Participation in Youth Sports is Decreasing

Concussions have occurred in recent years, pushing many schools to teach new sports strategies and raise awareness about safety.

“Concussion diagnoses in children and young adults under age 22 rose 500 percent from 2010 to 2014” (prnewswire.com).

Ainsley Lovejoy, the head athletic trainer at Ithaca High School, explained why concussions are dangerous.

“A concussion affects the brain, and you only have one brain. Some of the symptoms you get are dizziness, loss of memory, headache, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise and the constant impact to the brain actually affects with your brain function and that’s why it’s something that we like to educate parents,” she explained.

She believes that having athletic trainers on and off the field can help combat parent’s concerns about their children’s safety. Some of the many skills athletic trainers have are injury rehabilitation and prevention.

“Honestly what I hope for is actually more people understand the importance of an athletic trainer and their impact in schools. Parents should feel more safe for their kids participating in any sport their kid wants to participate in because they know that someone’s there to watch and take care of them,” she added

Graphic by Jaysha Patel

Jeremy Russell, a Junior football player at Ithaca high school participates in football, wrestling, and lacrosse. He has gotten multiple concussions during his time at Ithaca High School and says that they affect his life in and out of school.

“School, I had to go see my teachers and tell them you have to turn down the lights sometimes, you have to give me not so much homework and I can’t do stuff on the computer like a lot of the other schools are doing now and my social status I couldn’t be on my phone, TV or any technology” Russell said.

Lovejoy wrapping an athletes hand

Russell isn’t the only football player who has gotten a concussion. Lovejoy says a recent incident on the field quickly became an emergency.

“We just had an incident this Saturday where a JV football player got hit from behind and fell on the ground. It actually became a medical emergency situation where I actually had to cervical stabilize this person because they weren’t reacting to some of the tests I was doing on them. It ended up being a pretty severe concussion,” she added.

After a student sustains a concussion, Lovejoy is responsible in conducting a return to play protocol. This happens after the athlete sees a doctor and is symptom free.

The protocol lasts 5 to 6 days. The athlete is allowed 10 minutes of activity. 10 minutes is added each day and if their brain hurts afterwards, they are set back to day 1 of the protocol. On the 4th day, the athlete is allowed to go back to their sport and do more conditioning. By the 5th they’re allowed more contact and if better, they’re allowed to participate fully in their sport.

”Concussions now account for more injuries in girls’ soccer than boys’ football”- Complete Concussion Management

Despite safety concerns, Lovejoy explains that being in a sport helped shaped her future.

“Honestly I was an athlete once when I was in high school and college and I don’t regret it at all. Being in a team sport actually helped me become the woman that I am today" she said.