School Injuries and Concussion Awareness

It’s football that gets most the news, followed by other contact sports like hockey and rugby. But just because these sports are highly associated with concussions doesn’t mean that brain injury can’t occur in other, traditionally non-contact sports. In fact, it happens all the time.

Connecticut has taken the national lead by requiring all coaches to be trained in concussion awareness, hopefully lessening the likelihood of recurrent concussions, which have been shown to be even more damaging to the brain. It is likely that football and other contact sports coaches will be more rigorously monitored on these protocols than other coaches, but this is doing other high school athletes a disservice, especially considering the sports that actually result in concussion are not necessary what you might think. Concussions are extremely common in:

• Girl’s soccer
• Wrestling
• Girl’s basketball
• Boy’s soccer
• Cheerleading

The vast majority of these injuries are caused by player-to-player contact, which is much more common in sports like soccer and basketball than most people realize, and kids playing those sports rarely if ever wear helmets. Because many people don’t associate these sports with concussions, coaches are more likely to send the kids back into the game because they aren’t aware of the problem.

It would be wonderful to see the type of training being done in Connecticut happen nation-wide, but generally it usually takes pressure from the parents of injured children before anything is done. Too many parents don’t realize just how common these injuries are, and are willing to accept that these risks are just part of the game. They aren’t.

If your child has been injured in a high school sport, it is a terrible for all involved. If your child is more seriously injured because his or her coach puts him or her back into the competition without properly evaluating the possibility of concussion, this is even more tragic. If you have any questions regarding the safety of your child regarding an injury like this, contact a lawyer to help you get the answers you deserve.