Concussions Steal Spotlight in Mayo Clinic Summit

VICTORIA -- If you have a child playing sports, or if you play yourself, you know that concussions are nothing new.
They're getting a lot of attention in professional sports right now, with new rules and tougher regulations.
The prestigious Mayo Clinic recently held "Ice Hockey Summit: Action On Concussion" where they looked at new research and came up with several ways to prevent the dangerous head injuries.
And local teams are also looking at new ways to keep there players safe says Mt.Doug Rams Football Coach Alan Cochrane.
"Our school now has a full time medical assistant on the field during games. It's a new rule that the BC High school Football Association brought in this year to keep players safe. If we don't have someone on the sidelines ready to deal with a concussion injury we for fit the game.
Among the six recommendations which range from creating a world wide data base on concussion research, to continues education and equipment improvement, the Mayo Clinic suggested a complete ban on any contact to the head with no exceptions, and also went so far as to say fighting in hockey should be banned.
Victoria Salmon Kings forward Kiel McLeod has been diagnosed with five concussions and thinks it's time for players to start taking some onus.
"A lot of the time it has to be that defender in hockey the guy that's going to throw the hit, you have to be conscious of where his head is and I guess lay off but that's tough. Me personally if I have a guy lined up I'm going to hit him as hard as I can. I mean your not meaning to hurt a guy but both the sports are physical sports and things are going to happen."
And no longer are athletes allowed to continue playing if they have a suspected concussion. A big change from when Salmon Kings Head Coach Mark Morrison used to play.
"As long as you could see straight, but now a lot of guys still want to do that but they cant the trainer has a baseline test and there's all sorts of protocol and they find out that you might think your right but your not really right."
By setting the ground rules surrounding contact to the head at the minor level, the Mayo Clinic Summit is hoping kids will be able to move through the ranks and achieve their dreams; that should never be cut short by a concussion related injury.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• /A\
• News
• Vancouver
• Island
• British
• Columbia
• VICTORIA
• Erin
• Glazier
• Concussions