It was probably inevitable that gamesmanship allegations
would arise under the new and evolving state-by-state “return to play”
standards.
In Massachusetts, an early adopter of “Return to Play” legislation,
the New Mission High School’s girls’ basketball team was playing at Shawsheen
Technical High School. New Mission was
leading Shawsheen in the fourth quarter of a playoff game when a key New
Mission player drove the basket and got poked in the eye.
The home team (Shawsheen) provided the athletic trainer for
both teams at this game. The trainer
determined that the New Mission player suffered a concussion as a result of
getting poked in the eye and sidelined her for the remainder of the game. Shawsheen then rallied from an eight-point
deficit to win the game and advance in the playoffs. The player in question was taken to a
hospital after the game where it was confirmed she did not have a concussion,
but merely a bruised cornea.
Whether the safety measures taken in the unusual New Mission
case were appropriate or not, the need to be cautious with student-athletes and
head injuries should remain the top priority for parents and coaches. Concussion symptoms are just not as obvious
as other sports-related injuries and the possible long-term adverse
consequences are very high.
Mistakes will be made. We’ll be overly cautious at times and remove
kids from play when they can be out on the field. But the intent (of ‘return to play’
legislation) is to save kids’ lives, and to prevent preventable brain
injuries. The job of any league, coach,
administrator, athletic director, parent or licensed healthcare professional is
to make sure that a child’s safety is the number one priority.
