GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan High School Athletic Association will give concussion testing kits to some football teams next fall as part of a pilot program aimed at improving player safety.
The association launched new rules for football practices in 2014 that sought to reduce head trauma by restricting the length of practices and limiting the number of days where so-called collision practices take place where contact in pads takes place.
The next step is having concussion testing kits on the sidelines, MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts told WOOD-TV. Players could read numbers off cards or an iPad, for example, and their times would be recorded during the preseason, after possible head injuries and after the season.
Longer reading times could indicate a possible problem. The association likely would give schools the option to use different tests, Roberts said. The MHSAA plans to start the pilot program in the fall, but it hasn't yet decided which schools will receive the kits first.
"Some school districts will move far beyond that. They have the resources in their community to be even more sophisticated," Roberts said. "But we need to have a baseline for all of our schools and then provide and after we provide it for a while, insist that all schools have it."
Concussions are brain injuries that can result from a blow to the head. Under a 2013 Michigan law, sports coaches or volunteers are required to participate in a concussion awareness training program. Athletes suspected of having a concussion must be immediately removed from games and cannot return until they receive clearance from a health professional.
Concussions have drawn intense attention in the NFL and other professional sports. Just this week, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland said he was leaving football after just one season in the league. Wary of head trauma, Borland said that he wanted to do what was best for his health.
When kits are distributed, Roberts said they will provide a quick way to get results and a way to send those results to the MHSAA so it can keep records.
"We want to make sure that those communities that have very few resources for sideline detection can get some," Robert said. "If we can do that for our schools ... then we have really made a contribution to detection and aftercare of our students."
Published: Thu, Mar 19, 2015
