Tag Archives: Injury Prevention

Injuries In Lacrosse: US Lacrosse Endorses “Youth Sports Concussion Act”, Congressional Legislation That Increases Disclosure Of “Protective Benefits And Limitations Of Sports Equipment”

Posted on May 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

“US Lacrosse supports efforts, such as the Youth Sports Concussion Act, which seek to increase the accountability of sporting goods Concussion Legislationmanufacturers to accurately represent the protective benefits and limitations of equipment to mitigate injury and risk,” said Ann Carpenetti, managing director of game administration at US Lacrosse. “We have invested extensively in the area of injury research and prevention in the sport of lacrosse, and having sport specific equipment that performs to meet a protective standard is critically important to ensure player safety on the field.”

US Lacrosse is among the national sports organizations publicly endorsing the Youth Sports Concussion Act, a new bill that is expected to be introduced shortly US Lacrosse Sports Science & Safetyin the U.S. Senate. The proposed congressional legislation is aimed at reducing youth sports concussions by empowering both the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to take stronger actions in guaranteeing equipment safety standards and claims by sporting goods manufacturers. Congressman Tom Udall (D-N.M.) is the primary sponsor of the bill.

Essentially, the new legislation hopes to extend the impact of the findings from a National Academies report on sports-related concussions, due to be released publicly no later than January 2014. That report is expected to include product safety standards that equipment manufacturers will need to consider for voluntary adoption.

The proposed bill also allows the Federal Trade Commission to take stronger action against manufacturers who make false and deceptive product safety claims in advertising and marketing campaigns.

The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will be charged with initial review and approval of the bill before it advances to the full Senate for consideration.

To date, the Youth Sports Concussion Act has received public endorsements from numerous organizations and associations, including the American Academy of Neurology, Brain Injury Association of America, Brain Trauma Foundation, Cleveland Clinic, National Association of State Head Injury Administrators, National Athletic Trainers’ Association, National Football League, NFL Players Association, NCAA, National Hockey League, National Federation of State High School Associations, and U.S. Soccer.

About US Lacrosse
US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is the national governing body for men’s and women’s lacrosse. US Lacrosse is the parent organization of the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams program. US Lacrosse has more than 415,000 members in 64 regional chapters around the country. Through responsive and effective leadership, US Lacrosse strives to provide programs and services to inspire participation while protecting the integrity of the game.
 – See more at: http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav/NewsandMedia/PressReleases/USLEndorsesConcussionLegislation.aspx#sthash.QM4kSC8N.dpuf

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Lacrosse Injuries: Concussions In Youth Sports, Especially Among Girls, Are Rising Due To “More Games Being Played At Higher Level Of Competition”; Helmets And Specialized Mouth Guards Do Not Prevent Concussions

Posted on May 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

“They certainly play more games than ever and more games at a higher level of competition,” said Dr. Kevin Walter of the concussion clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. “They extend Concussion Legislationthemselves more than ever. And with all the specialized training, they are bigger, faster and stronger. It adds up.”

Helmets, specialized mouth guards and headbands do not prevent concussions. “There is no known way to prevent concussions,” Stein said. “We love helmets and mouth guards; they protect your skull and your teeth. But they won’t stop a concussion from happening.”

Youth sports concussion clinics operate at the center of America’s heightened newyorktimes-logoawareness and increasing worry about concussions among young athletes. Listening to the hundreds of stories of how concussions have occurred, examining patients and monitoring their recoveries, the doctors and staff members are a repository of anecdotal and medical concussion information.

  • Female patients are making up a larger percentage of the clinics’ overall concussion patient population, a percentage that continues to rise year to year.“People used to say this was happening because female athletes are more likely than male athletes to report their concussion symptoms, but not many of us believe that is the reason any longer,” said Dr. Cynthia Stein of Boston Children’s Hospital. “Female athletes are just as aggressive about wanting to stay on the playing field, but maybe their sports are getting rougher.“Forty-one percent of our new patients are now female, which is a huge amount when you consider that the No. 1 sport causing concussions is football, and that’s nearly all male.”
  • Many concussions seem to result from a hit the young athlete does not see coming. It is not just blindside hits in football; it is collisions in which only one party is braced for the collision, as seen in checking sports like lacrosse and hockey. Many soccer players are injured when they are hit in the head by a kicked ball at close range that they did not see coming, especially blows that came from the side or behind them.Doctors again have theorized that girding the neck for a collision or a blow to the head could be the body’s way of protecting the brain. If the blow comes without warning, that layer of fortification is not engaged.“As coaches always say, ‘Keep your head on a swivel so you know what’s going on around you,’ ” said Dr. Michael O’Brien at Boston Children’s Hospital. “It might be good advice for a lot of reasons.”

For more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/sports/anecdotal-evidence-offers-clues-to-youth-concussions.html?_r=0

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Injuries In Lacrosse: Stanford Researchers Collecting Data From Football And Women’s Lacrosse To Understand “Mechanics” Of Head Injuries That Cause Concussions (Video)

Posted on November 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

The researchers have been focusing on football this fall but have been collecting data from field hockey and women’s lacrosse – sports where the athletes don’t wear helmets but do wear mouth guards.

Stanford researchers have turned the school’s football practices into a living laboratory in an effort to understand the mechanics of what happens to the head and neck when a head injury occurs.

The hope is that once researchers determine what forces cause a concussion, they can start improving sports equipment and rules to reduce injuries.

The data from this season also suggest that the standard lab tests used to simulate hits to the head are not always accurate representations of what occurs on the field. The tests do not re-create the rotational forces players experience well, researchers said, and experts think rotational movement plays an important role in causing a head injury.

For their research, scientists have placed sensors on the athletes’ helmets and have been filming them in action with high-definition, super-slow-motion cameras to monitor the speed the head is traveling before and after impact.

The players also wear special mouth guards with accelerometers and gyrometers embedded in them that gauge the linear and rotational acceleration of the head during a hit.

They plan to compare the data from contacts that lead to concussions with the non-concussive impacts to see what, if any, differences there are.

“We’ve got a really unique opportunity to get the data that matters the most – the human data,” said David Camarillo, an assistant professor of bioengineering.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/article/Stanford-analyzes-athletes-concussions-4055088.php#ixzz2CuCcdUTZ

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National League Lacrosse: New “Standardized Concussion Testing” Being Implemented In 2013

Posted on October 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

The National Lacrosse League has implemented a new standardized concussion testing protocol for its players to be used by medical personnel at all NLL games. At any time during the season, any player suspected of having incurred a concussion in a game or practice will be given immediate concussion testing by appropriate personnel.

All players to undergo baseline testing prior to the 2013 season; penalties stiffened for players making contact with the head of an opposing player.

In addition to implementing these new standards during games and practices, all NLL players will undergo baseline testing for concussions prior to the start of each upcoming season.  The new standardized testing was developed by the team physicians of the NLL clubs.  The concussion protocol is part of the NLL’s commitment to player health and safety.

The league has also taken further steps by stiffening the penalties assessed for incidents of high-sticking (Rule 62) and illegal cross-checking (Rule 63).  Penalties for high-sticking will now be assessed by the game officials as either a major penalty (five minute penalty) or a match penalty. A match penalty ejects the offending player from the game AND a one-game suspension for the team’s next game. The offending player’s team is also assessed with a five-minute major penalty. The penalty assessed will be based on the severity of the incident as judged by the game officials.  High-sticking infractions may no longer be assessed by officials as a major & game misconduct (five-minute penalty plus ejection of offending player for remainder of game).

“The Competition Committee felt that by removing the middle classification of major & game misconduct penalty for high-sticking, we will create a greater deterrent for players from making contact on opponents with a high stick”, said Brian Lemon, NLL Vice President, Operations.  “Player safety is of the utmost concern to us, and the NLL will remain at the forefront of protecting its players.”

The league has also applied this change to the penalties that can be assessed for illegal cross-checking.  The officials also have the option of selecting a minor penalty for illegal cross-checking for incidents deemed less severe. High-sticking penalties cannot be assessed as a minor.

Any player who is assessed a second match penalty for either of these infractions during the course of a year will receive a 2-game suspension.  A third infraction would result in a three-game suspension.  The year in this case begins on the date when the first infraction takes place and continues for twelve months from that date.

Rule changes have also been applied in terms of the penalties assessed by game officials for fighting.  When a fight between two player’s leads to a stoppage of play, players who engage in a second fight during the stoppage (fighting after the original fight) will be assessed a match penalty (ejection from game plus a one-game suspension). This infraction was previously assessed as a game misconduct penalty.  Officials will have the ability to rescind the penalty for one of the involved players if they determine that player was an ‘Unwilling Combatant’ who is defending themselves against the instigator as opposed to fully engaging in the fight.

Also during a fight, NLL rules dictate that all runners on the floor return to their team benches, or to their team’s defensive end of the floor if the fight is happening in front of their team’s bench.  Any player failing to adhere to this rule during a fight will now be assessed a misconduct penalty. This infraction was previously assessed a bench minor penalty.

Players who fight after the 2nd and 4th quarters of a game (during halftime or after the end of regulation) will be subject to penalties under Rule 80.16, Fighting Other than During Periods of a Game, and subject to a game misconduct and a one-game suspension. This infraction was previously assessed as a major penalty.

For more: http://www.coloradomammoth.com/news/mammoth-news/concussion-testing

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Injuries In Lacrosse: Ivy League Lacrosse Adopts “Concussion Prevention Recommendations” For Men’s And Women’s Lacrosse

Posted on July 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Ivy League presidents accepted a series of recommendations made by the League’s Multi-Sport Concussion Review Committee aimed at limiting the incidence of concussion in men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s soccer. The Multi-Sport Concussion Review Committee oversaw the reviews in men’s and women’s lacrosse and soccer. The Multi-Sport Committee arose from the Ivy League’s Ad Hoc Committee on Concussion, which conducted last year’s football concussion review and was also co-chaired by Dartmouth then-President Jim Yong Kim and Cornell President David J. Skorton, both medical doctors. Sport-specific committees reviewed men’s and women’s soccer (one committee), men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse, and included Ivy League head coaches, administrators, expert consultants, team physicians and athletic trainers.

The Ivy League presidents also accepted sport-specific recommendations, including:

Men’s Lacrosse

  •  Coaches will designate 11 combined days in the fall and spring seasons in which body checking will not be permitted in practices.
  • Only one full-contact practice per day will be permitted. • Coaches will place a greater emphasis on teaching proper hitting techniques in practice.
  • The Ivy League office will work with the NCAA on specific issues that could potentially lower the incidence of concussion, including examining the possibility of more stringent consequences for penalties involving targeting the head as well as considering possible rules changes surrounding face-offs.

Women’s Lacrosse

  • Coaches will modify 10 spring practices to exclude stick-checking.
  • Coaches will dedicate time during the beginning of fall practice and skill instruction season on teaching proper stick-checking technique.
  • Each student-athlete will be required to attend at least one skill instruction session that focuses on proper stick-checking technique prior to the first fall practice.
  • Other adopted recommendations centered on suggestions for minimizing accidental hits to the head during practices and continued assessment of officiating to address fouls involving hits (i.e., stick-checking) to the head and other dangerous play.
  • Certified officials will attend one fall practice to emphasize adherence to safety rules and cardable fouls.

For more:  http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/information/gen-releases/2012-13/releases/Ivy_League_Presidents_Approve_Concussion_Recommendations_for_Lacrosse_and_Soccer

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Injuries In Lacrosse: US Lacrosse CEO Steve Stenerson Calls For Rules And Penalties To Halt Violent Collisions In Men’s Lacrosse

Posted on May 25, 2012 | 1 Comment

“Lacrosse was never intended to be football with sticks, yet violent collisions of similar force regularly occur on the lacrosse field due to bigger, stronger, faster players…coaches who encourage big hits…and officials who either don’t feel empowered or refuse to enforce current rules,”

High-speed collisions in men’s lacrosse have put players and the sport’s reputation at risk, US Lacrosse CEO Steve Stenersen wrote in a blog on uslacrosse.org this week.

“Lacrosse was never intended to be football with sticks, yet violent collisions of similar force regularly occur on the lacrosse field due to bigger, stronger, faster players…coaches who encourage big hits…and officials who either don’t feel empowered or refuse to enforce current rules,” Stenersen wrote.

The blog was posted Sunday at 8:22 p.m., shortly after an ugly episode in the NCAA quarterfinals which resulted in Notre Dame attackman Ryan Foley being carted off the field on a stretcher following what appeared to be an illegal hit to the head delivered by Virginia defenseman Scott McWilliams. Foley scored on the play to put the Irish up 9-8 in the fourth quarter of an eventual 12-10 victory in Chester, Pa. No penalty was assessed.

Foley, who issued a thumbs-up and waved to the crowd as he was wheeled off the field, flew back to South Bend with the rest of Notre Dame’s players. The team said Sunday night that he was “doing fine.”

Stenersen has been the chief executive of US Lacrosse, the sport’s national governing body, since its 1998 inception. He also proposed several rule changes to combat the trend of violent collisions in the men’s game. The full blog post appears below.

The Time Has Come to Remove Violent Collision from Men’s Lacrosse

“The issue of high speed collision in boys’ and men’s lacrosse is an immediate concern with respect to rule evolution and enforcement. Lacrosse was never intended to be football with sticks, yet violent collisions of similar force regularly occur on the lacrosse field due to bigger, stronger, faster players…coaches who encourage big hits…and officials who either don’t feel empowered or refuse to enforce current rules.

“I’d like to see rule changes proposed that severely penalize hits to unprotected/defenseless players. For instance, in a loose ball situation, I believe we should consider eliminating the opportunity for a player who has no intention of playing the ball from running full speed into another player who is playing the ball. This may be viewed as blasphemous to some who relish the violent component of the game, but even the NFL has embraced similar rules because of growing concerns about player safety.

“The minimum penalties associated with existing rules focused on player safety simply aren’t sufficient to change player behavior; allowing an official the latitude to call a 1, 2 or 3-minute penalty for a rule violation involving player safety rarely results in a 2 or 3-minute penalty. I’d like to see the minimum penalty for unnecessary roughness, illegal body checks, and contact to an opponent’s head increased from 1 minute to 2 minutes, and expulsion should be an acceptable call for each of these infractions if they’re viewed as sufficiently violent. I’m not sure why some coaches don’t seem to appreciate that a 1-minute penalty is not a fair punishment for an infraction that results in the loss of a player to injury…nor is it a sufficient deterrent to the violent behavior in the first place.

“One final thought…US Lacrosse recently reduced the distance from a loose ball within which legal body contact can be made from 5 yards to 3 yards as part of our national youth rules. The intent was to reduce the momentum and resulting intensity of collision between players that could lead to injury. Because adult players can accelerate at a much faster rate and carry frames that easily weigh twice as much as U15 players, this rule is completely transferrable to the high school and college levels, as well.

“Coaches, officials and fans who support violent collision as an essential part of the game don’t fully appreciate the potential for serious injury, particularly with respect to the long term effects of concussion, for both the player being hit and the player who initiates contact. Player safety, not tradition, must be the primary focus of proactive efforts to evolve the rules of the game. If we don’t accept this important responsibility, the game’s violent reputation will surely impede its continued growth.”

For more:  http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DI/2011-12/news/052512_us_lacrosse_ceo_says_violent_collisions_must_stop

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Lacrosse Injuries: “Advocates For Injured Athletes” Promotes “Sports Safety” Through Essential Support And Education For The Injured Athlete

Posted on December 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

Advocates for Injured Athletes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting student athletes. Our mission is to promote sports safety and to provide essential support, education, and resources to the injured athlete. http://injuredathletes.org/

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Concussions In Lacrosse: “Impact Indicator” Microsensor Technology Imbedded In Helmet Chinstrap Monitors “Force And Duration” Of Hits To Determine Likelihood Of Head Injuries (Video)

Posted on August 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

The Impact Indicator is microsensor technology and intelligent software embedded in a chinstrap. The Indicator measures the force and duration of a hit, and instantly signals a level of any hit over 240 HIC’s (Head Injury Criterion) by illuminating a red LED light on the front of the Indicator, easily visible by coaches, trainers, officials, and other players. The Head Injury Criterion (HIC) is a measure of the likelihood of head injury arising from an impact. It is the same criterion used in Automobile Safety Testing and by the U.S. Military. The Head Injury Criterion was established by the Bioengineering Center at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, the same bioengineering program behind ESPN’s Sports Science.

The Impact Indicator is…

• Sophisticated microsensor and intelligent software technology
• Tested to the highest standards in leading sports laboratories
• Calculated to the industry’s most accepted standard of impact
• A reliable way to monitor every hit in every game and every practice
• Invaluable in a day of shrinking trainer and coaching staffs
• Comfortable to wear and easy to use

The Impact Indicator is not…

• A monitor for anything but possible head injuries
• A medical device that diagnoses concussions
• A substitute for qualified medical evaluation
• Protection against the possibility of concussion

For more information on The Impact Indicator, please visit http://www.battlesportsscience.com

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Injuries In Lacrosse: Dick’s Sporting Goods Sponsors “Protecting Athletes Through Concussion Education” (PACE) In Effort To Promote “Baseline Concussion Testing” (Video)

Posted on August 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Lacrosse Injury Prevention: California Legislature Set To Vote On “Athletic Trainers Practice Act” With Hopes Of Ending State’s “Lack Of Regulation Of Athletic Trainers”

Posted on August 9, 2011 | 1 Comment

The Athletic Trainers Practice Act, also known as AB 374,would mandate that all athletic trainers must:

  • have graduated with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university athletic training program and have completed certification requirements for a nationally accredited athletic training certification program.
  • pass a comprehensive exam approved by a state-enacted Athletic Training Licensing Committee.
  • possess an emergency cardiac care certification.
  • pay application fees established by an Athletic Training Licensing Committee. The cost of maintaining that committee would be covered by the licensing fees, West stresses, ensuring no cost to taxpayers.

The following recounts a the efforts of a “Certified Athletic Trainer” who saved a lacrosse players life:

In May 2009, Tommy Mallon was playing in his final high school lacrosse game for Santa Fe Christian in Solana Beach, Calif., when he collided with an opposing player as both were scrambling for a bouncing ball. The hit initially appeared innocuous, yet Mallon felt a slight numbness in the back of his head. While his impulse was to get up and return to the game, Riki Kirchhoff, an onsite certified athletic trainer, refused to let him. Instead, she placed Mallon on a spineboard and had him transported by ambulance to a nearby trauma center.

There, doctors discovered that Mallon’s neck was fractured and that one of his vertebral arteries had been dissected, allowing blood to leak out of the artery and form a dangerous clot. “If he had gotten up and turned his head, he could very well have dropped dead right on the spot,” says Mike West, president of the California Athletic Trainers’ Association. “Athletic trainers save lives; it’s as simple as that.”

Mallon, who underwent months of treatment and therapy, will never play contact sports again. But because a certified athletic trainer saved his life, Mallon and his mother, Beth, have dedicated themselves to ensuring that every high school in the United States has access to a certified athletic trainer through Advocates for Injured Athletes. The organization’s San Diego-based location is noteworthy because California is one of three states that do not even regulate the athletic training profession. (Alaska and Hawaii are the others.)

For more:  http://athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=3782&zoneid=33

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