One of the most important steps that a school or independent sports program can take to ensure that athletes playing contact (e.g. football, lacrosse, hockey) and collision sports (e.g. soccer, basketball) who suffer concussions playing sports have the best possible outcome in both the short- and long-term is to hold a concussion safety meeting before every sports season.
While every state in the country [1] now requires that parents and players (at least at the high school level) receive some basic concussion safety information as a condition to participation, more education than can fit onto an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper is urgently needed.
Ideally, the meeting should include presentations by:
An attitude adjustment of coaches in contact and collision sports is critical if the culture of such sports is to be changed. Resistance to change to improve concussion education and care from those concerned more about winning than about the safety of children is to be expected, but parents and every other stakeholder in youth sports owe our kids nothing less.
Regardless of whom the program calls to make presentations at the meeting, the goal should always be to encourage honest reporting of possible concussive events by providing a "'safe' reporting environment" (2) and provide parents and athletes with the information they need to decide when it is safe to return to play, whether it be the next game, next season or not at all.
To reinforce the message of the meeting, parents should be furnished with information to take home, such as articles from the MomsTEAM concussion center [16], the comprehesive Smart Teams Head Injury Prevention Center [17](developed by MomsTeam Institute with a grant from the NCAA Mind Matters Challange) or obtained from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as part of its "Heads Up" kit. [18]
[18]Parents are in the best position to help their child see that their health should not take a back seat to short-term individual and team success, but they need to know, also, that the program is not sending out a different message.
Updated September 3, 2017
1. Echlin PS, Editorial. A prospective study of physician-observed concussion during a varsity university ice hockey season. Part 1 of 4. Neurosurg Focus 2012;33(6):E1 (published online ahead of print)(accessed December 10, 2012).
2. Register-Mihalik JK, Guskiewicz KM, Valovich McLeod TC, Linnan LA, Meuller FO, Marshall SW. Knowledge, Attitude, and Concussion-Reporting Behaviors Among High School Athletes: A Preliminary Study. J Ath Tr. 2013;48(3):000-000. DOI:10.4085/1062-6050-48.3.20 (published online ahead of print)
[18]Links:
[1] https://www.momsteam.com/team-of-experts/concussion-bill-of-rights-1-mandatory-pre-season-concussion-safety-meeting
[2] https://www.momsteam.com/node/149
[3] http://www.thesmartestteam.com
[4] https://www.momsteam.com/node/911
[5] https://www.momsteam.com/node/4000
[6] https://www.momsteam.com/node/128
[7] https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/parents-critical-participants-in-recognition-treatment-recovery-concussion
[8] https://www.momsteam.com/node/122
[9] https://www.momsteam.com/node/4176
[10] https://www.momsteam.com/node/2987
[11] https://www.momsteam.com/node/208
[12] https://www.momsteam.com/node/156
[13] https://www.momsteam.com/node/143
[14] https://www.momsteam.com/node/137
[15] https://www.momsteam.com/node/3914
[16] https://www.momsteam.com/node/305
[17] https://www.momsteam.com/concussions.smart-teams.org
[18] http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/coaches_tool_kit.htm
[19] https://www.momsteam.com/team-of-experts/concussion-safety-12-point-checklist-for-parents
[20] https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/signs-deteriorating-mental-status-serious-brain-injury-immediate-hospitalization
[21] https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/debunking-common-sports-concussion-myths