There are over 300,000 sports-related concussions that occur in the United States each year. The likelihood of suffering a concussion while participating in a contact sport is around 19 percent, according to the Brian Trauma Research Center. Despite those statistics, the NCAA does not have guidelines or regulations specified for athletes who have suffered a concussion.
The Big Ten conference, the conference that MSU competes in, has been trying to mandate a one-week resting period, no questions asked for athletes diagnosed with a concussion. Athletic Clinical Coordinator Brian Bratta said MSU is not pushing for this because the severity of a concussion differs with each individual case.
MSU women's soccer 2009 All American Laura Heyboer said she agrees with MSU and does not think there should be mandatory guidelines.
"I think it differs with every person and if you're ready to play after a concussion then you should be able to play," said Heyboer.
MSU women's soccer goalkeeper Liz Watza has suffered five concussions and said she believes the NCAA and Big Ten should create concussion guidelines due in large part to Second Impact Syndrome.
"A second one in a small time frame can kill you or at the very least give you brain damage," said Watza. "No sport if worth risking your life for."
No comments:
Post a Comment