Concussions Change Playing Field for Maryland School Sports

Former soccer player Alison Conca-Cheng knows all too well the dangers of concussion.

Conca-Cheng sustained a concussion during a soccer scrimmage in August 2010 that in the immediate aftermath caused her to have balance problems, headaches and short-term memory loss. She later suffered from extreme exhaustion, a loss of concentration and sleeplessness.

“I just felt very out of it. It’s hard to explain if you’ve never experienced it before,” she told members of Congress in September 2010, when she  in support of a national bill promoting minimum state requirements for the prevention and treatment of concussions caused by school sports participation.

Conca-Cheng said that it is due to the Howard County public school system’s concussion plan that she was saved from a worse fate, since Howard County has computer testing programs that give students a cognitive baseline analysis prior to the season. Many school systems throughout the state have implemented similar testing over the past few years. 

“I am grateful my school had a system in place to identify the severity of my injury and point me toward the medical care I required,” Conca-Cheng testified. “I have seen how it has impacted my life and I worry about the student athletes who don’t get properly diagnosed and fall through the cracks.”  

New state concussion legislation, signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley in the spring, has put the topic at the forefront.

The law requires the Maryland State Department of Education to implement concussion awareness programs for coaches, school personnel, student athletes and parents or guardians. In addition, students and their parents or guardians need to sign a concussion information sheet before participating in any sport.

This applies to sports events played on public school and Parks & Recreation lands.

Andy Warner, assistant director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, calls the law “very important.”

“Concussions are a hot topic right now ... You see it in the NFL, you see it in newspaper articles," he said. "We are still learning the long-term impact of them so it’s important that the law is there and our schools are able to provide this awareness to the parents and athletes.”

When O’Malley signed the Maryland Youth Concussion Legislation bill into law in May, Maryland became the 18th state to enact such a law.

Under the new legislation, all coaches must take an online concussion education course, which parents are also encouraged to take.

Further, the law requires that any student suspected of incurring a concussion on public school or Parks & Recreation lands will be removed from practice or play and returned only after clearance by an appropriately licensed health care professional trained in the evaluation and management of concussions and head injury. 

Organizations that lobbied for the law included the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens and the Brain Injury Association of Maryland.

According to the Sports Concussion Institute, 10 to 19 percent of all high school athletes in contact sports suffer a concussion each season.

Warner says the new law has put pressure on coaches and parents to be diligent. “Parents know the definition of a concussion from signing off, and they know the signs and symptoms and what kinds of things they need to do after someone has received a concussion,” he said. “That definitely brings a whole new level of awareness.”  

Mark Wannen, a father of four student athletes and the president of the athletic booster club at Blake High School in Montgomery County, has had plenty of experience with concussions; one of his daughters sustained one while playing lacrosse at William and Mary.

“I think the most important part is the education part," said Wannen. "Concussions take a little training to recognize."

Beth Nave, a mother of five student athletes and the booster president for Westminster High School, said she is happy with the legislation, although she does harbor some reservations.

“I do worry about coaches being strategic and not asking the kids the right questions for fear of having to pull the athlete,” said Nave, who is also a lacrosse coach and whose husband coaches high school football. “As a parent, I’m pretty laid back with the day-to-day things, but it’s the catastrophic things that stay on my mind."

Others disagree, confident that the law will heighten awareness and cause coaches to exercise more caution.

"I don’t care what level you’re playing on; it’s way too serious," said Brian Moore, the former varsity head football coach at Laurel High School. "I couldn’t think of a coach who would send a player back out there just to win."