Good advice coachrefparent. This advice probably applies to situations where you have plenty of time. If the next play is about to happen quickly and your child is in the zone of danger again, parents - go for it. As a parent on any sideline, I would never get mad at any parent for trying to prevent brain damage to their child.
Concussions and who is looking out for the kid.
- Thread starter socalkdg
- Start date
Good advice coachrefparent. This advice probably applies to situations where you have plenty of time. If the next play is about to happen quickly and your child is in the zone of danger again, parents - go for it. As a parent on any sideline, I would never get mad at any parent for trying to prevent brain damage to their child.
On my daughter's GU10 team, one of the parents was a pediatrician. At a game one day one of the girls fell hard on the opposite side of the field from us and was crying while holding her arm. The Doc grabbed an empty Gatorade case bottom cardboard and sprinted across the field. He had her arm in a splint before the referee turned around and blew the whistle.
Surfref
PREMIER
First head injury of the season in my last game today. I was the AR. CR’s command of the English language was not good, so I assisted during the incident. Ball gets played through toward the penalty area, forward has two defenders beat by a step, keepers coming out at full speed, defender pushes teammate into forward, forward stumbles, keeper dives head first toward ball, forward kicks keeper in the head. Keeper on the ground holding her head in obvious pain. CR not calling coach onto the field. I walk on and ask CR, “Did you see her get kicked in the head.” CR, “Yes.” Me, “Then you need to call the coach on and she needs to go off for the remainder of the game.” That is what happened and keeper is laying on the ground under the canopy with an ice pack on her head for the remainder of the game. Then he restarted play with a free kick to the keepers team when it was the attacker that was fouled. It amazed me that a referee Grade 15 did not know what to do when there was an obvious head injury. We get way too much training on this subject for any senior referee not to know what to do. Called my assigner after the game to let him know what happened and he will make sure a report is submitted.
oh canada
GOLD
thanks for the report @Surfref...this sounds like a perfect example of a situation where a goalie would have benefited from some sort of headgear. To what degree, who knows, but I think it's logical to posit that the injury would not have been as severe, and that's enough to justify a goalie wearing headgear in my book.
Who cares if it is in LOTG as of yet? LOTG have changed before. They can change again.
The rules, as defined, create a game that causes as many brain injuries as high school football. (Concussions per athletic exposure.)
It is time to change the rules. Ban headers, and go with a lighter ball.
If that means leaving FIFA for youth soccer, good riddance. They are corrupt anyway.
When I was coaching little-littles, I had a very light ball that I used to teach proper heading technique. Once a player had mastered the movements, we could move up progressively through standard-sized soccer balls.
All he concussions I have witnessed in soccer games came from head-to-head contact or head-to-ground. My son, in a game I did not see, got a concussion blocking a free kick in the 10-yard wall.
outside!
DA
Most head-to-head contacts come as a result of two players trying to head the ball. Eliminate heading and that goes away.
Surfref
PREMIER
The majority of head injuries/possible concussions I have seen have been head-to-ground after the player had been fouled or had fouled an opponent. I have also seen a good number of keeper head injury’s that get either kicked or kneed in the head making a save. A good number of those have been due to contact with teammates or opponents that were pushed by a keepers teammate.
This past weekend I had a keeper kneed in the head by his teammate who had an opponent fall into him because the opponent was pushed by another one of the keepers teammates. Keeper was clearly dazed and I got yelled at by the spectators because I called a PK for a pushing foul. The coach saw his player push the opponent and just seemed to be concerned about his keeper.
The Ghost of Johan Cruyff
BRONZE
I would like someone's opinion on this one:
A girl at practice falls and hits her head on the hard pack dirt in the corner of the field. Coach and another coach go over to her and she is down for a while. We (the parents) could see they were starting the concussion protocol and although I left before the end, the next day the player was showing off her ER bracelet to my dd and saying she had a mild concussion. When I hear this I think well she is done for a while. Two days later we pull up to the game to see the same player suited up. Ok, maybe she will be the cheerleader today on the bench. No, she plays. Naturally, I am thinking to myself that our coach is being an idiot for putting someone back into the game when she had a head injury. So I make a passing comment to our team know it all parent. She tells me that Coach said she couldn't play and the mom was livid. So livid that she went to her local pediatrician and got him ot sign off that she was fine to return. Our coach didn't budge so she sent to the club director who then told the coach to play her. Sooo...
1. what the heck is wrong with these people? Are they not the exact people we are trying to protect our athletes from?
2. Is it not true that once the protocol has started she needs a medical release and a minimum 7 day waiting period?
3. How can a director just say that she can play based off a note from a doctor who did not diagnose her?
4. Does this happen all the time and I"m just the only one who is shocked?
5. Say she runs around with a cracked vertabrae and then she hurts herself and can' walk? Who is liable? How likely is it that the mom tries to sue everyone? (100%)
6. What the ______ has gotten into people. Club Soccer....where morals are optional.
A girl at practice falls and hits her head on the hard pack dirt in the corner of the field. Coach and another coach go over to her and she is down for a while. We (the parents) could see they were starting the concussion protocol and although I left before the end, the next day the player was showing off her ER bracelet to my dd and saying she had a mild concussion. When I hear this I think well she is done for a while. Two days later we pull up to the game to see the same player suited up. Ok, maybe she will be the cheerleader today on the bench. No, she plays. Naturally, I am thinking to myself that our coach is being an idiot for putting someone back into the game when she had a head injury. So I make a passing comment to our team know it all parent. She tells me that Coach said she couldn't play and the mom was livid. So livid that she went to her local pediatrician and got him ot sign off that she was fine to return. Our coach didn't budge so she sent to the club director who then told the coach to play her. Sooo...
1. what the heck is wrong with these people? Are they not the exact people we are trying to protect our athletes from?
2. Is it not true that once the protocol has started she needs a medical release and a minimum 7 day waiting period?
3. How can a director just say that she can play based off a note from a doctor who did not diagnose her?
4. Does this happen all the time and I"m just the only one who is shocked?
5. Say she runs around with a cracked vertabrae and then she hurts herself and can' walk? Who is liable? How likely is it that the mom tries to sue everyone? (100%)
6. What the ______ has gotten into people. Club Soccer....where morals are optional.
You zoomed right past the part where a doctor cleared her to play.
dk_b
GOLD
if she was actually diagnosed with a concussion, a Dr clearance without following a protocol is not in compliance with law. If she was not diagnosed with an actual concussion but had been removed because of suspected head injury, the clearance without a protocol (yes, 7 days) would be fine.
dk_b
GOLD
The CA law for youth athletes (17yo and younger) is found here: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=124235.&lawCode=HSC.
The relevant section that I referenced is Health & Safety Code 124235(a)(1) which reads as follows:
"An athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or other head injury in an athletic activity shall be immediately removed from the athletic activity for the remainder of the day, and shall not be permitted to return to any athletic activity until he or she is evaluated by a licensed health care provider. The athlete shall not be permitted to return to athletic activity until he or she receives written clearance to return to athletic activity from a licensed health care provider. If the licensed health care provider determines that the athlete sustained a concussion or other head injury, the athlete shall also complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of no less than seven days in duration under the supervision of a licensed health care provider."
Unfortunately, many treating physicians, even those who treat youth athletes, do not follow the law and many clubs that have made a commitment to better concussion protocols, and may even have published guidelines, do not follow the law. Additionally, tons of refs and on field coaches do not follow the law. Some may take issue with the law and say it is part of the nanny state but it is clear and, in fact, the rationale is incredibly sound (as I think I posted upthread, I am friends with the physician who led the drafting of the mandatory CIF return-to-play protocols and she explained the progression in thinking and the "WHY" behind the 7-day. And that SHOULD START after a player is otherwise symptom free (the law does not require that - just a 7-day protocol - but CIF does and if your kid suffers a concussion, you should insist on strict compliance even as you think he/she seems "fine". Why? Because we are talking about brains and a subsequent concussion in close succession with a preceding one risks a sports career and, more importantly, changing your child's brain in an enduring (sometimes irrevocable) way. (Steps off soapbox)
The Ghost of Johan Cruyff
BRONZE
Now correct me if I am indeed wrong but when you have a head injury how does a pediatrician who did not tend to her during the injury sign off on a return when the protocol is 7 days. How can a director who has the concussion training be ok with a return prior to 7 days? Sounds like a failure at every step.
The Ghost of Johan Cruyff
BRONZE
Per the player, she showed my dd the wrist band from the ER and that she as diagnosed with a mild concussion. Her mother actually confirmed that to the Team Manager. Risking further injury or damage over a meaningless game...this is why they started enforcing the protocol.
The Ghost of Johan Cruyff
BRONZE
Stay on your soapbox. Its the fact that this goes on. Nanny state or not, over-aggressive mom, careless club, a clueless coach does not absolve anyone from the law. Especially with requirements, they have to pass a class regarding it. It's not some obscure law either. This is in the conversation when it comes to youth sports.
dk_b
GOLD
Indeed but I have seen it with clubs and teams w/which I have been involved. And I'm "that guy" who points it out, talks to the coach, talks to the DOC, talks to the board, etc. As I noted upthread, many treating physicians are unaware of the legal requirements, even many who routinely treat athletes.
Parents should have this law at the ready - it is only our kids' brains - or at least be able to google, "California Concussion Law". You will hit this statute in the first couple of results.
This is not about "insider buying". It looks like a self-congratulatory public relations effort disguised as a "study".
Change my mind.
Many? Name three.
dk_b
GOLD
You are doubting this? I can name at least 6 but I'm not going to do that, obviously. If it were my kid's doctor, I'd take issue with him or her. And if it is a club I'm involved with, I will talk with the right person and escalate as necessary - coach, manager, board, etc. Easy enough to talk with parents on the sideline about kids who were diagnosed with concussions and returned to play as soon as the obvious symptoms subsided - usually the headache - you see it all the time, just as you see kids removed with an obvious head issue only to see them returned to play w/o medical clearance (that happened to my own kid when she suffered her first (mild) concussion - she was playing in Europe and I watched a terrible live stream so could not really see what was happening and could not do anything about it in the moment. She self-reported being fine (as athletes do) and was allowed back on. That should not have happened and it has been discussed). It used to be the protocol to return to play when obvious symptoms clear - 24 hrs w/o a headache? You are cleared to play! Fortunately, in CA for athletes 17yo and younger, it is no longer the case. Even the anecdote above, other than the bragging, is not that uncommon. Or do you doubt that story, too?
(even with the mild concussion, going to a Dr who really specializes in this area will reveal more than is obvious to indicate a brain injury. It also is reassuring when the Dr puts the child through the same exam and you can see how the brain has recovered by the child's performance in the exam)
dk_b
GOLD
And I will add: I'm just a guy. If I can name 3 or 6 or just 1, it is too many and likely representative. I don't consider my experience or observations unique. And just like you guys in SoCal are around some of the best medical care and innovative medical thinking, so are we in NorCal with the research coming out of UCSF, Stanford, etc. And, still, the protocols are not always followed as the law requires
So far you have named none. If you have real evidence of this, of course, you shouldn't be posting it here anyway. You should present your evidence to the doctors' employers and/or the relevant licensing boards.