Athletic Concussions (Synthesis)

I originally chose this topic because of the "Concussion Awareness" sheet I got earlier this fall that had to be signed and returned to the Athletic Office in order for me to play field hockey this season. At that time, I thought it was kind of silly that it was mandatory for every athlete at our school to have to do this if they wanted to be on a team. However, after looking more into why concussions are such a big deal in high school and even junior high level sports, I realized that there really was an increasing number of reported concussions and that parents, doctors, and coaches are all divided on how to fix this important health issue. I could understand why so many parents wanted some rules in sports such as hockey and football to change to help reduce the risk of concussions; however, as an athlete myself I feel like I wouldn't want any of the rules bent just to avoid risks. I agreed more with the coach's point of view that it is the responsibility of the coach to teach their athletes the right way to hit/tackle/block/etc. so that they are safe. I know my field hockey coach yelled at us if we ever raised our stick too high or lifted the ball into a group of people. Athletes won't put themselves in dangerous situations if they know and practice how to strategically work around them. One factor that I hadn't thought of was the issue with equipment. A lot of the columnists I read said that the changes and technology of sports equipment such as helmets and pads are the biggest reason why the number of concussions are increasing. I believe that in some cases this is very true, the helmets that NFL football players get are probably very different from those of youth football leagues, but they should have just the same amount of protection. Also, using a mouth guard myself, I wonder if it will ever be proven that mouth guards can help reduce concussions.