Youth Concussions Research Paper

Words: 960
Pages: 4

Youth sports serve as a great gateway into the world of sport and as a way to grow their passions. However, youth sports can also become very dangerous if there are severe risks involved. Contact sports such as football, soccer, basketball, and more can cause concussions and even brain damage if hit severely. Concussions are one of the major sports injuries that doctors are seeing more of in young athletes. Typically, youth community sports don’t have athletic trainers on the sidelines during games or practices to monitor the kids and ensure their physical safety. The majority of the time, the coaches of these little league teams are simply parents of some of the kids on the team, who aren’t aware of the concussion signs to look for when a …show more content…
There has been intense pressure to enact concussion education and protocols for all staff members and the youth participants. In recent years, the concussion protocols have been updated to include recent findings, driven by the sharp increase in youth concussions and the research into how risky they can be to a developing child. Coaches and teammates are on the frontlines and can be the first ones to detect a concussion in a player and thus must report it immediately to a supervisor. Protocols now suggest that a player with a head injury be removed from the game right after the injury occurs, go through an in-depth assessment, and gradually return to play. Although concussions are very common, this does not mean they should be taken lightly. An undiagnosed concussion poses extreme future health risks and could affect their everyday life in the classroom, at home, and on the field. Coaches need to be trained to know the signs, know how to accurately go about reporting them, and then treating them. Depending on the severity of the head injury, concussions can require months of physical therapy and treatment to return to full health and get back on the