Coaches on Concussions
It’s a general rule that any athlete with a concussion is not allowed to return to the game that day, according to NCAA regulations.
“They should not return to play until all symptoms have been resolved during rest and exertion. A health care professional with experience in evaluating concussions should clear the student-athlete before returning to play is considered.”
Coach Ryan Birge is the Fairfield University women’s club rugby coach. He has been coaching at the University for eight years. Birge attended Fairfield Prep and University and played rugby and hockey in college. He has suffered from three concussions during his time as an athlete.
On average, Birge sees one to two concussions a year on the women’s rugby team. Unfortunately, Birge has noticed an increase in the number of concussions over the years.
The increase in concussions “has to do with the level of experience with the female rugby player. Most women athletes that decide to join rugby have little to no experience with contact sports, let alone experience with high-impact rugby tackling, rucking, and scrimmagng.”
As a coach, Birge tries his hardest to teach and develop basic rugby fundamentals to create a safer playing environment.
Coach Birge believes that Fairfield University is very diligent when dealing with concussions. He explained that, “it is a type of injury that requires patience and consistent monitoring.”
Birge explained that when a student is diagnosed with a concussion, there is now a network between the athlete, their medical professional, Fairfield University and the head coach ensuring that the student athlete is healthy and capable of participating again.
After many years of playing for Fairfield and coaching Birge believes, “Fairfield University does a solid job with providing the attention and monitoring student athletes need as well as providing the communication necessary to ensure the safe and healthy return of the player to their respective sport/activity.”
Birge’s first and foremost concern is the health and safety of his players. “I truly care about each person on my roster and I understand the pain and confusion my player may be experiencing from their injury. My first reaction is to ensure their well-being, I would then make sure they are receiving the proper medical attention.”
Three starting players were lost on the team this year due to concussions. “It is difficult replacing starting players or better athletes due to concussions and at times could be frustrating. However, an individual player’s health and safety is much more important to me and the team than overall team success.”
Birge said that the only thing that the team can really do to prevent concussions is to be informed and learn the correct techniques to tackling because that can make all the difference.
Nationwide Effect
According to ESPN, Stefan Duma, an engineering professor and department head at Virginia Tech, said, “all Virginia Tech football players have been outfitted with sensors in their helmets that can measure the number of the collisions they are involved in during the course of a football game, as well as the severity of them.”
The helmets that Virginia Tech provides for players collect data through the sensors, which is then “uploaded in real time to a computer on the sideline where it can trigger an alert, warning the team’s medical staff any time a player is involved in a major collision,” Duma explained.
Virginia Tech is not the only school with this type of system.
ESPN stated that many other schools are welcoming researchers into the locker rooms to study brain trauma. Duma explained, “schools like North Carolina, Oklahoma, Dartmouth and Brown have already implemented the system, which costs between $50,000 and $75,000, and several NFL teams have shown interest.”
Scott Anderson, head athletic trainer at Stanford University, explained to ESPN that, “Stanford football players will be wearing mouth guards that have tiny sensors implanted in them to measure the severity and frequency of hits they endure. The data is collected, stored and then studied different ways by budding young scientists.”
Stanford has also spent $100,000 on high-speed cameras on their practice fields to enable researchers and doctors from the medical school to study collisions.
Dr. Maryland Chan from University of Notre Dame explained that no matter how hard schools try to prevent concussions, it is almost impossible. Rather than taking a high-tech approach, Dr. Chan believes educating student athletes is the best way to go.
“You need to say: These are the risks. Because unfortunately concussions are inherent in the sport. There is no way to eliminate this injury from the game. It’s just going to be there.”
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