Tag: High School

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North Carolina High School to Implement Eye in the Sky for Football Season

Article reposted from Winston-Salem Journal
Author: Kegan Lowe

“It’s basically just another set of eyes from a different vantage point, looking for any potential injuries. We’re just trying to prevent as many injuries from going unseen or unnoticed as possible.” Jonathan Reidy Atkins High head athletic trainer

“It’s basically just another set of eyes from a different vantage point, looking for any potential injuries. We’re just trying to prevent as many injuries from going unseen or unnoticed as possible.” Jonathan Reidy Atkins High head athletic trainer

This fall, football games at Atkins High School will feel much more like games held at both the NFL and college levels than they have in years past — at least when it comes to how on-field injuries are detected.

Led by the direction of head athletics trainer Jonathan Reidy and head football coach David Hamlin, the Camels will implement an injury spotter program this season, similar to the “Eyes in the Sky” program the NFL uses, that places people in the press box whose sole responsibility it is to spot player injures.

Unlike the customary high school tradition that places an athletics trainer and one additional physician on the sideline to observe and treat injuries, Atkins will have two supplementary people, including at least one athletics trainer, in the press box watching for injuries and concerning symptoms.

The two additional spotters, which will include Atkins assistant athletic trainer Eddie Stevens, will be in constant communication with Reidy and a physician from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, who will be at field-level, through hand-held radios.

If either Stevens or the other high-placed spotter sees a potential injury or anything resembling an injury-like symptom, they will be able to alert Reidy and the WFBMC physician, who will be responsible for pulling the player or players in question off the field for medical examination.

“It’s basically just another set of eyes from a different vantage point, looking for any potential injuries,” Reidy said. “When we have one provider on the sideline they are looking at everything from field level, and if your first player comes off and he needs to be looked at now you’re not watching the field.

“We’re just trying to prevent as many injuries from going unseen or unnoticed as possible. Obviously the big buzz is concussions, but it can be anything that maybe that person in the press box has a different vantage point and can see something that we aren’t able to see on the sidelines.”

While other Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools currently follow the standard operating procedure of having two on-field trainers and physicians, as well as coaches trained as first-responders, both Reidy and Hamlin eventually expect similar spotter programs to be a budding trend in the coming years.

Reidy, who also works with the Wake Forest sports medicine department, said he does know of at least one North Carolina high school in Henderson County that uses the “Eyes in the Sky” technique.

“It’s just like with coaching — the more eyes you can have from different perspectives the better you’re going to be,” Hamlin said. “Especially in this situation, when a lot is going on and there’s so much focus on winning, recognizing an injury could be a big difference for a kid who shouldn’t be out there.”

For now, Atkins will experiment with the spotter program at both JV and varsity home games before hopefully attending all games in years to come, depending on the program’s success this fall.

Other than needing the necessary full-time personnel, which is a leading reason many other schools have not already employed this additional practice and the reason Atkins will not have high-placed spotters at all of its games, Reidy said the program will cost Atkins less than $200.

The money will be spent on walkie-talkies and a pair of binoculars.

“This is an experiment and we obviously don’t have any objective data yet, but this first season will get us that,” Reidy said. “And if we can just prevent one kid from having a second-impact syndrome, then that one prevention from a catastrophic injury can really be life-changing.”

At the college level, the ACC implemented a similar non-bias medical spotting program this past season that was used for all games involving at least one conference team.

Jeremy Stevens, who works as an athletics trainer at the Cleveland Clinic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., served as a press-box spotter for the ACC last year and said he is pleased to see the program start to trickle down from the NFL to college and now to high school.

The ACC used one spotter per game in 2016, although Jeremy Stevens expects that number to double this season, mimicking the system the NFL uses.

“This is extremely important, especially at the high school level where you still have brains that are still developing,” Jeremy Stevens said. “It’s been shown that a large number of athletes are having concussions and critical types of injuries that aren’t being reported. This really helps start to alleviate that problem.”

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football practices begin, heat managed differently than before

Enloe football coach David Green can remember when his high school coach, who after first reading about Gatorade in Sports Illustrated, came to practice with a homemade concoction that he was sure would help the team’s hydration.

It was Kool-Aid made with salt instead of sugar. After all, the story talked about Gatorade having sodium. The coach was no chemist. “Awful,” Green said. “Nobody wanted it.”

Green also recalled the popular practice of kids taking salt pills and using water only to wash out their mouths.

“I don’t know how they didn’t kill all of us,” he said.

High school football coaches and heat-related hydration practices have come a long way.

Gone are the days that a water break was a reward or motivational carrot to dangle in front of players. Coaches have water available at all times. Players are free to walk over, even during drills, and drink as needed.

“I tell them if you need water, go get it,” Fuquay-Varina coach Jeb Hall said. “If you absolutely have to have it, go get it. Nobody’s going to cuss you out.”

IT’S HARD TO MONITOR THE NEW GUYS, THE NINTH-GRADE KIDS YOU DON’T KNOW.

Fuquay-Varina coach Jeb Hall

Most current high school coaches experienced some kind of water experience akin to the ones Green described in their playing days.

“I don’t know that my coach in high school put water out,” said North Johnston coach Ashley Ennis. “We just went and drank it out of a hose pipe. It was just a different time, but then again we were outside all the time. We worked outside and played outside and we were acclimated to it. We got central heat and air conditioning in 1990.”

Summer heat difficult

Athletic trainers must be present starting from the first day of practice – Aug. 1 – through the rest of the season, but sometimes they are not around during the summer. This puts the onus of player safety on the coaches.

Hall, working with several freshmen and sophomores, cut one summer practice short. He didn’t want to stop the drill but wasn’t familiar with many of the players.

“It’s hard to monitor the new guys, the ninth-grade kids you don’t know,” Hall said. “During the summer when there are no trainers here and it’s on us, it’s tough.”

Hall said he sometimes looks at his most experienced and in-shape players – four-year starter at linebacker Austin Pluckhorn and two-way starting lineman Jonathan Cole – and knows if they’ve got their hands on hips, it’s a good time to take a break.

Green, who said he does have a trainer at his offseason workouts, said he’ll delay practice if it’s too hot outside. Sometimes, he’s started a practice, scheduled for 5 p.m., closer to 7 p.m.

“The parents understand that,” Green said. “I’ve never had one parent complain that we’re going to push practice back one hour because it’s too hot.”

Trainers’ word is final

Many trainers have a wet bulb globe temperature monitoring device that monitors all conditions that go into having a safe environment for practice – temperature, humidity, wind and solar radiation – and gives it a numeric value.

A reading under 82.0 is ideal for practices. From 82.0 to 92.0, different restrictions are put into place on how long practice is , how long breaks must be and what players can wear.

I’VE NEVER HAD ONE PARENT COMPLAIN THAT WE’RE GOING TO PUSH PRACTICE BACK ONE HOUR BECAUSE IT’S TOO HOT.

Enloe football coach David Green

Anything 92.1 or above is an immediate cancellation. Practice must stop or move inside.

“I’m not going to say ‘Give us 10 more minutes’ because if somebody falls out, then that would be on me,” Hall said. “It’s like a concussion. … If a trainer says he’s got a concussion, I’m not going to argue it. There’s no reason to argue it.”

Green, who coached at Leesville Road before leaving for Burlington’s Williams High, said he remembers Wake taking steps such as making trainers mandatory before the rest of the state.

“You can’t underestimate the value of having a trainer, particularly a good one, which we have,” Green said.

Ennis follows the heat guidelines and helps his players acclimate to the temperatures by scheduling practices and offseason workouts early in the morning.

“There’s a thin line there, but we make sure we (follow the heat guidelines),” Ennis said. “If it’s oppressively hot, we’ll try to curtail what we do.”

Heat-related deaths

Around the time Green was sipping salted Kool-Aid from his high school football coach, heat-related deaths were more common than today. The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina says there were 15 heat-related deaths in high school football from 1960-64.

There were five in 2000. The next year, Korey Stringer, a Pro Bowl offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, died of complications from heatstroke, creating national awareness.

There were two high school football heat-related deaths in 2014, both from overhydrating – or water intoxication, which occurs when water in consumed in high quantity without giving the body nutrients it needs. No heat-related deaths were reported among high school football players in 2013 and one in 2012.

Ennis urges his players to do their part at home, warning them “You can’t hydrate when you get to practice; it’s too late.”

Hall said he’s seen more kids become ill as a result of their eating – either skipping breakfast or eating too much breakfast – than heat.

I’VE SEEN A NUMBER OF GAMES THAT STARTED AT 7 O’CLOCK THAT WERE HOT. IT’S STILL HOT AT 6 P.M.

North Johnston coach Ashley Ennis

Wake County and other school systems do not allow coaches to practice in the middle of the day before school starts. Green said his teams will mostly practice in the evening, while others opt for times closer to dawn.

“They were doing things in Wake, when I was here before, that the rest of the state hasn’t come up to that protects the players and forces the coaches to take care of these players in the heat,” Green said.

“From my experience with it, it’s been common-sense type of things rather than knee-jerk reactions. It’s been ‘These are things we need to do to keep players safe.’ All in all, it’s been a good move forward and ahead of everybody else. Rather than waiting for something to happen and having some overreaction to it, Wake’s just been out in front of it. They’re listening to good people.”

Careful after school starts

Coaches and trainers won’t be done with monitoring the heat once the season starts. It’s still hot when the season begins in late August, and that’s why coaches know they have to get their teams acclimated.

“I’ve never seen them call off a football game on Friday or Thursday because it was hot, and I’ve seen a number of games that started at 7 o’clock that were hot,” Ennis said. “It’s still hot at 6 p.m.”

Once school starts, practices are often right after school, in the late afternoon.

In practices, a WBGT reading of 87.0 or higher makes the pads come off. But a regular-season game proceeds as normal.

“Friday night it could be hot, humid and nothing’s done then. I don’t know what the best way to do it is because the kids have to get adjusted to the heat, but once we start school we’ll start with our 2:30-5:30 p.m. practices,” Hall said. “Those first couple of weeks back to school, that’s when you really have the heat every single day.”

NCHSAA GUIDELINES

All day limits are for individuals, not teams. A player who misses time may have to sit out a team scrimmage or do non-contact drills while the rest of the team practices separately.

Aug. 1: First practice date. No pads and no hitting are allowed whatsoever on the first two days of practice.

Aug. 4: Players with two days of practice in helmets can wear pads, but no hitting.

Aug. 7: Body-to-body contact begins for players with five days of practice.

Aug. 11: First scrimmages allowed. Players must have three days in full uniform before participating.

Aug. 21: First game. Players must have three days in full uniform before participating.

*Players are allowed to wear helmets and shoulder pads in offseason workouts, but all hitting is banned.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/high-school/article29651365.html#storylink=cpy

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/high-school/article29651365.html

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Jaguars, NFL helping put full-time athletic trainers in local high schools

The goal is about health and safety.

And a new objective of the Jaguars, the NFL, Jacksonville University and the Jacksonville Sports Medicine Program is designed to ensure Duval County Public School athletes are healthier and safer soon.

Those entities are working together to provide funding and training needed to place full-time athletic trainers in 17 Duval County public high schools by 2020. The initiative was announced at a news conference Thursday morning in the US Assure Club West lobby inside EverBank Field.

Jaguars President Mark Lamping and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry were among officials speaking at the news conference, as were Jacksonville University President Tim Cost, NFL Senior Manager Health and Policy Amy Jorgenson and Duval County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nikolai Vitti.

“When we were offered the opportunity from the National Football League to expand the safety net to all sports at the high school level, we could not pass it up,” Lamping said. “It is precisely because Jacksonville is part of the NFL family that we have the opportunity to help bring these great NFL initiatives to Jacksonville.

“The NFL has created this platform for us. Without their leadership and financial commitment, this wouldn’t be happening.”

The Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation has committed to aid the effort by donating $50,000, a commitment matched by the NFL. The total funding needed for the five-year program is approximately $3 million. Duval County Public Schools will fund the majority with the remaining funds generated through private partnerships.

“It’s nice to be a part of this power of collaboration here today,” Curry said. “I was sworn in July 1. There was a lot of stuff that landed on my desk, much of which is still sitting there. This was one of the first things. It asked the city to be a small part of this.

“We were asked to invest a fraction and my immediate answer was yes. It really transcends athletics itself… It was an easy answer to be a part of this.”

Said Lamping, “Football is such a great thing and has such an important place in our hearts here in Jacksonville. One of the reasons this continues to grow year to year is there are so many men and women who have been exposed to the game over the years and realize how important the life skills are that they develop being exposed to the game. One of the keys is making sure the game is played safely.”

Jaguars Head Physician Kevin Kaplan called the program “an amazing step toward the goal of having athletic trainers in all of our local high schools.”

Ribault, Englewood, Raines, Baldwin and Jackson high schools will have full-time trainers this year under the program, with the goal being to have full-time trainers in all Duval County schools by 2020.

“Our message today is significant: safety,” JSMP Executive Director Robert Sefcik said. “This program is certain to become a model of success not only here in Jacksonville but throughout our state and country.”

Lamping said the Jaguars’ involvement in the program was important because of the importance of football to the community – and the importance of safety in the game at all levels.

“Why is it important that the Jaguars be involved? It’s pretty simple,” Lamping said. “We have an obligation to this community. We take a lot out of this community and we have a responsibility to put resources back into the community. The second part is we want the game of football to continue to grow and become even more popular. Part of that is making sure we are supporting the safety aspects of this game – and not just at the NFL level.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.jaguars.com/news/article-JaguarsNews/Jaguars-NFL-helping-put-full-time-trainers-in-local-high-schools/53bafb58-539f-4299-b504-3e66477bad5a

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Athletic Trainer Bree Clayton Provides heat illness expertise

Warm weather brings the joys of summer, but also a few additional risks for active children and teens.

Athletic Trainer Bree Clayton from Arkansas Children’s Hospital stopped by THV11 This Morning with tips on how to keep them safe.

Why are young athletes at such risk for heat illness?

-Children and teens don’t get rid of heat through sweat as effectively as adults

-Young athletes often are disciplined enough to make themselves drink

-During practices and games, young athletes are easily distracted and they forget to take breaks and hydrate

Is heat illness still a worry for young athletes, even when we’ve had cooler weather like recently?

– Cooler weather recently means that young athletes are not as acclimatized to warmer temperatures

– Humidity is as important as temperature-with high humidity even temperatures in the 80’s can create dangerous a dangerous heat index

– Full sun exposure can also add as much as 15 degrees to the heat index

– Practice surface, especially artificial turf, also adds radiant heat

– Heat illness can even occur indoors if the temperature is not being controlled.

What are the signs parents/coaches should look for in their young athletes if they suspect heat illness?

– Noticeable Thirst

– Muscle Cramps

– Weakness

– Decreased Performance

– Nausea

– Headache

– Fatigue

– Lightheaded feeling or dizziness

– Difficulty paying attention

What is the best way to prevent it?

– Acclimatization-spending progressively longer times exercising outdoors is very important

– Good night’s sleep

– Well balanced diet consisting of fruits and vegetables

– Plenty of water and sports drinks

–Avoid products that contain lots of sugar and caffeine

–Absolutely no energy drinks! They can actually raise your body temperature.

– Wear as few layers as possible of light weight, moisture wicking material

– Change into dry clothes often

 

Will it help to wear a cooling bandana or other type of cooling towel when they are practicing in pads/helmet and playing games?

– Headbands and cooling towels are only helpful if they stay exposed to the wind.

– If they become wet and stay wet and are under shoulder pads and helmets, they are just going to trap heat in.

– Great for after practice, but probably not good to wear during practice.

What should parents ask of coaches to know that there is a plan in place to address heat illness?

– What type of rest plan does the coach have in place?

– Where can athletes go to cool off during breaks?

– How often are players allowed to drink water during practice?

– What is the school’s plan to treat an athlete that overheats?

– Does the school have an emergency action plan?

– Who monitors the athletes during practice to make sure they are not overheating?

Is water better than sports drinks for preventing heat illness or does it matter?

– Drinking compliance is the key!

– Water is better for overall hydration, but if kids do not like it they won’t drink it.

– Sports drinks have flavor so often times athletes are more likely to drink them.

What role can parents play in keeping their young athletes healthy during the heat?

– Have plenty of their favorite flavor of sports drink at home for before and after practice

– Make sure to have healthy snacks at home.

– Provide well balance meals and make sure your athlete eats-if they are tired they may not feel like, but encourage it

– Allow them to rest indoors in the air conditioning after practice

What should your first steps be if you identify heat illness in your child or another young athlete?

– If minor symptoms like dizziness, lightheadedness, or cramping:

–Rest in a cool place

–Remove wet, constricting clothes

— Give them plenty of water and sports drink

– If they collapse, lose consciousness, or become confuse this is an emergency and could be a heat stroke

–Cool them as rapidly as possible

—Ice bath is preferred method

—Ice packs over as much of body as possible

—Cold shower or ice towels

–Dial 9-1-1

–Remember to cool first and transport second

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://www.thv11.com/story/news/health/2015/07/27/keeping-active-teens-children-safe-during-warm-weather/30723431/

 

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Football practice starts soon • Summer heat a big concern

It’s scorching hot, and once again as football practice time nears, coaches are concerned.

“Maybe we will get a break in it,” said Sam Pearson, head coach of the Marshall Academy Patriots.

At the same time, Pearson and other coaches in Marshall County know those hopes are a long shot. In recent years, the hottest temperatures of the summer have greeted them on the practice field and even at the start of the season. This year is stacking up to be no different.

“It could be hot all the way to October,” said Chris Daniels, head coach of the H.W. Byers Lions.

Pearson will be the first to put his team on the practice field, beginning in a week, Thursday, July 30.

He said, based on the August heat in recent years, he would be in favor of pushing the season back two or three weeks.

“We can talk about precautions and safety, but really there is only so much we can do once we get into it,” he said, “particularly on game night. You can monitor it better in practice.”

Pearson said his tentative plan is to practice an extended period in the evenings when preseason drills start.

“We will probably go about an hour and a half, give them a 30-minute or so break, and then go back for an hour,” he said.

The Patriots will play in a jamboree at Oxford High School Saturday, August 15, before opening the season Friday, Aug. 21, at Starkville Academy. He expects about 30 players this season.

The public schools in the county will open practice on Monday, Aug. 3, which is also the day teachers report for in-service training prior to the first day of school Thursday, Aug. 6.

Coach Daniels said he tries to get his Lions outside as much as possible during the summer (while school is out).

“That’s one of the reasons why seven-on-seven is so important,” he said. “We want to get them acclimated to the heat. But still, once they put on those helmets and shoulder pads (in August), it adds about 20 to 25 degrees to the temperature for them. We have to give them lots of breaks and keep them hydrated as best we can.”

His Lions will participate in a jamboree hosted by fellow county school Byhalia on Friday, Aug. 14. Action starts at 5 p.m.

Other schools participating are county school Potts Camp and Coahoma Agricultural High School.

Byers starts the regular season Friday, Aug. 21, at neighboring rival Benton County.

At Holly Springs High School, head coach Donald Deans said his Hawks may take to the practice field in the evenings, like at 7, when August 3 rolls around.

“We will just have to see what happens with this weather,” he said. “Safety is of utmost importance – keeping the kids hydrated.”

The Hawks will host Tunica Rosa Fort in a jamboree on Friday, Aug. 14. “Meet the Hawks” activities will begin at 6 p.m.

Holly High hosts rival Byhalia to begin the season on Friday, Aug. 21.

Deans said he is excited about the improvements being made at Sam Coopwood Park, like new fencing around the football field. He said he appreciates the support from the city and others who have helped.

“It’s looking good,” he said. “We’re trying to upgrade our facilities and continue to make good things happen.”

Potts Camp kicks off its regular season Friday, Aug. 21, by visiting Hatley.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://www.southreporter.com/index.php/sports/1104-football-practice-starts-soon-summer-heat-a-big-concern

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Athletic trainers tasked with protecting athletes

Sharon Winn has spent more than 30 years as an athletic trainer in the Denton school district and has seen the challenges that high school athletes face change dramatically. The most important and significant of those shifts involve the awareness and treatment of concussions.

Despite the pressure that the job entails, Ryan High School’s head trainer isn’t as stressed as one might suspect.

“It’s not as frustrating as you would think because I’m focused on the kids’ health and what’s best for them,” Winn said. “The parents and coaches want to know how long [a player might be out of action], but I don’t know that. It’s not in my magic bag of tricks. I can’t give a concrete answer because there isn’t one.

“It’s aggravating for the coaches, the athlete and the parents, especially for the ultra-competitive athlete. They want in.”

Winn recognizes that there is no fool-proof system for managing concussions and when athletes return to play. That gray area leaves athletic trainers sorting through emerging technology to find the best way to treat concussions, which rank among their biggest challenges.

The technology available for the diagnosis and treatment of concussions has improved dramatically. Even with a wealth of information, testing and treatment methods at their disposal, trainers aren’t taking lightly their decision of whether an athlete can return to play.

Trainers are in agreement that being cautious is in the best interest of athletes. That approach has trainers pulling athletes from games to protect players from themselves.

“It doesn’t matter what rule you have,” Winn said. “There are different interpretations. I don’t think there is any way you can say, that if this happens, then this is what to do. Different things arise. All trainers are in agreement, though, that if they show signs of a concussion they are coming out. It’s a state rule, not my rule.”

High school standards

The University Interscholastic League mandates that athletes must immediately be removed from play if they display symptoms of a concussion, providing trainers with a set of guidelines for how to handle injured athletes.

The UIL has a seven-day return-to-play protocol that mandates athletes cannot return unless they have experienced seven consecutive symptom-free days. If an athlete makes it five days but has a symptom on the sixth, the seven-day window restarts.

“With the UIL, if they exhibit symptoms, they are removed from the activity,” Winn said. “Sometimes in a huddle, especially in football, we’re watching for a hint. They won’t know the play or know what to do. They might say something outlandish. Our kids are getting good about pointing that out.”

Winn’s trepidation with allowing an athlete to return after a concussion is rooted in her understanding of long-term effects and varying symptoms from athlete to athlete.

“I don’t think we truly understand the long-term effects, and a lot of it has to do with the individual,” Winn said. “One kid may sprain an ankle and get right back up, but another kid may take weeks to get over it. Some kids can recover from concussion symptoms very quickly; some have the symptoms linger. I don’t know why.”

Trainers vs. doctors

Athletic trainers and doctors play critical roles in handling concussions and ensuring athletes receive the best care.

“We don’t diagnose,” said Renatta Delello, who is in her 10th year as Denton High School’s trainer. “Doctors diagnose. Trainers evaluate. It’s a big difference. As a trainer, if a kid comes to me with a bone sticking out, I would say it looks like it is broken but let’s go get X-rays.

“A parent could come back and say I was wrong, so we either evaluate and refer, or evaluate and treat. That’s with any injury, regardless. It doesn’t matter.”

The distinction between “diagnose” and “evaluate” is used to protect trainers who must make decisions about the immediate status of athletes.

“A concussion is a tricky injury because you can’t see it and athletes look at it as if it’s not a real injury,” said Kris Ring, who is in her 17th year as a trainer at Texas Woman’s University. “‘I might be a little foggy but there’s nothing wrong with me.’ Part of the vernacular in sports leads to that. They got their ‘bell rung’ or they’re ‘shook up.’

“We need to get rid of those. We need to call it a traumatic brain injury.”

Much like Delello and Winn, Ring makes athletes’ health and well-being her top priorities.

“At the moment of injury, your first concern is that patient’s outcome,” Ring said. “We want to rule out anything catastrophic first. I’ve made the shift that I’d rather be safe than sorry. If there is any question in my mind if it’s a concussion or not, it’s a concussion. In recent years, that has become my mantra. Ultimately my job as an athletic trainer is to protect my athletes.”

The primary fear trainers have with sending an athlete back into play is second impact syndrome. If a concussion is undiagnosed and untreated and a second concussion occurs before the athlete can properly heal, the athlete’s vulnerability skyrockets. The result can be deadly, even if the second concussion was less intense.

“I think we really have to look at these athletes as more than a number on our roster,” Ring said. “You have to think about the long-term consequences. I know I can’t live with myself if I put someone back into practice and something happens to them. I’m not going to do that.”

Trainers often take the lead role in the decision as to when players return to action.

“After the seven days, if there is something that is not quite right, we’ll even have a sit-down conversation with the coach and tell them that they are cleared by our standards but this is what we still see,” Delello said. “If things just aren’t going right, I’m just going to send you to the doctor.”

Facing challenges

on the college level

The NCAA has guidelines similar to the UIL’s regarding players being removed from activity if they display symptoms of a concussion.

The University of North Texas has had a protocol for concussions in place since 2001. Dustin Hill, UNT’s director of sports medicine, said the school is cautious with its athletes who have suffered concussions.

“What we have now makes for a better environment for our kids,” Hill said.

Ring said that TWU also is cautious about returning athletes to play but wishes there was more leeway within the NCAA guidelines governing the time frame in which athletes return.

The concern some have with UIL and NCAA rules is the concealment of head injuries by athletes and their families.

“The athletes don’t like this decision,” Ring said. “They don’t like it at all. Once the athlete knows this is the rule, will it make the athlete less likely to report? I’ve seen that a lot. They can’t stand the rule. Athletes by in large are bulletproof. … It’s brutal. When you look at parents, anytime you say brain injury, they think their kid will never play again.

“On the other side of the spectrum [for the parents], their kid’s college scholarship is riding on a game, so put them back in there. They’ve got pressures from all angles. Plus, with the internal pressure, they want to be on the floor and in the game.”

The pressure isn’t limited to the athlete and his or her family. It also can be on trainers who are pressured to clear athletes who suffer concussions to return to play. Trainers at UNT and TWU said they have the full support of coaches and administrators who put the health of athletes first.

“We’re fortunate that our [athletic director] is one that puts health and well-being first,” Ring said. “We’ve never had a problem. We’ve been very fortunate with her level of seriousness with health, and it trickles down from there. As a department, you have to have total buy-in.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:                                                                                                               http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20150711-trainers-tasked-with-protecting-driven-athletes.ece

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Trustees Ignore community concerns for sports safety

Teton County School District No. 1 trustees agreed at their July 8 meeting that the district does not need to hire a full-time athletic trainer.

The announcement was made in response to a petition that was submitted to the board of trustees at the June 10 regular meeting.

“The petition policy we have requires us to take some action on the petition within 30 days,” Trustee Kate Mead said.

Each committee on the school board did research before trustees made their decision.

Trustees on the Planning and Development Committee, for example, decided to see if other schools that are in the same athletic division as Jackson Hole High School are staffed with full-time athletic trainers.

“The only school of our size that has a full-time athletic trainer is Star Valley,” Mead said. “That full-time athletic trainer is also a teacher.”

Mead said the committee learned that some of the schools have part-time trainers and that some of the trainers are volunteers, not paid employees.

“Some of them simply have volunteer athletic trainers,” Mead said. “There will be a person in the community who is an athletic trainer or physical therapist who donates their time.”

Trustees on the Performance Monitoring Committee studied the district’s budget to see what it pays to have a part-time athletic trainer.

The district spent about $22,000 to provide its students with an athletic trainer for fiscal year 2015.

Mead said it’s a little too late to change the budget for fiscal year 2016.

“This petition was brought to us very late in the game, when we were already budgeting,” she said.

Trustees also asked for input from Superintendent Gillian Chapman and Activities Director Mike Hansen. Chapman and Hansen agreed that right now the district does not need a full-time trainer.

“We could have done another budget exception,” Mead said. “It says a lot when the administration is telling us that they believe that the needs of the students are being met with a part-time athletic trainer.”

The discussion of whether to hire a full-time athletic trainer came about this spring when the board of trustees received a letter from parent and physical therapist Scott Harmon.

“He sent us a strident letter saying we are endangering the safety of our kids by not having a full-time athletic trainer,” Mead said.

Trustees feel confident that the district’s athletes are in good hands with their coaches and a part-time athletic trainer. Mead said the trustees and other district employees always take concerns of student safety seriously.

“When people talk about child safety it makes us nervous,” Mead said.

She said that right now the district does not have an opening for a full-time trainer.

“We simply haven’t had full-time athletic trainers,” she said. “I don’t think we will in the future unless our school gets much bigger.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:                                                         http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jackson_hole_daily/local/trustees-will-stick-with-part-time-trainer/article_7f2dfc4d-f71d-510e-be15-62e357c47941.html

 

 

 

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Rohling leads county athletic trainers

Lawrence County native Brad Rohling is often visible on the athletic sidelines.

But he is not a coach or athlete.

He is an athletic trainer at Central Magnet and is the coordinator of athletic training outreach for NHC Rehabilitation and TOA (Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance). Rohling took his undergraduate work at MTSU and graduate work at Auburn.

He worked with Auburn football for four years when Tommy Tuberville was the Tigers coach.

Rohling recently spoke with the DNJ about his role with Rutherford County athletics:

How many athletic trainers cover Rutherford County’s schools? And what are their responsibilities?

We have 10 that cover 10 high schools. All 10 have bachelor’s degrees. Five of them have completed their master’s. And five are currently enrolled in master’s classes.

They are responsible in covering any varsity, junior varsity or freshman sport.

What is your role, outside of being the athletic trainer at Central Magnet.

I oversee the other nine athletic trainers in the county. I oversee, manage and supervise and deal with any issues we have with any of those guys.

High school practices have begun across the state. What do you recommend athletes do to make sure they stay hydrated now?

It’s preparation. You have to pre-hydrate. You have to hydrate the day before, two days before going into it. You have to prepare yourself for what you are about to get into. You need to be smart and not practice in the middle of the day. There is the TSSAA heat policy that says we can’t go out if it is a certain temperature. And there is the recovery time. You need to get the proper rest and the proper food.

What type of meals and how much rest should athletes be getting now with practice starting?

It’s a lot more food than what you think because athletes are burning so many calories and using so much energy during the day. Proper food — stay away from any fast food. Grilled chicken sandwiches and things like that are good. Drinking fruit juices, Gatorade and water. They need to stay away from sodas and Kool Aid. There is too much sugar in that.

And how much rest do athletes need now?

For sure, they need to get the proper amount of rest. I wouldn’t stay out all night. I can’t put a number on it.

Concussions are a big concern these days. If an athlete receives a blow to the head, how can an athlete and parents monitor their athlete to make sure there isn’t a concussion? What are the signs?

Part of the Rutherford County concussion policy gives parents information as to what to look for. If they are sleeping a lot more or a lot less. If they are irritable or sensitive to light or noise. If they have nausea and aren’t acting right, those are potential signs. We put a lot on the parents because they know their kids; they see their kids at night and after practice. That’s part of the education packet.

Is everyone doing baseline testing for concussions in Rutherford County?

Everyone is.

What is baseline testing, and how important is it to monitor concussions?

Impact testing is just that, a baseline test. It’s not a cure. It’s not going to prevent a concussion. It’s not going to help them get better. You get a baseline as where that kid is for short-term memory, long-term memory and reaction time. Then, if a kid receives a concussion, they can take the test and it measures the results against what the baseline test result was.

With so many practices and sporting events going on during the school year, how do athletic trainers cover all of the teams?

There have been studies done as far as rate of injury. Football has the most injuries. Football is the priority. But soccer is a priority over volleyball just because it is a contact, collision sport. It’s based on the rate of injury.

What are the most common injuries during a high school season?

There are a lot of ankle injuries and shoulder injuries during the season just because of how the body is and how the joint is. The more movement you have in the joint, the looser it is.

How important is it for an athletic trainer to get to know the high school athlete?

That is a crucial part of our job because I can tell if something is going on with that kid. Even with a concussion, you can tell if he’s not acting right. Or if there is something else going on, I know the kids. In our role, a lot of times they feel more comfortable telling us than they will their coaches. We kind of have to be the go between. We have to sometimes play the good-guy role and also sometime the bad-guy role. That is a huge part of our job — is getting to know the kids.

Overall, how good are the coaches in Rutherford County to work with?

I think we’ve got the best coaches in the state. They understand that we’ve got a job to do, and that is to protect those kids. With all of the concussion legislation going on, they are definitely going to defer to our opinion on things. We generally don’t have any issues with coaches getting upset.

What is the best part of your job?

The kids, the coaches and the level of competition in Rutherford County.

What is the worst part of your job?

The way our program is set up, a lot of times the people that work for me hit two years and go work somewhere else. I enjoy watching those guys grow. As soon as they get to be a high-level athletic trainer, they leave and go somewhere else.

Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.

Meet Brad Rohling

Who: Coordinator of athletic training outreach for NHC Rehabilitation and TOA

Age: 38.

Family: Wife: Amber; daughter: Stella, 6 months old

Education: Lawrence County High School graduate. Bachelor’s in athletic training at MTSU. Master’s in higher education administration from Auburn.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:                                                                                             http://www.dnj.com/story/news/2015/07/11/qa-rohling-leads-county-athletic-trainers/30015753/

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Athletic Trainers are Key to Concussion Management

Athletes under the age of 18 are the most vulnerable when it comes to sustaining concussions. Accurately diagnosing concussions on the field of play is an important way to protect them, according to research published this month in the Journal of Child Neurology.

“The continued play by a child who has sustained a concussion puts them at significant increased risk,” said Jacob Resch, associate professor at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and co-author of the study. “To keep a concussed child from continuing to play requires immediate and accurate diagnosis.”

Every state but one requires youth athletes suspected of having a sport concussion be removed from play and not allowed to return without written clearance from a health care provider. But, according to Resch, many young athletes are playing without the elements in place needed to accurately diagnose a concussion during a game.

The article, “The Acute Management of Sport Concussion in Pediatric Athletes,” provides a clinical framework for the assessment, evaluation and management of pediatric sports concussions.

One key element: the presence of an athletic trainer or trained clinician at sports events.

“Diagnosing sport concussion requires specific training,” Resch said. “Think of it as a medical specialty that not necessarily all general practitioners or pediatricians are well versed in. There is a range of assessments used in diagnosing concussions and each of them requires specific training.

“The best person to have on a sideline is someone who has specific training in this area, most often seen in a certified athletic trainer.”

Young children often play sports in youth leagues, while adolescents often play in club or school sports. Currently, the only data collected on the presence of athletic trainers is on high school sports, where only 46 percent of high schools have a full-time athletic trainer. In many of those cases, a single athletic trainer is responsible for all of the school’s teams.

In other cases, schools or programs may share an athletic trainer or hire an athletic trainer or clinician to temporarily work a tournament or series of events.

“At this point, we just don’t know how many youth sports are being played with a certified athletic trainer or clinician trained in diagnosing concussions on the sidelines,” Resch said.

In the absence of someone specifically trained to diagnose and treat concussions, the role is often filled by an emergency medical technician.

“EMTs are a vital member of the sports medicine team,” Resch said. “However, EMTs may receive limited training in concussion assessment.”

In the article, Resch and co-author Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher of the University of Michigan reviewed the reliability and validity of assessment tools currently used to diagnose concussions. They recommend these tools be used alongside a clinical evaluation.

Another element needed to accurately and immediately diagnose youth sport concussions is a precursor to the first: taking a baseline measurement of the elements assessed to diagnose a concussion before a young athlete is injured. These elements include a balance test and recording the typical number of headaches a child has per month.

“One challenge in diagnosing concussions is that we are often measuring how a concussion manifests itself in other symptoms in the body,” Resch said. “Because no two children are alike and no two concussions are alike, it is difficult to say a particular score on a particular assessment always means a concussion is present or not.”

Knowing how a child scores on a balance test prior to play gives the individual making the diagnosis a sense of how far from that baseline an injured child is currently scoring. To know a child’s baseline often requires parents to seek a supplemental physical with a sports concussion clinician.

“Parents can certainly ask their pediatrician if they have expertise in diagnosing concussions,” Resch said. “If they don’t, they can often recommend someone who does.”

Preseason is a good time for concussion education, the authors suggested. Many states require student-athletes, their parents, coaches and administrators to participate in concussion education before the start of the season. However, those sessions vary significantly across ages, leagues and states.

Resch and Kutcher recommend that whatever the format, the content should include what signs and symptoms of concussion will lead to the player’s immediate removal from the field of play.

Though increased media attention has led to an added emphasis on the response to and management of concussions, the researchers noted that data is significantly lacking on youth sports concussions and called for more research.

“We need to continue to examine the data around concussions in youth sports and use that data to improve our efforts in education and recommendations for keeping young athletes safe,” Resch said.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:                                                                                                       http://www.healthcanal.com/brain-nerves/65450-study-immediate-diagnosis-of-concussions-better-protects-youth-athletes.html