The study was led by Tracey Covassin of MSU’s Department of Kinesiology.  In their research they found females performed worse than males on visual memory tests and reported more symptoms postconcussion.

In an interesting finding high school athletes performed worse than college athletes on verbal and visual memory tests.

The study tested young athletes for balance and verbal and visual memory. Researchers tracked the athletes for two years. In that time 300 of the athletes received a concussion and were tested again. Results showed that high school athletes performed worse for their age than college-aged athletes.

Relevant to young women in sports the findings proved that female athletes with concussion had more symptoms and worse visual memory than male athletes with concussion.  Younger athletes were confirmed to struggle the most.

“The findings suggest that because of anatomical differences that make them more vulnerable, female athletes, and younger athletes in particular, may need to be managed more cautiously after a concussion,” said Tracey Covassin, an Associate Professor of kinesiology at Michigan State University and the lead author of the report.

“Parents need to understand that if their daughter has a concussion, that they may potentially take longer to recover from that concussion than their son who is a football player,” she said.

Experts think that younger brains suffer greater damage from concussion because they haven’t fully developed and because we tend to treat them as miniature adults when it comes to sports and expectations.

According to Mark Hyman, author of “Until It Hurts: America’s Obsession With Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids” (Beacon Press, 2009):

“The brain and head of a small child are disproportionately large for the rest of the body,” he said. “The result is that their heads are not as steady on their shoulders. When they take a big hit in a football game or are slammed with an elbow in a soccer game, their brains move inside their skulls. That’s when concussions occur.”

RESOURCES

To read an abstract of the article in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, click here: The role of age and sex in symptoms after concussion

To read the full article in The New York Times, click here: Concussions May Be More Severe in Girls and Young Athletes

BrainChampions.org is Building an educational bus to take out on educational trips

We started Atalanta’s Pride with Tracy Yatsko even while the amazing young woman from Pennsylvania took on the lobbying of a Statewide Concussion reform bill.  And in Oregon Ally Wallace went after the Coaching community in Portland and gained National attention as she got mandatory imPACT Baseline Concussion testing pushed through.

Our ability to help is only funded by our time and resources.  Up until now BrainChampions.org has been funded by our founder.  Now we ask for your assistance in completing our mobile classroom project that we call “Building The Bus”.  This vehicle had a glorious career as a custom shuttle bus before being bought and used as a Indie Band Bus where it earned its nick-name Bus Van Sant.

Now we need your help to get Bus Van Sant back on the road and to outfit it with mobile AV Equipment so we can make stops out on the road all over the West as Spring Football and baseball/softball draw near.

Dirk Knudsen bought the bus and has the new motor ready to go.  Now we need some assistance with Labor and materials.  And your help will be etched into the Bus Forever on our FOUNDERS WALL and or we will commemorate your favorite player or athletes name and number here for you in our Hall of Fame.

Please Watch this Video and consider giving to the “Build The Bus” project.  We have come this far and now we are relying on you!

As the increase in sports concussions raises a debate about the need for specialized helmets or harsher penalties on players who tackle above the neck, Brock International prevents concussions by starting with the playing field itself.

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Boulder, CO (PRWEB) January 12, 2012

According to recent statistics reported by the Centers for Disease Control, emergency room visits for sports- and recreation-related Traumatic Brain Injuries, including concussions, has increased among youth by 60% during the past decade. While parents, organizations, coaches and athletes debate the need for specialized helmets or harsher penalties on players who tackle above the neck, Brock International prevents concussions by starting with the playing field itself.

This new surface under liner may be the wave of the future

“More comprehensive education, better technique and treatment immediately following traumatic brain injuries is essential,” says Brock CEO Dan Sawyer, whose shock pad and drainage layer used underneath synthetic turf playing fields reduces the likelihood of traumatic brain injury by up to 50%, “We can also prevent more concussions by starting from the ground up and building safer fields that enhance playing characteristics and speed.”

A growing number of teams understand this thinking, like the University of Oregon Ducks. The 2011 Rose Bowl and Pac-12 Champions place a high value on the safety of its student-athletes. Their synthetic turf playing field, designed to maximize playability and safety, includes Brock’s shock pad and drainage layer underneath the surface. The same is also true of Stanford University, Boise State and others interested in making the game as safe as possible.

While concussions may occur in any sport or recreational activity, http://www.stopconcussions.com notes football is the number one sport for this type of injury for players of all ages. A study commissioned by the NFL found that ex–pro players over age 50 were five times as likely as the national population to receive a memory-related-disease diagnosis. Just two days ago, a group of former players filed a group concussion lawsuit against the NFL.

Research firm BioMechanica, LLC studied the estimated risk of head injury on synthetic turf surfaces with Brock underlayment and found the product reduces the likelihood of traumatic brain injury by up to 50%, provides the same G-Max and playability as a pristine natural grass field and mitigates field hardening over time. In evaluating Head Injury Criteria (HIC), also known as critical fall height, Sports Labs LLC found that Brock PowerBase offered significant improvement in HIC when compared to a turf field that featured a stone base.

However, you don’t have to sacrifice optimum playing field characteristics and speed for safety thanks to Brock PowerBase. G-Max is an ASTM measurement used to determine the likelihood of a head injury. A well-maintained natural grass field reads about 90 – 110 g’s, and will deform under running loads between 4-8 mm. But natural grass fields are often overused, and high performing, fast synthetic grass fields can be stiff and lack this level of impact absorption. While synthetic turf fields constructed with pads or e-layers underneath provide greater safety, they can feel unnaturally bouncy or too soft, which leads to greater player fatigue. Brock PowerBase has engineered an effective solution; the average G-Max rating of a field constructed over PowerBase is 95-100g’s, the same as a professional level, perfectly maintained natural grass field, without being too soft.

About Brock International:
Brock International is the leader in performance base systems for synthetic turf. With over 20 million square feet of Brock Performance Base in play underneath athletic fields worldwide, the company engineers the best, safest and most sustainable playing surfaces in the world for athletes at all levels. Brock has handled hundreds of successful installations for clients ranging from NFL teams and major universities to community parks. In October 2011, Brock became the first company in the industry to have a Cradle to Cradle Certification CM for its combined drainage and shock pad product. Offering the only product in the market that can be closed loop recycled, the company’s technologies reduce the overall energy cost of constructing a field by 50%. Made in an ISO and TS certified manufacturing facility of 100% recyclable and non-toxic material, Brock PowerBase is certified to the world’s most stringent environmental standards. Visit http://www.brock-international.com to learn more.

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For Immediate Release: Dec. 13, 2011
Media Inquiries: Erica Jefferson, 301-796-4988, erica.jefferson@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

FDA permits marketing of the first hand-held device to aid in the detection of bleeding in the skull
Helps to determine if immediate CT scan is needed

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first hand-held device intended to aid in the detection of life-threatening bleeding in the skull called intracranial hematomas, using near-infrared spectroscopy.

The device, called the Infrascanner Model 1000, can help health care providers identify patients with critical head injuries who need an immediate brain imaging study.

Intracranial hematomas occur when blood from a ruptured blood vessel collects within the brain or between the skull and the brain. As blood expands within the brain or in the narrow space between the brain and the skull, the brain becomes compressed. This can produce symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, dizziness, lethargy, weakness in the arm or leg on one side of the body, seizures, or unconsciousness. An intracranial hematoma can be life-threatening if it is not treated immediately.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year about 1.7 million people in the United States experience a traumatic brain injury.

The Infrascanner, Model 1000, uses a scanner that directs near-infrared light, a wavelength of light that can penetrate tissue and bone, into the skull. Blood from intracranial hematomas absorbs the light differently than other areas of the brain. The scanner detects differences in light absorption (optical density) and transmits the information wirelessly to a display on a hand-held computer.

By comparing the optical density from a series of scans of specific areas on both sides of the skull, a trained health care provider can use the information provided by the device, in conjunction with other clinical information, to determine the likelihood of an intracranial hematoma and the need for further diagnostic procedures, such as a computed tomography (CT) scan.

“While patients with suspected brain injuries routinely receive a CT scan, this portable device offers emergency room physicians a non-invasive mechanism to aid in assessing whether an immediate CT scan is needed,” said Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The FDA reviewed data for the Infrascanner Model 1000 through the “de novo” classification process, a regulatory pathway for some low to moderate risk medical devices that are not comparable to a legally marketed device.

The FDA granted the de novo petition for the Infrascanner Model 1000 based on a review of data comparing results from 383 CT scans of adult subjects with Infrascanner scan results. The Infrascanner was able to detect nearly 75 percent of the hematomas detected by CT scan. When CT scans detected no hematoma, the Infrascanner detected no hematoma 82 percent of the time. The Infrascanner Model 1000, however, is not a substitute for a CT scan.

The FDA is specifying special controls in an accompanying regulation classifying the Infrascanner Model 1000 as a Class II device with special controls. The special controls provide information about specific risks that must be addressed by other manufacturers who may wish to market a similar device.

The Infrascanner Model 1000 is manufactured by InfraScan Inc. of Philadelphia.

For more information:

• FDA: Medical Devices

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

#

Dirk Knudsen
WashingtonPreps.com Editor

Talk about it in The Grid Iron

Dirk Knudsen; Washingtonpreps.com

 

 

 

Today before you feast and enjoy the family and friends your with I want you to do me a favor.  Before you watch your favorite team go to war I want you to do something you may have never ever done but I promise it won’t hurt. I want you to say a little pray for the fallen.

The young boys who have given their lives in pursuit of a game that we Americans just can not get enough of.  And I want you to say a prayer for the guys your watching out on that field.  Because some of them are killing themselves right now so you can enjoy your day.

Many of the players you watch have had or will have both short and long term disability from the game they are playing.  Some of them will die of complications from CTE which is a newly confirmed brain disease caused by the game of football. Now please enjoy the game.

The boys would not have it any other way.  But if you see a helmet to helmet blow or a kid go down and not get up or even just a vicious hit I want you to pray for their safety and not get up and do that dance that we have all done in that situation.

Today on Thanksgiving Day I want you to remember and honor these young men who lay it all on the line as modern day Gladiators for us.  We, the rabble, who no longer all go to the Coliseum but rather huddle around a plastic box and celebrate their every move.

Today we honor The Fallen.  The High school boys who we remember and work to support through our Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Prevention group BrainChampions.org.

Here are just a few of the fallen we ask you to remember and we ask that you pray for them and their family and friends who are without them today.

Ridge Barden; 16-year-old lineman from John C. Birdlebough High School in Phoenix, New York

Ridge went down in a game from a blow to the head on October 14th, 2011 and died shortly thereafter.  He leaves behind his family and friends and even though his helmet was reconditioned he passed away after taking the blow. He will always be remembered as a powerhouse linemen and a gentle giant. Rest in Peace Big Guy.
 

Nathan Stiles, a Kansas high school star senior running back, linebacker and homecoming king. Oct 29, 2010

Nathan died  after he was taken to the hospital for an injury sustained during a game in Osawatomie, Kansas. Stiles reportedly intercepted a pass, walked to the sidelines and collapsed shortly after the play, according to NBC Action News. He was pronounced dead on Friday, at approximately 4 a.m., hours after arriving at University of Kansas hospital in Kansas City by helicopter. He was a 4.0 student at Spring Hill High School.  His family through their Church have established The Nathan Project and are doing great work on behalf of their son.
 

Andrew “Drew” Swank; Valley Christian High School Spokane, Washington

On September 25th, 2009 while on a road game Drew took several blows trying to help his team.  One would prove fatal and caused his already bleeding brain to flow out of control. This second impact killed him.  Drew leaves behind an amazing family and community and left us way to soon.  His family are amongst our founders at BrainChampions.org and he is the #15 of our Team 7:15 Concussion Prevention Game plan.
 

Quadaar White,  August 30th, 2010, Philadelphia, Pa

No one could ever keep up with Quadaar White – not on the football field, not in life. Between the hash marks, the 15-year-old was known by teammates on Upper Darby’s Greater 69th Street Wildcats as “Little Sanders,” a lightning quick running back who reminded everyone of former NFL great Barry Sanders. Quadaar died of head and neck trauma that he suffered from a tackle he made during a routine practice.  He will be remembered by his family and friends forever and ever.
 

Matthew Gfeller, Winston-Salem Reynolds.

On August 22, 2008 Matthew suffered a severe helmet to helmet collision during his first varsity football game.  It was in the fourth quarter of the game when he was playing right inside linebacker.  Tragically, the accident caused a fatal traumatic brain injury.  Matthew never regained consciousness and died two days later on Sunday, August 24, 2008. His family has founded the Matthew Gfeller Foundation which is doing great work in this area.
 

Dylan Steiger, Missoula, Montana; EOU

Dylan was preparing to play football at Eastern Oregon University and had recently transfered from University of Montana. He took a blow to the head in practice Saturday May 8th, 2010. He was transported to Grand Ronde Hospital and later flown to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, school officials said. Doctors said he suffered an acute subdural hematoma as a result of the head injury.  The injury led to his death on Sunday May 9th.  He left behind his fiance Liz Apostol and their baby daughter London.   His mother Cyndi and Father Tom have set up a concussion management program in Missoula.  He will always be remembered.
 

Jaquan Walker, 9-24-2008; Greenville-Rose High

The Junior Running Back for the Greeville Rose High School team was playing hurt in September of 2008.  He went down in the game never to get up.  Another confirmed victim of Second Impact Syndrome. In a statement, Dr. M.G.F. Gilliland said Jaquan Waller died because of a “very rare condition which can occur when two relatively minor head injuries occur in a short time interval. It usually occurs in young athletes and is very rapidly fatal.”   RIP Jaquan!
 

DeShawn Smith, Renton, Washington; 2004

One Saturday night in 2004, during a typically raucous season-opening football game at Foster High School, DeShawn Smith, a sophomore running back at Tyee High, gathered a pass, turned upfield, and was hit helmet-to-helmet by an opposing player. He staggered to his feet, walked to the sideline, sat down and collapsed. He died three days later of acute subdural hematoma, or blood that accumulated between the brain and its outer lining, caused by a ruptured blood vessel. RIP DeShawn Smith
 

Jake Snakenberg, 9-18-2004

The day was Sept. 18, 2004, a Saturday. Jake Snakenberg, a freshman football player at Grandview, had been injured in a game the week before but assured his mom he was ready to play that day. Like in so many cases before he was not ready and there is no way anyone could have known for sure.  He went down in the game and would never get up.  A wonderful young 14 year old boy lost his life that day.  His mother and family work hard now to make sure that does not happen again.
 

Now there are many many more kids injured in the game and living with the terrible effetcs f those injuries then those who have passed on.  And we are constantly working to help those kids get back to a normal life and to have a chance to get better and try and improve.  Among them are Matthew Newman of Yakima, Washington,  Kort Breckenridge of Driggs, Idaho, andMax Conradt of Salem, Oregon. Right now you can help one young guy who is trying so hard to recover in his Brain Injury Rehab home in Idaho.  That would be young Bobby Clark.
 

Bobby is nothing short of a miracle.  He went down in October with a Traumatic Brain Injury and went through a radical surgery called a craniectomy to save his life.  That skull removal is something most of the kids mentioned above had done and it is very very hard to return from. But Bobby is making it.  And his family have been on 24 hour watch as have his thousands of followers. Take the time to drop into his caring brige website and leave your well wishes for he and his family. Visit Bobby and Leave Wishes or a Prayer on his Caring Bridge Website:  Click Here

Now that you have read all of this please realize this is only the tip of a growing iceberg.  If we did not love the game so much we would not be working on this.  Because if we don’t fix this broken game we will lose it.  It is simple as that.

Once the lawyers move in, and they have, it is a new ball game.  Schools and Coaches are in the gun sights and in many cases they are going to be found negligent.  Can we get it perfect?  No.  Can we fix 90% of the problems?

For sure we can.

If your ready to help just reach out to us at BrainChampions.org You can also help us by giving to our new Build The Bus Project right here. This rolling Educational Vehicle will make stops at gyms and fields in towns all over the Pacific Northwest.  Please do what you can to help and get involved. Now back to your feast and your game!  That is exactly what we will all be doing too!

“BUILD THE BUS” For BrainChampions.org

$20

Raised

2

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But across America as the injuries mount and the death toll rises more and more fans and parents are crying out for change.  Because for those of us paying attention we must realize that this killer that is running wild in the game of football has come to our youth fields and our  Main Streets and our NFL Stadiums.  The Concussion and Brain Trauma Monster is ours…all of ours.

The body count and number of broken men and boys is rising daily.  Concussion’s and Traumatic Brain Injury suffered on and the practice field and during games seem to visit every region of the country weekly if not daily.  And while many of us have been fighting the fight and doing the work to change laws and implement better regimens and practices most are just waking up.

And you are needed here in this place.  Here in the stands, in the locker rooms, and there at home.  In the Hospital rooms and care centers and Trauma Rooms.  You are needed to stop this onslaught and to help arrest this madman who assaults our game and our children.

You parents who had to stand and watch in horror as the ambulance pulled away from Lake Oswego High School with hometown boy Grant Taylor inside saw what can happen.  Grant Taylor, one of the hardest working athletes in the area,  gave us a terrific scare when he took a tremendous blow and then pulled his helmet off falling  to the ground in seizures on the field.

You parents and fans are needed to come to the aid of all ouf our boys.  Grant dodged a bullet and it appears he will be ok thanks to toughness, luck, and  many prayers and blessings.  He may or may not play again.  But what if he hadn’t survived?   Would you be forever changed?

Because as Grant Taylor lie injured and in a medically induced coma a 16-year-old high school football player in thge village of Phoenix, New York breathed in his last breaths on Earth.

Ridge Barden died after collapsing during a game suffering bleeding on his brain, apparently from a helmet-to-helmet collision.  Cortland County Coroner Kevin Sharp says Ridge died from a massive subdural hematoma, a traumatic brain injury.     

The lineman for John C. Birdlebough High School in the Oswego County village of Phoenix was hurt during Friday night’s game at Homer High School, south of Syracuse. Authorities say he was able to sit up after the play but complained of a headache and collapsed when he tried to stand.

The fact that Ridge Barden lived in Oswego County and Grant Taylor lives in Lake Oswego is not lost on any of us.  Those things used to come across as coincidences.  Now we take them for what they are; connections across borders and humanity to let us know that something is very very wrong.  Read More Here

If that is not enough to get you invested then understand that Bobby Clark of Priest River High School in the Idaho pan-handle is still in Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, some 18 days after going down in a game and not getting back up.  Bobby was playing with headaches according to some of his team mates and suffered a blow that delivered him to deaths door-step only to be saved by radical surgery to his skull and other drastic life saving Miracles.

Bobby is only 16 and day by day, with his family by his side and his community of  thousands giving prayer, he battles for small victories.  To open his eyes, to squeeze lightly on his mothers hand, or indicate he is aware of what is happeneing to him; all small steps in the fight to come back to his life.

Would you agree there is a problem if you knew that Bobby’s team has had 13 Concussions this year? Incredibly that is so and while everyone is looking for answers the issues seem to stem from too few kids playing too many downs and being out mannned every Friday. Read Bobby’s Story Here

Additionally Bobby is in the very place that Andrew “Drew” Swank was taken a litttle over 2 years ago after he was hit on the football field in Eastern Washington.  Playing with an unresolved concussion, after his doctor approved that he could play, Drew was hit again and fell having seizures and convulsions.   He passed away at Sacred Heart two days after being brought there for life saving surgery.

Across the mountains West of Spokane in Seattle another boy is trying to heal from a blow he took the Friday before Bobby Clark went down.  His name is Junior Nuku and he played for Mount Ranier HIgh School.   Junior was hurt twice this season with concussions.  The first one sidelined him for three weeks and the second one happened the night he returned.

He was in pretty bad shape for a few days and had a stroke and other complications. He has been in rehabilitation at Seattle Children’s Hospital doing better after bing treated there for several weeks.  His football days are over too.

And Junior is in the same place, Seattle Children’s Hospital, where our beloved Matthew Newman of Yakima, Washington was two years ago after he too went down with a brain trauma suffered in a Double OT game for his Highliand Scotties,  Today Newman lives at home but struggles to have the life he once did; something that seems out of reach on most days.

Are you getting it?  Do you need to see or hear more?  Because despite all the laws we have passed and the leadership that we have shown here in the Pacific Northwest (Washington’s Lystedt Law #1 in the Nation; Max’s Law in Oregon #2) things are not getting better.

There is more awareness and the education of our coaches is better at maybe we have trainers or a team doctor at the bigger schools but the injury counts are increasing.  That is undisputed.

So are the number of deaths.

Now if we have your attention ask yourself this.

Do I love the kids and this game enough that I willing to stand with those trying to do the work?

And am I willing to admit that we as adults are doing this to the kids?

Because if we are not the ones doing this to them then who is?   The kids sure in the heck are not doing it to themselves.  And this is not just a “bad year”.  We say that every year and the problem at all levels are only getting worse.

Just ask the hundreds of NFL Veterans and Hall of Famers who are suing the League over this issue and to get basic health benefits.

All of this can be pinned on over exposure, helmets that are too old or too new or too heavy, on kids being played hurt and allowing themselves to play hurt, on a sport that puts winning and the Warrior-way ahead of life itself, and on Mom and Dad, Coach, Doctor, Administrators,  fans, and to small minded football crazed people in general.  It can be blamed on all of us.

The Media and Colleges and the NFL are to blame too.  Everyone who has a stake in the game monetary or otherwise is at fault.

So are lax rules and regulations and the terrible helmet to helmet blows we see nightly on every field from Pop-Warner to Cowboy Stadium.

The game is broken.  And it needs to be fixed and yet we are moving to slow.

If your ready to help then here is your chance.  If your reading these words and you say to yourself that Bobby Clark, Drew Swank , Matthew Newman, Ridge Barden,  Junior Nuku and the hundreds and thousands of other inured football players deserved better; well if your saying that and ready to help here is your chance.

If your ready to help save the game then you better step up.

Get involved by helping BrainChampions,org and organizations like them who are doing educational, regulatory and legal work.

If not you better find something else to do with your free time because the game as we know it is slipping away.

It looks like the end of the road is not that far ahead.

Just thought you all might like to know.

A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.  ~Author Unknown

It has happened again.  And again we pray.  This time  for the family and community where 16 year old Ridge Barden was a student Athlete.  Where he suffered a tragic end due to a helmet to helmet blow.

________________________________________________________

Authorities say a 16-year-old high school football player who died after collapsing during a game suffered bleeding on his brain, apparently from a helmet-to-helmet collision.

Cortland County Coroner Kevin Sharp says Ridge Barden died from a massive subdural hematoma, a traumatic brain injury.

The lineman for John C. Birdlebough High School in the Oswego County village of Phoenix was hurt during Friday night’s game at Homer High School, south of Syracuse. Authorities say he was able to sit up after the play but complained of a headache and collapsed when he tried to stand.

Sharp says there’s no evidence of any pre-existing injury or condition that contributed to Barden’s death.

He says the fatal injury was consistent with the helmet-to-helmet hit reported between Barden and another player.

Source:  AP and  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2016525649_apfbhfootballdeath.html#.Tp10aI9utGo.facebook

Dirk Knudsen
WashingtonPreps.com Editor

Bobby Clark of Priest River High is in a Coma as of now

We are so very saddened to bring you news of yet another injury.  This time it is Priest River High Schools Bobby Clark who is struggling to survive as I write this.

This from swxrightnow.com in Idaho:

Bobby Clark, the football player from Priest River High School who was airlifted out of the stadium last Friday night, was still in critical condition as of Tuesday morning.

Those close to the family said Clark was still in a medically-induced coma so doctors could reduce swelling around his brain.

Also on Tuesday morning, a member of the school board in Priest River said they have serious reservations considering the news that more than a dozen players on the team have suffered concussions this year. That board member said they would consider moving to cancel the rest of the football season if the trend of concussions didn’t improve on the team.

Mike McGuire, superintendent of the West Bonner School District, said Monday the injuries are a combination of Priest River’s relative small size and bad luck. He said all the school’s equipment, including helmets, have been checked out and meet standards.

Story is here: http://www.swxrightnow.com/story/15606566/priest-river-football-player-seriously-injured-hospitalized

What will it take to get the word out.  How can we stop these terrible things from happening.  We have the plans for what can help but getting them in place is another matter.

Right now all we can do it pray and be there for Bobby and his family.  This is just very tragic and we have to find a way to get him better.

Please help us anyway you can.  Please.

God Bless Bobby and his family.  BrainChampions are all thinking of you tonight big guy!

 

Visit Bobby and Leave Wishes or a Prayer on his Caring Bridge Website:  Click Here

Max Conradt spoke to the players about what could happen if concussions aren’t taken seriously.

His story is a reality check for players who think they’re invincible, but the reality is students die from concussions. School districts around Oregon and Washington are taking steps to take the injury more seriously, but Conradt says high school players need to do the same.

Some of those high school players at the camp were 14 years old while others were a few years older. Many have dreams of college scholarships, national championships and even the NFL. While watching them practice, Conradt remembers his time as a football player.

“I was MVP quarterback and defensive end,” he says.

Ten years ago he was the star player with Ivy League smarts. But he suffered a concussion while playing football and then a second one which forced him to the sidelines for life.

“I had no idea I had a concussion,” he says. “I didn’t go see a doctor. No one ever talked about brain injuries in my school.”

Conradt’s mission now is to make it different for high school players. He knows his story is sobering but being at the camp gives him hope that meeting people like father and coach Dirk Knudsen will help get the message across.

“I was the football dad that was going, ‘Get my son back on the field. I want him playing,’” Knudsen says.

Knudsen has now changed his outlook and is working with Conradt to help him educate others after his own son, Konner, suffered a concussion.

“I don’t want a concussion,” says Konner. “I don’t want that to happen. So I don’t have a concussion were the thoughts in my head. I would have gone back the next week.”

Coaches kept him sidelined for three weeks thanks to a newer computer-testing system in dozens of school districts that help keep kids sidelined until they’ve fully recovered.

After meeting people like Conradt, Konner knows those kinds of safety precautions may have saved his life.

“You can die. You can die in this sport from getting hit the wrong way,” he says.

It’s a different way of looking at concussions than 10 years ago and that inspires Conradt to keep telling his story, hoping no one else has to share his fate.

“Do not play with a concussion. Do not play hurt,” he says. “It’s not worth it. I almost lost my life playing a simple game.”

Conradt hopes to keep meeting with players as he continues to recover. He’s encouraging school districts to use that new testing system that helps coaches and doctors identify who is ready to play after an initial concussion injury.

Conradt has a law named after him in Oregon. The law spells out rules for return to play. But KATU’s Problem Solver Shellie Bailey-Shah discovered schools across the state don’t implement the rules the same way.

She contacted 50 school districts in Oregon and Washington that use one company’s test to monitor possible concussions. She found 19 districts allow students to opt out with parent permission. Another 19 do not and 11 more say they require the test but admit no student has ever refused, and they’re not sure how they would react