Are players or coaches the irresponsible culprits for making “Returnto-Play” decisions following a concussion? According to a study of elite university players, published by The Canadian Press, November 2012, it would appear both are! The study, done by a team of sports medicine doctors, covering University hockey teams (men and women) in Canada, concluded that the number of “Bell-Ringers” sustained during a season was much higher than officially reported. The doctors observed two university teams during the 2001-2012 season, and reported that “the incidence of concussions was three times higher in males and five times higher in females than most previous research had found.” Should these numbers be considered shocking and outrageous? There is no question that numbers like these give parents and future employers cause for concern, especially when considering the rate of concussions in women versus men is 2:1. Twice the numbers of women were concussed compared to their male counterparts. According to Dr. Paul Echlin, a sports medicine specialist, who oversaw the study, “those are all significant (findings) to say, “Look, it’s important to understand that we’re not reporting this correctly.” Dr. Echlin stated that 70% of the hits that caused a concussion were to a player’s head and more than 80% of those knocks were deliberate versus incidental. Obviously, players, coaches and associated team officials are fudging on facts. Why? Irresponsible is too mild a term for the answers received from both coaches and players. Quite possibly, greed, ego, low self-worth, peer pressure, or arrogance is better suited for this discussion. Further data from the findings revealed that coaches and trainers had no training in concussion awareness, or chose to ignore it. By not involving themselves in knowing the signs, symptoms and side-effects of concussions they became accomplices for future brain damage to children entrusted to their care and well being. How? If the player sustained a second concussion before the first was completely healed, the player was a candidate for “Second Impact Syndrome,” a condition that is fatal in 50% of the persons who are impacted by it. According to Dr. Echlin, the biggest challenge for doctors is to convince coaches and trainers to recognize when a player has sustained a concussion, and pull him or her from the ice so they can be competently assessed and given time to rest before they return to play. Why? Do universities in Canada and their insurance companies believe this is the most appropriate way to treat their student athletes? Unlike their cousins to the south, where American universities have mastered the skill of making their major athletic programs big business, Canadian collegiate athletic programs can be considered very small fish in a drought stricken pond. Most American if not all major University athletic programs in the USA are bigger business than any of the present NHL programs in either country. Canada can and must be a trend setter in concussion awareness education at the collegiate level and in the surrounding perimeter of the universities influence. No child athlete is worth the price they are being asked to pay by unscrupulous coaches or their peers. Earl Ross, a legend in the sports broadcasting business in Moncton New Brunswick, would end his daily broadcasts with a word about sports, “It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” Collegiate and professional sports and the athletes who indulge in them have lost the “how you play the game” emphasis. Sports today are corrupt, ruthless and exploitive. Owners, coaches, general managers and players should be ashamed of where they have driven the game. Concussions kill! Those who send a player back out too early are accomplices to his or her demise. An athlete who goes back out is nothing more than a pawn in a deadly game that is ego driven. THE HOCKEY DOCTORS
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 02:59:30 +0000
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