed Follow Us on Twitter       
AMERICAN FOOTBALL MONTHLY THE #1 RESOURCE FOR FOOTBALL COACHES
ABOUT |  CONTACT |  ADVERTISE |  HELP  



   User Name    Password 
      Password Help





Article Categories


AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Letter from AFM

by: John Gallup
Editor and Publisher
© More from this issue

Click for Printer Friendly Version          

While Tim Tebow lay motionless on the turf after suffering a concussion against Kentucky last September, Gator Nation held its breath. Tebow’s injury, caused by a severe blow to the head during a sack, put him in the hospital overnight and sidelined him from practice, television and video games for over a week. The good news for Gator fans was that Tebow benefited from a bye week and, with rest, recovered in time to lead Florida to a 10-3 win at LSU just two weeks after his injury.
The silver lining of Tebow’s concussion was that the daily media scrutiny of his condition likely brought a new level of awareness to the dangers of concussions and the need for strict recovery regimens that avoid any contact. This, together with increasing coverage of concussions and their aftermath across all levels of football means that today, more than ever, coaches and support personnel are better prepared to recognize the signs of concussions and take necessary steps to protect players from further injury.
We expect that the focus on concussion prevention, recognition and treatment will be even greater leading up to the 2010 season, which is a positive development. For many years, there has been a prevailing attitude in football that, in order to prove toughness, a player must “play through” injuries. Not just among coaches, but players as well. The pressure to get a player back in the game can be especially intense when he’s a star performer. With concussions, that’s inviting disaster. A player recovering from a concussion who receives a “second impact” too soon can suffer brain damage or even death.
But how can coaches or officials, especially at the high school level, be expected to know how to diagnose a concussion? Well, they can’t. That’s why the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has taken steps to incorporate concussion management into the rule books for all high school sports, with a special emphasis on football for obvious reasons.
The specific language of the 2010 rule book addition reads as follows:

Any athlete who exhibits signs, symptoms, or behaviors consistent with a concussion (such as loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion, or balance problems) shall be immediately removed from the contest and shall not return to play until cleared by an appropriate health-care professional.

One factor leading to the adoption of this rule was a recent study that reported that only 3.2% of athletes who were diagnosed with a concussion in 2009 actually lost consciousness. The vast majority of concussions occur without loss of consciousness but they sometimes may not be viewed as the serious injuries that they really are. Retuning a player to the field prematurely after he had his “bell rung” can be a deadly mistake.
Robert Gardner, Executive Director-elect of the NFHS, explained their position. “Given that the vast majority of students do not lose consciousness, yet they often show common signs or behaviors of a concussion, the NFHS strongly believes that game officials must take steps to remove these students from play, thus protecting them from further injury. Neither officials nor coaches are expected to diagnose a concussion. That is the job of the appropriate health-care professional. Officials and coaches are now being asked to use their best judgment in observing signs, symptoms and behaviors, but not to make a medical determination. The well-being of the student participant is of paramount concern in any high school contest.”
So the ultimate responsibility to protect players does not lie with the coach or the official but rather with a qualified health-care professional. Will that keep players who may or may not have actually suffered concussions on the sideline if a health-care professional simply is not available to evaluate them and clear them to return to the field? No doubt it will. But AFM believes that, in the case of head trauma, it is far better to err on the side of player safety.

John Gallup
Editor & Publisher

The NFHS believes that education is a key component in this work. They will release an online concussion course, “Concussion in Sports-What You Need to Know” that will be ready in July, 2010. This course will be available at no cost. The course will target coaches, students, parents, and school administrators. The planned time to complete the course will take less than thirty minutes. Watch for the course release on www.nfhslearn.com






NEW BOOK!

AFM Videos Streaming Memberships Now Available Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach



















HOME
MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIBE ONLINE COLUMNISTS COACHING VIDEOS


Copyright 2024, AmericanFootballMonthly.com
All Rights Reserved