High School Football & Concussions ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) -



















The 2007 high school football season kicks off tonight on fields across Michigan.

This year, at some schools, coaches and trainers will have a new tool to assess the players' risk of concussions.

Football is the most popular high school sport offered in Michigan. According to the Michigan High School Athletic Association, 44 thousand high school students strap on helmets during the fall football season. But despite those helmets many will suffer concussions.

Patrick is a high school junior preparing for his second season playing varsity football.

"I got my bell rung on kickoff, against Eastern I think last year. I didn't see'em coming. He just leveled me," says patrick.
"When we watched the game film, all you see is this person flying cross the screen. That was me."

Patrick's story is not uncommon.

Its estimated, nationwide, more than 60 thousand high school athletes suffer at least one concussion every year. Two thirds of them are football players . Dr. Jeff Kutcher is the director the University of Michigan's Sport Neuorology center.

"It is a state of physiologic disfunction, that is the result of a direct impact to the head," says Kutcher.
"There is a direct impact of the brain against the skull, both in the direction of the initial hit and the opposite side of the brain also, against the skull in the back."

But Kutcher says diagnosing a mild concussion in a teenage can be problematic, since many teens exhibit some of the symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, normally.


At East Lansing High School, Head Coach Bill Feraco looks on as the Trojans prepare for their season opener this weekend. This is Feraco's 30th year coaching football. The coach admits his appreciation of head injuries has grown over his past decades on the gridiron However, Feraco admits, in the heat of the game, its not always easy to tell when a player has suffered a concussion.

"Unless they come up to you, and you can see there is a physical after affect, or they come up to you and say 'Coach, I having trouble seeing' or 'I'm a little dizzy', those are immediate yellow flags. Right to the trainer immediately," says Feraco.
"Sometimes the collisions happen and the kids play right through it."

East Lansing athletic trainer Missy Phillips is just as busy as the players during practice. When she's not making sure the boys are well hydrated, Phillips is tending to minor scrapes and muscle strains. But back in the trainer's office, she's busy using a new tool.

"You get all their general information," says Phillips.

Phillips clicks thru a series of screens on her office PC. The computer's running ImPACT software designed to gauge a person's cognitive function. Since last year, East Lansing student athletes, in a variety of sports, have been tested using the software. Phillips says the initial test sets a baseline for a student athlete's memory and reaction time, that can later be compared to another 20 minute test, taken after the athlete is suspected of suffering a concussion.

"Its just helped me tremendously because I have athletes who say to me 'I feel better', but their brain is not better," says Phillips.
"They're not functioning back to their normal level. So, its not safe for them to go back in."

"Obviously, it makes them a little bit angry," says Phillips of keeping the players on the sidelines.
"They want to play. And I want to see them play. But, I want they to be healthy when they play."

Professional sports teams have been using computer programs like ImPACT for over a decade. But, its only during the past few years, that the software has become more available at the college and high school levels.

John Johnson is the spokesman for the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Johnson insists decreasing the potential for head injuries is a goal for the Michigan's high school sports governing body. He points to rule changes in recent years to discourage players from using their helmets to knock opposing players to the ground. But Johnson says, due to limits of the association's authority, the most stringent rules regarding an at-risk player's ability to play are limited to the post-season.

Johnson concedes money is also a factor. For example, he notes while the association can tell school districts what color home uniforms should be, the association can not require schools to have a qualified trainer on the sidelines Still Johnson insists protecting Michigan high school football players from suffering a concussion is a top priority.

"If you remember what we are supposed to be about, and that is, preparing kids for the next level in life, not the next level of sports," says Johnson.

This weekend, freshman, JV and Varsity teams from more than 600 high schools will take the field, as yet another fall football season kicks off.


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For another perspective on the ImPACT software mentioned in the above story, here's a link to an ESPN report...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2967678 © Copyright 2010, Michigan Radio