Georgia’s “Return to Play Act of 2013” that became effective Jan. 1 of this year is a law that will make an effective awareness for the controversial issue of concussions in sports.
While a major focus of the law is to protect concussed student-athletes in private and public schools, as well as recreational leagues, from going back out onto the field before being cleared by a medical professional, the law goes a step further by implementing a necessary education of concissions to athletes and their parents.
The phrases “walk it off” and “rub some dirt on it” became such ubiquitous phrases in our sports culture that everyone was ignoring the severity of head injuries that continue to invade sports.
Unfortunately, it took a string of suicides from professional and collegiate athletes in the late 2000s who suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) caused by concussions to make the issue of concussions in sports mainstream. It caused people to realize the probability of getting a concussion was something athletes could no longer ignore, especially younger athletes.
One of the most infamous cases of a student-athlete who killed himself with signs of CTE was Owen Thomas, a junior lineman at the University of Pennsylvania, who hung himself in his off-campus apartment.
The 21-year-old never was officially diagnosed of having a concussion, but Thomas’ parents said there could have been a possibility of him ignoring the symptoms to stay on the field and play, according to Alan Schwarz from the New York Times.
If athletes, such as Thomas, had proper education on what kind of hits induce concussions, or simply how the brain can destroy itself if one ignores the signs of concussions while continuing to take hit-after-hit, this student-athlete may still be alive today.
Sports such as field and ice hockey and wrestling have more than double concussion “occurrence rates” reported by college athletes in 2009-13, according to the National Academy of Science.
The same study also found that women’s soccer and women’s basketball yields a very similar occurrence rate of concussions as football.
The “Return to Play Act” requires athletes in Georgia to provide information to student athletes and their parents about the risks of concussions and head injuries in all sports, not just football.
Football garners much of the attention because of larger roster size and 22 players on the field at any given time. Plus, the fact that there are plenty of hard hits made on every play create an impression that the liklihood of concussions is greater than other sports. That is not necessarily true.
While I am aware that these statistics are from college athletes and the new law is for grade level schools and recreational leagues, this research still allows society to realize football is not the only sport where we should be weary of when it comes to concussions, and the only way people will understand that is through education.
In addition, by the time athletes make it to the collegiate and possibly professional level, they will arrive completely knowledgable on the risks of their sport and be fluent in what precautions they can take to avoid a concussion.
Georgia has effectively put the “Warning” label on sports just as a precaution to ensure athletes and their parents know the risks of sports.
The law is not intended to scare young athletes away from sports. After all, there are warning labels on just about everything these days. The law is there just to ensure athletes and their parents know exactly what they are getting into.
