Incident Proves Why Concussion Management in Youth Sports Requires Adult Intervention

New safety rules were in place in central Massachusetts: Any 10-to-12-year-old playing Pop Warner football who was suspected of having a concussion was not allowed to return to play until cleared by a doctor. In addition, a certified EMT would be present during the game, and the league had established concussion education programs for coaches, officials, players and their parents. Yet as the concussions on one outmatched team mounted and the injured players were taken to the sidelines, no one stopped the contest, which ended in a 52-0 blowout and five concussed kids. According to the The Boston Globe, league officials suspended the coaches of both teams for the rest of the season, and barred the referees from the league for not recognizing the increasing danger to players still on the field and stopping the game.

“That story again raises the myriad issues related to concussion in sport,” says Chris Hummel, an Ithaca College faculty member who has researched the effects of concussions and served as an athletic trainer for 15 years. “What’s particularly concerning about the Pop Warner game is that very young athletes were the center of the story, and the adults around them failed to protect them.” For more information, click here to read the full release.