For many baby boomers, a head-to-head collision in a high school football game or practice was cause for celebration. Coaches and teammates would cheer as a woozy athlete tried to shake off the effects of having his "bell rung." The so-called toughest players, of course, never left the field.
With apologies to Bruce Springsteen, the "Glory Days" of prep-sports pride were far from enlightened when it came to head injuries suffered in collision sports. Too often in only the most severe cases — for example, if a player lost consciousness — would alarms to go off on the sidelines, leading to appropriate medical attention.
Many boomers have no doubt recalled those experiences in recent years as a growing number of former NFL players have gone public with horror stories about the debilitating effects of concussions on their lives. Increasingly, boomers are questioning whether the benefits of their own children participating in contact sports outweigh the risks of head injuries that can lead to memory and reasoning problems as well as anxiety and depression.
Before last week, Minnesota parents had little data to make informed decisions. But the state Department of Health has helped inform the public discussion with the release of its first study of concussions suffered in high school sports.
Based on the 730 cases diagnosed by trainers at 36 participating Twin Cities-area schools, researchers projected that about 3,000 high school athletes suffered concussions statewide last year. That's about one concussion per 100 participating athletes, with no adjustment made based on playing time.
Football and boys and girls hockey had the highest rates but, as the accompanying text shows, athletes in a variety of sports suffer concussions. Girls have the highest rates in sports played by both genders, which is consistent with national studies.
The release of the valuable study comes three years after the Minnesota Legislature passed new regulations requiring coaches and officials to receive online training on concussions. The rules also require concussed athletes to receive an OK from a medical professional before returning to their sport.
The hope is that the new rules and better data will increase awareness among athletes, parents, teachers, coaches and health care professionals about the warning signs and dangers of head injuries. The greater focus hopefully will lead to better equipment and more discussion of safer playing techniques, such as heads-up tackling in football.
