High School Sports & Concussions

High School Sports & Concussions - Stats

3.9 million — that’s the estimated number of sports and recreational-related concussions every year in the United States, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”). The problem, though, is that you can’t see a concussion. 

Briefly, a concussion is an injury that changes how the cells in the brain normally function and is caused by a blow to the head or body that causes the brain to move rapidly inside the skull. The CDC reports that football and hockey have the highest number of concussions, followed by soccer, wrestling, basketball, field hockey, baseball, softball and volleyball. It’s estimated that U.S. high school athletes sustain 300,000 concussions per year; 67,000 from interscholastic football. The risk of concussions is highest in the 15-to 19-year-old age group among all age groups nationally.

There are tons of concussion management and "return to play" protocols available thru the CDC and your state's interscholastic website.   

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/25/539198429/study-cte-found-in-nearly-all-donated-nfl-player-brains

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Spurned Major League Baseball Team

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Spurned Major League Baseball Team

College Athletes should always consult their school’s Professional Sports Counseling Panel (PSCP) when evaluating turning pro early.  

This story is an outlier but a few years ago the Philadelphia Phillies turned in an Oregon State University baseball player to the NCAA for using an agent to negotiate a professional baseball contract.  Contract discussions broke down, the player declined the Phillies offer, and he decided to stay at OSU on scholarship.  Or so he thought.  The Phillies felt burned and blew the whistle or snitched depending on how you see it.  

The mistake the player made was enlisting an agent as an unofficial “advisor” for the contract talks.  The easy fix is to avoid agents and use the PSCP to handle discussions.  This protects amateur status and scholarship eligibility.  NCAA compliance excerpts and story link below.

12.3.1  An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport…

12.3.4  Professional Sports Counseling Panel. It is permissible for an authorized institutional professional sports counseling panel to:

(a) Advise a student-athlete about a future professional career;

 

(d) Meet with the student-athlete and representatives of professional teams;

(e) Communicate directly…with representatives of a professional athletics team to assist in securing a tryout with that team for a student-athlete; and

(g) Visit with…representatives of professional athletics teams to assist the student-athlete in determining his or her market value (e.g., potential salary, draft status).

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/report-phillies-turn-unsigned-draft-pick-in-to-ncaa-for-using-an-agent/