Concussions In Youth Football

In “Concussions Among University Football and Soccer Players” J. Scott Delaney, Vincent J. Lacroix, Suzanne Leclerc, and Karen M. Johnston created a survey to observe concussion behavior among 240 Canadian university soccer players throughout a year. Out of the 240 soccer players, 62.7% had a confirmed concussion the year before, but only 19.8% realized that they had been concussed at the time. Of those with a concussion, 81.7% had more than one concussion. The authors’ conclusion of the study is that University soccer players appear to have experienced a multitude of concussions while paying soccer. Things that appeared to increase the chances of getting a concussion were if the athlete had a history of getting concussion, and the rate of

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Picture this, you are a really famous player in the NFL industry, and you play for the Giants a team you have loved when you were young. You know that people have had concussions that have lead to life threatening situations. You have had various concussions, but none yet have been life threatening. Would you keep playing or go home when you think that those concussions are going to come in the way of your career? In the story “Hard Knocks” by Gabriel Charles Tyler, and in the video “Concussion hazards in youth football” Dr. Drew and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, both talk about how football causes numerous serious head injuries and concussions. In the picture it displays how much the G-Force is acting on the objects. Concussions are a problem in football and does affect many, and these concussion can lead to death.

For this research paper I will be exploring concussions in the NFL, and how it represents American ideologies. I am not only going to be analysing the long lasting effects concussions have on players, but also how the NFL was able to to ignore and deny allegations against them proving the fatality of the sport. The National Football League is a multibillion dollar business, and is the most watched sport in the United States, making this a very relevant topic in recent news. All you have to do is watch an afternoon of Sunday football games in order to witness the brutality of the sport, and the tolls players bodies take. My primary source for this topic is a 43 page scholarly article produced by Harvard University explaining the history and evolution of concussions in the NFL. This source goes into depth on nearly every aspect of the topic, which will help me answer my research questions as I go along. Although I will be looking into several different aspects of this topic, my main research questions are what is the truth behind concussions in the NFL, and how does it

Research shows that concussions are likely the result of repetitive hits over time, not just one impact. In a February 2012 study, MRI scans of high school football players showed that the more hits a player sustained, the more the functional capacity of their brain decreased. Typically, professional football players start playing football at a young age, sometimes as early as 6 years old. From that time on, the player is subjected to a number of hits. In boys, brain development peaks at around age 12. A recently published study showed that players who started playing tackle football earlier than the age of 12 suffered from a greater impairment of brain function. The Boston University School of Medicine study tested 42 former NFL football players,

Concussions in football have become more and more common even though the equipment has apparently gotten safer. In retrospect it seems the equipment has made concussions more prominent. Does this mean the sport of football altogether is unsafe or that the players are simply just not playing the game correctly? Is this the person running the ball fault or the defensive players fault or both?

After doing research many studies suggest that youth football should be canceled out or the rules should be changed, but in my opinion those results are impractical, lazily thought of. It also shows the disconnect between the research and actual people that have had concussions from football, or is playing football right now and has had a teammate or a friend that has had results from concussions while playing. I believe that to truly understand the dangers of a concussion youth football, there needs to be a little more than just research, there needs to be a connection with someone that has played football. There needs to be some form of understanding and relation to that person to understand why he would even play a sport that would treat

Concussions are rapidly becoming more and more of a concern in sports today. This is especially true in the sport of football, youth, amateur, and professional. What is a concussion? How do they happen? A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that occurs when the head is impacted, hit, struck, or shaken. Inside the skull, this violent movement of the brain is very detrimental to the brain itself. When a concussion occurs the brain literally bounces or twists in the skull causing damage to the brain cells, which in turn cause chemical changes in the brain. These changes make the brain more sensitive to other injuries or stress. All athletes participating in contact sports are at risk

“1 in 5 concussions are caused by a head to surface impact.” (NA, November 2015).

Football has been around for many decades. There have been all sorts of injuries throughout its existence. As the game evolved with plastic helmets and bigger pads, so did the number of big hits that players were landing. This was exciting for the spectators, watching players give it their all on the field. Players quickly found out that hitting with your head is much more effective than hitting with your shoulder. This new technique brought much more than excitement to the game. It came with concussions. Concussions were never a serious problem until the game evolved. Ever since these injuries came into the game, there has been a push to make the game much safer.

Concussions are brain injuries that can be caused by either a blow to the head or the head and body shaking. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention had a significant amount of research on how to prevent concussions. They disclose that tackling is responsible for nearly two-thirds of concussions in High School football whereas teaching better tackling techniques to avoid head hits would be one way to reduce the number of concussions (Bain Injury Safety Tips and Prevention). It also states that about half of the plays that an individual receives a concussion is due to a running play which generates the importance on keeping close attention to the running plays (Bain Injury Safety Tips and Prevention). Plays in the middle where a linebacker and a running back meet at full speed can prove to be very dangerous. Cheap hits can also be a reason why some players receive concussions, which is why adding new rules those cheap blows to he head, or blindsides can be called a personal foul to discourage players from them (Bain Injury Safety Tips and Prevention). Obviously not every concussion occurs during games, they can also occur during football practices. Cutting down on full contact practices and also tackling drills can put players at less risk of concussions. Eliminating dangerous drills would eliminate the number of concussions during practice.

The popularity of soccer has continued to increase year after year due to large events such as the World Cup and the Euro Cup. Now, fans are demanding more of a show rather than just a simple game. Due to this demand, players have been looking for different ways to up the ante, most specifically the way goals are scored. It has been more common to see goals scored off bicycle kicks and headers leading to an increase of injuries such as concussions due to heading. As these types of injuries are becoming more common, and has recently been seen in younger players as well, the question has become whether or not heading should be removed from youth soccer. In Stanley Kay’s article “With concussion reform at forefront, should youth headers be nixed?” from Sports Illustrated featured on September 10, 2014 he uses pathos along with logos to

Parents and coaches, pay attention. Concussions do happen in the pool, and the information provided here today will help guide you through the risks, symptoms, and treatments for concussions. Be head smart in the pool with the complete guide to swimming concussions.

“It didn’t cross my mind that I wouldn’t see him come of that field,” Amy Stover says while sitting on her living room couch (Gregory 34). Six months earlier her son, Chad Stover, made a tackle, got up and waddled off towards the sideline feeling a little woozy (Gregory 34). Two plays later he felt good enough to return to the game and did so (Gregory 34). His team huddled up, and that is when it happened (Gregory 34). Chad collapsed, and when the medical trainers got to him his eyes were closed and he was unresponsive (Gregory 34). They rushed him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with severe brain trauma (Gregory 34). Five days later Chad passed away from complications from severe brain trauma (Gregory 34).

Concussions are common in many sports, but in particular, football has the most by a majority. Children are the main focus on this topic, because they have a lot more at risk going through a concussion. Many players will lie about a concussion they’ve had in a game so they can keep playing because they will often get little game time in a season and a concussion leads to sitting out longer. Regardless, a player needs to make sure to always prioritize safety. Too many concussions can cause permanent brain damage and that is taking its toll on many athletes today. Overall, I do think we are taking the right steps towards being safer (like better helmets/more tests