Player Safety | burlingtonfootball

Our number one priority at Burlington High School is player safety.

With all the information on concussions I wanted to provide some other resources and explain some of the measures we are taking at Burlington High School to keep our players safe so they can enjoy playing football.

Burlington High School Coaches are:

CPR/First Aid Certified
Engage in a concussion course to better understand signs and symptoms (done yearly)
The school has implemented a turf heat policy where student-athletes do not practice on the turf if the temperature is over 85 degrees.

Facts About Concussions:

I want to address some facts about concussions and how what is happening in the NFL with CTE is far different than what a high school football player might experience.

The first piece of evidence to show this comes from an article titled "No Association Between Playing High School Football and Brain Injuries", Source: JAMA Neurology, July 3, 2017.

According to this article there is no statistically or clinically significant harmful association between playing football in high school and increased cognitive impairment or depression later in life. Here is a link to the full article: Concussion Risk Report

The second piece of evidence comes from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, March 14, 2017. In this article 100 schools were studied and girls soccer had more concussions than football and female athletes as a group suffered more concussions than male athletes in high school. Here is a link to the full article: Concussions in high school sports

Expert neurologist, Dr. Uzma Samadani believes the media is biased and only reporting one side of the concussion issue. To be clear Samadani is a supporter of the values student-athletes receive from playing football (her son plays). As stated by Samadani, “The two biggest misconceptions about brain injuries is that football always causes brain injuries and brain injuries always causes Dementia,” she told us. “That is clearly not true. The media finds a particular case and blows it up to make an anecdote, but it doesn’t understand the overall risk. Football has not benefited from knowledge of brain injury, it’s been exploited by it.” Samadani also believes the benefits of football far outweigh the risks. As stated by Samadani, “Football players commit suicide less than the general population and participating in sports cuts suicide rate by one/eighth,” Dr. Samadani told us. “We’ve found that the increase in sports leads to decrease in depression by more than 25% and suicidal ideation decreases by 12%.” So, the fact remains that playing sports like football can in effect decrease the suicide rate." Samadani also believes kids need to be resilient and football teaches that. (This information was found on the website xandolabs.com)

Concussion Protocol at Burlington High School:

First, it is important to understand that most concussions at the high school level occur when a players head hits the ground or they slide off a tackle. In the NFL they occur from collisions involving players who are much bigger and faster than the average human being.

If a student-athlete is suspected of having a concussion he is immediately seen by the trainer

The trainer goes through a checklist of protocols and will sit the player if he has a concussion. If the concussion is severe enough the TRAINER will send the player to the doctor.
Once the player is no longer showing symptoms of a concussion he needs to pass a five step protocol before being cleared to play. The player can not move on to another step until he passes each one.

Teaching Techniques to make the Game Safer

At Burlington High School we are a shoulder leverage tackling team that emphasizes keeping the head out of contact.

We teach three types of tackles: Form, Thigh and Drive, Thigh and Roll

Our coaching points are: Eyes through the thighs, wrap and squeeze, drive for five

Each of these techniques are practiced during individual periods and our tackling circuit.
We execute these techniques on bags in order to limit contact between players
Practicing these techniques over and over gives our players the confidence to execute them during games.

Benefits of Shoulder Tackling

Thigh and Drive Drill Example

Thigh and Roll Drill Example

Importance of the Near Foot