HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

Colby Goaltender Concussion

Colby Goaltender

"Uncertainty bred opportunity for Katie Fenton this past winter. The 2015 Hanover High graduate and former Marauders hockey goaltender was halfway through her sophomore year at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, when the Mules’ interim head coach contacted her about joining the puck squad.

Seems Colby had two goaltenders but both were on the mend from offseason surgeries. College teams usually carry three netminders, but one of Colby’s had transferred to a different school after the previous season. The Mules’ previous coach was out on maternity leave during the summer and exited the program as the school year started, leading the college to plug former Dartmouth assistant Holley Tyng into the breach in early October.

With less than a month before practice started, Tyng had more pressing and immediate concerns than finding a third goalie. However, it became clear one was necessary as the season progressed. Tyng was playing pickup hockey back in the Upper Valley during the holiday break when a fellow competitor mentioned that a young lady who went to Colby might be up for joining the group. Tyng’s ears perked up, and she had soon convinced the diminutive Fenton to try out for the Mules when classes went back into session.

Fenton got herself somewhat ready by skating at Hanover practices and in an Upper Valley adult league during December, but her muscles barked during the first month of skating at Colby. Still, she didn’t feel out of her depth, and when one of her fellow netminders suffered a concussion in February, Fenton got a chance to play in parts of four games.

Colby finished 2-19-3 overall and 0-15-1 in NESCAC play. Its victories came during its last two games, and Fenton earned one of them. She played 80 minutes and posted a 3.74 goals-against average and stopped 25 of 30 shots. Not bad for a player who, despite being part of four consecutive NHIAA titles and boasting a .920 save percentage, wasn’t recruited at the college level."
Out of Nothing, Something: Hanover’s Fenton Returns to the Net at Colby
Read more: http://www.vnews.com/Katie-Fenton-Walks ... ege-Women-

Rosanne Gaudiel retires due to post-concussion symptoms

Roxanne Gaudiel
ASHI USA Women’s National Ball Hockey Team defenseman Roxanne Gaudiel (Venice, FL) has announced her retirement due to post-concussion symptoms.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision,” said Gaudiel. “After much consideration for my long term health, I’ve decided to retire from ball hockey due to concussion-related injuries. It was an honor to be part of this team, and I am saddened to not be able to represent my country.”

In February, Gaudiel was named an assistant captain for the USA Women’s National Team scheduled to compete at the 2017 ISBHF World Senior and Women’s Ball Hockey Championship June 3-10 in Pardubice, CZE. This would have been her first appearance for the Women’s National Team.

In 2016, she captured the silver medal with the USA Women’s Masters Blue Team at the World Championships in Banff, AB. Gaudier was named to the women’s All-Star team and was awarded player of the game against Canada I in pool play.

Source: Assistant Captain Roxanne Gaudiel Announces Retirement
ASHI USA Women’s National Ball Hockey Team

Former Dallas Stars captain speaks on concussions in hockey

"Retired hockey player Brenden Morrow is no stranger to taking a hit.

“If you break a bone you know you’ve got to get out of the game. If you have your bell rung, you think you can get through it,” Morrow said. "You’re hurt but not injured and that's a bad mentally to have.”

And when that brain-busting hit happens, so does the potential for long-term effects of concussions, that could cut a career short.

“You’ve got a long life after hockey and the brain you really got to take care of, so when you have a minor injury, it doesn’t even have to be major, to have it checked out and go through the treatment and retrain your brain to work properly. It's going to do wonders for you in the long run,” Morrow said.

Boston native Colleen F. experienced her fourth concussion while playing college hockey.

“I couldn’t get out of bed for more than 4 hours a day at some points. I was having every single symptom imaginable from headaches, memory problems, balance, distance, dizziness. I mean, the list goes on and on,” Colleen said.

The impact on her life, she says, was debilitating.

“When I was at my lowest point I didn’t want to get out of bed, I wasn’t talking to my friends or family just because there seemed to be no hope.”

Both Morrow -- the long-time Stars captain -- and Colleen have been treated at Cerebrum health centers and both say they have seen results. Meanwhile, the issue of concussions is a topic both of these athletes want to take head on."


Former Dallas Stars captain speaks on concussions in hockey
Watch the video at: http://cw33.com/2017/03/09/former-dalla ... in-hockey/

Concussion Testing Is Flawed, But It's Not The Real Problem

McCrea said the early findings show that the biological symptoms of an injured brain last significantly longer than the clinical signals that health professionals gauge through symptoms and cognitive testing. That finding is crucial because scientists know that after an initial concussion there is a ​time of heightened danger when athletes face a major risk of significant injury or even death if they experience another head trauma.

Concussion Testing Is Flawed, But It's Not The Real Problem
http://deadspin.com/concussion-testing- ... 1794458806

Hayley Hodson announces medical retirement from Stanford – Volleyballmag.com


https://volleyballmag.com/hodson-retires/

Hayley Hodson - Blog


http://www.hayleyhodson.com/blog

Grace Bizal

These players stepping up did not make things easy, however. Not only did talent graduate, but it became unavailable for other reasons. Bizal sustained a severe concussion in the middle of the season. Ross sustained a long-term injury late in the season, which was disclosed as a fluke injury in practice. Andie Anastos also sustained a minor upper-body injury, and was held out of a few games early in the season. Other notable losses included Tori Sullivan, who took a leave of absence early in the season, and Toni Ann Miano, who was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons and did not play the second half of the season.

At one point, Crowley said that the team was down to only two starting defensemen—one of whom, Megan Keller, that was the nation’s best at the position—meaning that young and converted defenders had to pick up the slack while the veterans often logged double shifts trying to keep legs fresh. Yet even still, the Eagles succeeded, winning a Beanpot, Hockey East Championship, and making it to the Frozen Four.

“I thought that this year, of all the years I’ve been here, this one is up there on the adversity scale,” she said. “But when everyone stepped up, that was a huge moment for our team. That’s when they realized that everything is going to be okay.”

Whatever It Takes
Read more: http://bcheights.com/longform/index.php ... e-crowley/

epidemic ruining youth sports


But for every teen athlete who takes a break, there are hundreds who don’t heed doctors’ warnings and continue to overburden their growing bodies. Eventually, many will contribute to the epidemic of overuse injuries — which are on the rise, according to several studies and orthopedic doctors — now sullying youth sports.

The injuries are a byproduct of many factors, including hypercompetitive athletes, a growing number of travel teams and tournaments, and overzealous parents pushing their children too much because they believe they have the next LeBron James on their hands.

“There is a huge amount of delusion, I think,” says Kelly of the latter.

But the largest cause is young athletes specializing in one sport at an earlier age. Instead of playing lacrosse, basketball and football, they are opting to stick with just one, and it’s taking a toll on their bodies.

“The purpose of youth sports is to keep kids healthy, out of trouble and foster a lifelong love of exercise and sports. But there’s no longer any tapering in youth sports.” Brett G. Toresdahl, MD

The epidemic that’s ruining youth sports
Beware graphic image, Read more: http://nypost.com/2017/06/19/the-epidem ... =hootsuite

Last weekend was a somber one for Nick Fatis.

The 41-year-old former Rochester Ice Hawks head coach traveled west to attend the funeral of one of his best friends. It's the third time he's confronted the suicide of a former teammate.

Fatis declined to discuss details, including names, but, in his heart, he believes those three suicides can be traced to one common cause: concussions. He watched those friends — all of whom suffered multiple concussions through their semi-pro hockey careers — fight depression, a common side effect of post-concussion syndrome.

Those details echo research published this spring by neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee, who diagnosed four junior hockey players with chronic traumatic encephalopathyfollowing their suicides younger than 30. McKee, director of the CTE Center at Boston University, previously diagnosed Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard with CTE.

It's an emotional topic for Fatis, who stepped away from coaching last fall after suffering a debilitating concussion — at least the 15th of his life — that sent his life into a tailspin. For months, he thought his funeral might actually be next.

"I thought I was in a downward spiral that I was never going to come out of," Fatis said before the funeral. "You hear about CTE and I had every symptom. For a month or two, I was telling people I was slipping down the drain."

Michael "Doc" Fatis, the Ice Hawks owner, said he had an eye-opening conversation with his son following the sobering sojourn.

"He told me he had a rough time at the funeral," Doc said. "'This was a guy like me — the only difference is I have so many supports.' He focused on that, but I did see periods where things looked almost hopeless."

While he's now making progress toward normalcy, the details of Nick Fatis' struggle are jarring.

Following a freak concussion during Ice Hawks training camp, Fatis spent 12 hours a day locked in a cool, dark bathroom with earplugs in to dull his senses. His three kids were allowed in for quick hugs, but their dad was often unable to string words together to verbalize his affection. He was barely sleeping and constantly irritable.

The recovery period — that depression, those mood swings — lasted for months. And it cost him his marriage.

While his personal and professional life crumbled, Fatis said he was fighting simply to perform mundane tasks. Uncontrollable fits of anger — "rage reflex," he says — soiled his personality. That's a far cry from the happy-go-lucky youngster who embraced stand-up comedy for fun.

Doc recalls one postseason banquet where his son spent two hours locked away in a dark room before emerging to emcee the Ice Hawks event flawlessly, then immediately retreated back to darkness to relieve post-concussion syndrome symptoms.

..."Hockey has given me everything in my life, but it's also taken everything away," said Fatis, who was recently hired as general manager at Dunkin' Donuts in downtown Rochester. "I love hockey. I love the game. When it comes to head injuries, that's one of the few things that stops me in my tracks. It's so emotional.

"People want to be out there for their next shift, their next game. I just want to be there playing with my kids 15 years from now. I wish I could take back every shift I played after getting a concussion. It can't cure me, but it could keep me from going down those dark paths."

'Slipping down the drain'
http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/ ... 62f40.html

Women’s Club Hockey Player

"Over the past two years, Wood says, men’s and women’s rugby and hockey take up four of the top five spots for club concussions. Women’s rugby is the most dangerous with 10 concussions in that time frame -- men’s ranks third with four.

Meanwhile, both men’s and women’s club hockey teams saw four concussions apiece, and one athlete on the women’s team quit playing as a result of her concussion."

Limited Resources Put Club Athletes At Risk For Concussions
Read more: https://patch.com/ohio/miamiuniversity- ... oncussions

Athlete Concussion Protocol Might Be Ineffective

"Recent studies on brain trauma are forcing medical professionals to reevaluate how quickly they allow athletes to return from a concussion. A Wall Street Journal report on possible flaws with current concussion protocol may infer that athletes at various levels of competition—from high school all the way to the NFL—are at serious risk of reinjury."

Athlete Concussion Protocol Might Be Ineffective
Read more: http://www.vocativ.com/422409/study-ath ... effective/

Four junior hockey players diagnosed with CTE, researcher says

"A researcher at Boston University says she has diagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in the brains of four former junior hockey players.

Neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee made the diagnoses over the past two years. Each of the four former junior players – none of whom advanced to the National Hockey League – committed suicide before the age of 30, she said.

“...We are focusing on hockey now,” Dr. McKee said in an interview with TSN. “We’re really trying to put together our experience… We’re hoping hockey is not as high a risk as football where there are more impacts every game in a more predictable fashion, but [CTE prevalence] could be just as high in hockey.”

Dr. McKee has already diagnosed CTE in four former NHL players – Reggie Fleming, Rick Martin, Bob Probert and Derek Boogaard. Former NHL player Steve Montador also had CTE, according to researchers with the Canadian Sports Concussion Project in Toronto.

Dr. McKee said she is currently examining the brain of another former NHL player and is a month or so away from completing that exam. CTE can only be diagnosed after death.

“…To continue to play a sport like hockey or football, you have to turn a blind eye to this,” said Lisa McHale, the foundation’s director of family relations. “Willful ignorance is an easier tack to take than being concerned about CTE when you’re still making your living as a professional athlete.”

Four junior hockey players diagnosed with CTE, researcher says
http://www.tsn.ca/four-junior-hockey-pl ... s-1.730445

Pushed to point where injuries have long-term consequences

Poulter, the Indianapolis spine surgeon at OrthoIndy whom Beck consulted with and still sees, said he could not speak to how IU doctors treated Beck specifically, but he sees many college and high school athletes whose injuries have been managed poorly.

"Everyone is getting pushed incredibly hard, as if they were professional athletes," he said. "Most of these people will never see a dollar from their athletics, but they're being pushed incredibly hard and pushed to the point where they can be injured with long-term consequences."


Injured Indiana athletes describe isolation, poor treatment by staff
Read more: http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/articl ... s-football

What a concussion looks like in the brain

A new video reveals what traumatic brain injury looks like on the cellular level

It takes six hours for irreparable damage to develop after a concussion

Scientists hope the findings could lead to new therapies

What a concussion looks like in the brain, on the cellular level
Video and article: http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/02/health/co ... index.html

ESPN concussion compilation

Women suffer more concussions than men in the sports that both play, with an injury rate 50 percent higher, according to the most recent research. Female athletes with brain trauma tend to suffer different symptoms, take longer to recover and hold back information about their injuries for different reasons than males. Anyone involved in sports should have a grasp of these key facts. Yet the leading national and international guidelines for understanding sports concussions and returning injured athletes to play ignore key differences in how women and men experience brain injuries.

Here's what's even more stunning: All of that information was public knowledge eight years ago, when ESPN The Magazine first looked at the subject of concussions and female athletes ("Heading for Trouble," March 23, 2009)-and all of it is still true. The latest studies continue to find that women get brain injuries more often in sports also played by men. But research into why and how is lagging to nonexistent, as are efforts to reverse the trend. Which means millions of female athletes are putting their brains at risk unnecessarily.

"More and more of the athletes I have seen over time are young women, and I've found they get less information about concussion from their coaches, and from the media too, than men," says Jill Brooks, a clinical neuropsychologist who runs Head to Head Consultants in Gladstone, New Jersey, and who in 2004 conducted one of the earliest research reviews of sex issues in brain injury. "They are struggling to deal with their particular symptoms and often not being taken as seriously as they should be. The sports world is much more accepting of girls and women as athletes but still gives the topic of their concussions short shrift."


Why does it seem like nobody cares about female concussions?
http://www.espn.com/espnw/article/19775 ... oncussions

Referenced above:
Heading for trouble
This story appeared in ESPN The Magazine's March 23, 2009, issue
http://www.espn.com/espn/news/story?pag ... fortrouble

ESPN Outside the Lines, Heading for Trouble, Katrina Majewski, Concussion
Update video in 2011 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s04BruAQ2-4

Free Concussion Education Webinars


Headway Announces New Concussion Education Program
Headway will be hosting a series of FREE webinars interviewing a number of health professionals about concussions beginning in August and continuing through the fall. We plan to discuss everything from the science behind the injury itself to prevention strategies, treatments, diagnostic tools, and how to optimize your overall brain health.

Headway believes that educating the general public is key to improving concussion management. We hope that coaches, athletes, clinicians, parents and patients will use these opportunities to learn more about concussions directly from the experts. Check out our first 2 webinars below!

Our first live webinar, "The Eye-Brain Connection: Vision and Concussion" will take place August 8th at 4pm EST and feature Dr. Bryce Appelbaum, a neuro-optometrist who specializes in vision therapy for concussion recovery. The webinar will last 30-40 minutes including a Q&A at the end.

Topics of Discussion:
What is the ocular-motor system and how does it work?
How is vision effected by concussion?
What are common ocular-motor dysfunction related post concussion symptoms?
What is Vision Therapy and how does it work?
How does vision play a role in new diagnostic technology?
How does the ocular motor system effect sport performance?
Register for Webinar #1
More on Dr. Appelbaum:
Dr. Bryce Appelbaum is a Neuro-Optometrist who specializes in the evaluation and treatment of vision problems associated with acquired brain injury. He is a board certified fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) and is the clinical director of Appelbaum Vision, PC with offices in Bethesda and Annapolis, Maryland. He frequently lectures and provides in-service presentations to help professionals and patients obtain more information about how the visual system can be affected after concussion, and what can be done to treat the symptoms.

He is a member of The VisionHelp Group, a specialized team of progressive optometrists dedicated to vision development and vision rehabilitation with leadership in optometry and optometric education as university professors, authors and lecturers. The VisionHelp Group meets regularly to discuss the latest developments and best practices. The mission of the VisionHelp Group is to provide leadership and foster the development of public and professional awareness projects to help end the senseless struggle of those children and adults who suffer from developmental vision and rehabilitation problems.
Our second Webinar "Omega 3s and Concussion" featuring Dr. Michael Lewis focuses on the use of Omega 3s for concussion prevention and recovery. It will take place August 18th at 1 pm. The webinar will last 30-40 minutes including a Q&A at the end.

Topics of Discussion:
How did Dr. Lewis come about this research?
What are Omega 3s?
How do Omega 3s impact the brain?
How do Omega 3s play a role in concussion prevention and recovery?
Register for Webinar #2
More on Dr. Lewis:

Michael D. Lewis, MD, MPH, MBA, FACPM, FACN, Colonel (Retired), U.S. Army is an expert on brain health and the prevention, management, and rehabilitation of concussions and traumatic brain injury (TBI). He has pioneered new TBI therapies for the U.S. military. When he retired as a Colonel after a distinguished 31 year career in the U.S. Army, Dr. Lewis founded the nonprofit Brain Health Education and Research Institute in 2011 to continue his work. Now, he brings his experience and expertise in both diagnosing and treating brain injury and fostering better brain health to his Potomac, MD practice, BrainCARE. He is also the author of the Amazon Best Selling book, When Brains Collide: What every athlete and parent should know about the prevention and treatment of concussions and brain injuries.
Dr. Lewis is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Tulane University School of Medicine and completed his post-graduate training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University, and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He is board-certified and a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Nutrition.

Know someone who would be interested in these FREE webinars? Please share by either forwarding this email or by sending them the following links!

Link to "The Eye-Brain Connection: Vision and Concussion" registration: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/dc8dc6 ... 605f06faf5
Link to Webinar "Omega 3s and Concussion" registration: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/24476d ... ba88984b7b
In addition, Headway plans to archive recordings of our webinars and create other educational videos so that the information can be accessed at any time via our website.
Have ideas for webinar topics? Know credible doctors willing to donate their time? Let us know!
Contact

Mayo's Ice Hockey Summit III -- $$$$

MayoClinic Ice Hockey Summit III: Learning to Better Prevent, Diagnose and Treat Concussion Sept 17-18, Rochester MN
https://ce.mayo.edu/sports-medicine/con ... ssion-2017


Target Audience
The target audience for this course is health care providers in any of the following specialty areas: orthopedic surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, neurosurgery, family medicine, general practice, radiology, emergency medicine and psychology. This includes physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, physician assistants, nurses, biomedical engineers, engineers, neuroscientists. Additionally, coaches, officials, administrators and equipment manufacturers may also be interested in attending this course.

A Dark Room documentary about hockey concussions

Haley Wickenheiser
"A Dark Room," a superb documentary film on sports-related concussions, explores both treatment options and how some athletes who have sustained head injuries deal with the ups and downs of recovery. Purchased by the National Film Board of Canada, it has aired on CBC and is currently being used as an educational tool in high schools to prompt discussions about concussions in contact sports.

The three central figures in the film (former semi-professional hockey player Max Taylor, psychiatrist Dr. Shree Bhalerao and psychiatry resident Dr. Ryan Todd) all share a love of Canada's game. Taylor's promising career on the ice, like so many others, was brought to an end after a series of concussions made continuing impossible. Drs. Bhalerao and Todd, both natives of Saskatchewan who played the game as amateurs, treat many people in their practice who, like Taylor, have battled the psychological effects of a brain changing injury.

Although hockey is the lens through which viewers see this story, the lessons we can draw from this documentary have wide application. Concussions, like other TBIs, can be life-altering injuries. For players like Taylor, being sidelined with an injury removes them from their teams peer networks and support systems, and can leave them feeling isolated as they rest and allow the brain to recover. It can be an intensely lonely period when a person may feel misunderstood by people around them – especially if the injury causes changes in mood, personality, or functional ability.

In this blog post, I draw on the interviews from "A Dark Room," to examine the paths to concussion recovery, the struggles patients may have with psychological symptoms and the emerging and exciting treatment option of neuroplasticity to help people with TBIs to exit that dark room and return to an active and enjoyable life.

Back To Square One

"That first concussion – it felt like I was back to square one in life," recalls Taylor in the film. "I couldn't talk. I couldn't put words together. Everything bothered me. I couldn't watch TV, I couldn't have lights on. For five months I just sat in the dark waiting for these symptoms to subside."

Rest alone may not lead to a full recovery for all people who have sustained concussions. While some systems may dissipate, other normal brain function may be permanently altered.

"The brain's an intricate blob," Dr. Bhalerao tells viewers. "It's just a blob of stuff. The blob of stuff communicates with cells and neurotransmitters. It's such a finely-tuned machine that any type of disruption makes it difficult to repair itself as it was before. If you were to slice the brain you'll see it's a nice, glistening picture of parallel circuits. When damage like this happens to the brain it loses that parallel circuitry. That's one of the key elements that happens with concussions, you lose that symmetry and the connections obviously are lost."

Psychological Effects and Physical Recovery

As Dr. Todd, explains, in additional to changes in functional abilities, "over the long term you can have the psychiatric effects. Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. You're more apt to use drugs and alcohol as well. A third of the patients we see go on to have these psychiatric effects after the three-month period that most people will clear from a concussion."

Although mental illness still carries a stigma in society generally, the sports arena, which values toughness and determination to push through the pain, can be a particularly difficult place for players to speak about their internal struggles.

Sportscaster Michael Landsberg, who has spoken openly about his own battles with long-term depression suggests that "people ignore it because it's not sexy and because it's not a sports story. In a lot of ways the sports world isn't really capable of dealing with something like this. This is totally out of their comfort zone."

Yet Landsberg's powerful advocacy offers a way to change perceptions. In a powerful segment of the documentary, he explains: "If you come out and share it with a group of people, or your boss, or a television audience, and you say it in a way that you have something to be ashamed of, then they'll see it as a weakness. Say it weak and they'll see you as weak. But say it strong... Come out and say 'I suffer from a mental illness. For the last 15 years I've suffered from depression. Five times I've fallen into the deepest hole of depression and all five of those times I had no quality of life. But you know what? None of that was ever my fault. I didn't choose it. Who would choose it? I couldn't bring it upon myself and I couldn't get out of it without help.' You can tell me a lot of things about mental illness but you can't tell me that it's a reflection of weakness because I'm not weak."

While they may show some vulnerability, as viewers hear from the likes of athletes like Taylor, former NHL star Eric Lindros and Olympian Haley Wickenheiser, it is clear they are speaking from a position of strength.

Concussions: Emerging From A Dark Room After A Traumatic Brain Injury
http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/609780/H ... ain+Injury


A Dark Room takes concussions out of the shadows

The film was purchased by the National Film Board of Canada and is being used as an educational tool in high school classrooms to discuss the impact of concussions in sports.
See details at: http://www.ryerson.ca/research/news/2016/1018/

Psychology of Sport: Concussions

Psychology Of Sport: Concussions
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Shawn-Ga ... s/67/84941

But is it worth it, for a shot to one day play in the big leagues?

“I took a lot out of hockey. I learned a lot of leadership skills, I learned a lot of how to work with a team and a lot about myself. But no, I wouldn’t do it over again. I was quite talented in a multitude of sports as a child and I would have chosen the sports that had less contact,” my brother said. “Parents need to understand that it’s not just the Canadian dream — it’s their kids’ life and their kids’ brain and they need to have a life beyond the ice.”

In some ways, my recollection of that time in my brother’s life reflects the symptoms of concussion — faded memories, confusion and complicated emotional trauma, all from the memory of my brother sitting there, alone, in a dark room.


Alone in the dark: The effects of concussions on Canada’s greatest game
Read more http://www.thegauntlet.ca/alone-in-the- ... test-game/

A Visual Guide to Concussions and Brain Injuries

A Visual Guide to Concussions and Brain Injuries
http://www.webmd.com/brain/ss/slideshow ... 0000419528

measuring a hit's impact on the brain


The future of contact sports equipment? Measuring a hit’s impact on the brain, not just the helmet.

"Be careful what you wish for. The day we accurately measure the effects of impacts on brain tissue in real time will change sports forever,” said concussion expert Chris Nowinski.

Measuring a Hit’s Impact on the Brain
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/...measu ... d6dd0cb8-4...

Interesting Concussion/Brain Injury perspective from Retired Army General

Q: All this was pretty late in the game. We had been in Iraq and Afghanistan for about seven years.

A: Yeah, it was, but how long have we been playing football in this country? We beat them (the NFL). And when it comes to football, I hear all kinds of stupidity on the TV today with these commentators. I heard the dumbest comment I’ve heard in my life from a coach about this idea of hitting them high or low. His comment was something to the effect that the most highly technical piece of equipment on the field is the helmet, so why are we telling people to hit low at the knee when there’s no protection at the knee. We should tell them to hit high at the head because that’s where the protection is.

I wanted to say: Listen dumb (expletive), do you understand that your head is already in a helmet called the skull? The helmet protects against cracking the skull, but it does not help against the acceleration that takes place when the head is whipped. That helmet does absolutely no good, and most concussions are caused by the acceleration of the head, up, down, left, right. And the movement of the brain inside the skull. The helmet does not protect at all against that. That is the level of ridiculousness we have of people not understanding what the issue is.

Brain Warrior: Retired Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli on ‘dumb’ sports commentators, ‘horrible’ concussion tests and medicine’s chance to help people on and off the battlefield
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/spec ... 14db8.html

Minnesota girls player
"Off to hockey shortly. We're down numbers tonight. 1 out with a concussion, another 1 sick. Lots of ice time for the girls tonight."
https://twitter.com/LazyVanek/status/817528360133947401

Dan Elvis’s friend
"I have a friend who played hockey in a women's league, suffered a concussion and two and a half years later was finally symptom free.”
https://twitter.com/danelvis1/status/859454063263535104