As Canadians, we love the autumn season. We embrace the chilly temperatures, celebrate the changing of the leaves and look forward to the crisp, fresh air that comes before the plummeting cold and banks of snow outside our doors. It’s also a popular time to be outside in the great outdoors and enjoy recreational sports, such as football.
Football is just as popular as the Fall season, itself. We flock to High school and university games, cheer on our Ottawa Redblacks professional CFL team and even toss around the ball in recreation leagues as part of our downtime. Although this is a fun and loved sport, one thing that we must be aware of, is the increasing possibility of sport related injury, especially concussions.
Some ways that we can try to prevent concussions are:
- Reducing repetitive head impacts in tackle football through limits on full-contact practices
- Neck strengthening
- Head impact exposure monitoring
- Delaying start of contact and collision sports
- Play by the rules. Teaching young athletes to respect the rules of their sport is part of good coaching
- Wear the appropriate equipment for your sport and wear it properly. Always close a chin strap if your sport requires a helmet; many concussions occur during practice
- Examine the playing field for uneven areas or holes
- Make sure that end posts are padded sufficiently
- Practice good sportsmanship. Teaching good sportsmanship is part of good coaching and good parenting minimizing unnecessary aggression on the field
- Learn and use proper technique for your sport. Some sports organizations have taken additional action to minimize the risk of concussion by limiting the number of contact practices allowed during the season
All suggestions present challenges and adopting an “all-of-the-above” approach is likely the best way to reduce the risk to youth and high school athletes from brain injury, both in the short- and long-term.
Education and prevention is key but also fast reaction time if a head injury does occur. It is important to seek professional medical help if you think you may be at risk of a concussion. Above all, play by the rules and have fun!