Concussions 'Hot Topic' In Maryland School Sports

When Westminster mother Beth Nave’s daughter couldn’t remember taking a health class test in school earlier in the day, Nave knew something was seriously wrong.

As it turned out, Nave’s daughter had hit her head in gym class. Nave took her daughter to the doctor and tests later showed the girl had suffered a concussion.

“She had short-term memory loss, and got a D on the test,” Nave said. "Now she is fine but she did deal with headaches for weeks, and she ended up not playing lacrosse for the rest of the season.”

Concussions, she noted, are "not like an overnight fix.”

Nave, a mother of five student athletes and the booster president for Westminster High School, is also a lacrosse coach, and her husband coaches high school football.

She says she’s dealt with concussions in the past both as a coach and a parent, and like many of those involved in school sports in Maryland this year, she has reacted positively to the new state law that mandates stringent education about concussions for those taking part in school sports--from coaches and players to parents.

“I think it makes parents more aware, and I think it makes the whole system more accountable,” Nave said.

The new state concussion legislation, signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley in the spring, along with increased national attention on the potential negative long-term effects of concussions, have put the topic at the forefront, says Andy Warner, assistant director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association. 

Warner calls the law “very important.”

“Concussions are a hot topic right now…You see it in the NFL, you see it in newspaper articles...It’s  a topic that hit the media radar but also it’s something still evolving," he said. "Doctors are learning more about it in terms of getting themselves trained with the management of concussions.

“We are still learning the long-term impact of them so it’s important that the law is there and our schools are able to provide this awareness to the parents and athletes who are participating.”

When O’Malley signed the Maryland Youth Concussion Legislation bill into law in May, Maryland became the 18th state to enact such a law.

The law requires the Maryland State Department of Education to implement concussion awareness programs for coaches, school personnel, student athletes and parents or guardians. In addition, students and their parents or guardians need to sign a concussion information sheet before participating in any sport.

This applies to sports events played on public school and parks and recreation lands.

Also, all coaches must go through an online concussion education course, which parents are being encouraged to take.

Further, the law requires that any student suspected of incurring a concussion on public school or parks and recreation lands will be removed from practice or play and returned only after clearance by an appropriately licensed health care professional trained in the evaluation and management of concussions and head injury. 

Among those organizations that lobbied for the law included the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens and the Brain Injury Association of Maryland.

According to the Sports Concussion Institute, 10 to 19 percent of all high school athletes in contact sports suffer a concussion each season.

According to the CDC, each year 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury. About 75 percent of traumatic brain injuries that occur each year are concussions or other mild forms of traumatic brain injuries.

Former Centennial soccer player Alison Conca-Cheng knows all too well the dangers of concussion. In September of 2010, Conca-Cheng before Congress to promote a national bill that would have promoted minimum state requirements for the prevention and treatment of concussions caused by participation in school sports.

Conca-Cheng sustained a concussion during a soccer scrimmage that August, which in the immediate aftermath caused her to have balance problems, headaches and short-term memory loss. She later suffered from extreme exhaustion, a loss of concentration and sleeplessness.

“I just felt very out of it. It’s hard to explain if you’ve never experienced it before,” she told members of Congress.

However Conca-Cheng said that it is due to the school system’s concussion plan that she was saved from a worse fate since Howard County schools have computer testing programs in place that give students a cognitive baseline analysis prior to the season. Many school systems throughout the state have implemented similar testing over the past few years. 

“I am grateful my school had a system in place to identify the severity of my injury and point me toward the medical care I required,” Conca-Cheng testified. “I have seen how it has impacted my life and I worry about the student athletes who don’t get properly diagnosed and fall through the cracks.” 

Warner says the new law has put pressure on coaches and parents to make sure they pay due diligence to concussions and the seriousness of them.

“Parents know the definition of a concussion from singing off, and they know the signs and symptoms, and what kinds of things they need to do after someone has received a concussion,” he said. “That definitely brings a whole new level of awareness.”