USA Football, the sport's national governing body on youth and amateur levels, offers the youth football community dynamic ways to educate volunteers, players and parents about player safety through football fundamentals and concussion awareness.
Twenty-six youth sports organizations, including USA Football, have worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for more than two years to educate the youth sports community on concussion awareness. USA Football - the official youth football development partner of the NFL, its 32 teams and the NFLPA - is committed to offer direction to youth, high school, and other amateur football leaders on key health and safety issues.
USA Football Concussion Awareness
USA Football's curriculum, events, and resources provide players, coaches, league commissioners, and parents with a strong knowledge base of football fundamentals. Knowing how to properly block and tackle advances a safe and positive football experience. However, no physical activity is injury-proof. USA Football has long emphasized the importance of concussion awareness. USA Football will take additional steps in 2010 to underscore this point to the youth football community.
The following summarizes how USA Football, with CDC-endorsed practices, educates the youth football community on how to recognize a concussion and how to respond if one occurs. This information is shared at USA Football events. By April 2010, USA Football will add material and quizzes covering concussion awareness, proper hydration, and equipment fitting guidelines to its online youth football coaching course.
Below is USA Football's concussion awareness policy which youth leagues are encouraged to adopt. USA Football recommends that every youth football league - and every youth sports league - employs such a policy.
Prevention and Preparation for Coaches (Primary Source: CDC)
1) Educate athletes and parents about concussion
a) Talk with athletes and parents about preventative measures, symptoms, and proper action to take relative to concussions.
b) Emphasize the dangers of playing through a concussion.
2) Insist that safety comes first
a) Teach athletes safe playing techniques and good sportsmanship
b) Review the "Concussion Fact Sheet for Players" found at usafootball.com with players and their parents
3) Teach athletes and parents that it is not safe to play with a concussion
a) Explain that it is not "courageous" nor does it show strength to play with a concussion
4) Prevent long-term problems
a) "When in doubt, sit them out." Keep athletes with known or suspected concussion off the field until an appropriate health care professional clears them to return. Returning to play must be a medical decision.
Signs & Symptoms of Concussion (Primary Source: CDC)
What a Coach Should Do When a Concussion is Suspected (Primary Source: CDC)
Observations made by Coaching Staff Symptoms reported by Athlete * Appears dazed or stunned * Headache or "pressure" in the head * Is confused about assignment or position * Nausea or vomiting * Forgets plays * Balance problems or dizziness * Unsure of game, score, or opponent * Double or blurry vision * Loses consciousness (even briefly) * Sensitivity to light or noise * Shows behavior or personality changes * Feeling sluggish, hazy, foggy, or groggy * Can't recall events prior or after the hit or fall * Concentration or memory problems
1) Remove the athlete from play
a) Look for signs and symptoms of concussion if an athlete experienced a bump or blow to the head
b) "When in doubt, sit them out" - athletes with signs or symptoms of concussion must not return to play
2) Ensure that the athlete is evaluated immediately by an appropriate health care professional
a) Do not try to judge the severity of the injury yourself
b) Coaches recording the following can help a health care professional in assessing the athlete:
i) Cause of the injury and the force of the hit or blow to the head
ii) Any loss of consciousness and if so, for how long
iii) Any memory loss or seizures immediately following the injury
iv) Number of previous concussions (if any)
3) Inform the athlete's parents/guardians of the possible concussion & and give them the concussion fact sheet for parents found on usafootball.com
a) Ensure that parents know the athlete must be seen by an appropriate healthcare professional
b) Provide formal documentation of the injury and notify the league commissioner
4) Allow the athlete to return to play only after an appropriate healthcare professional clears his or her return
a) A repeat concussion that occurs before the brain recovers from the first can slow recovery or increase the likelihood of having long-term problems
USA Football Educational Resources & Initiatives
EDUCATION
- USA Football Events: Knowing the game's fundamentals and how to teach them fosters positive football experiences
- USA Football Coaching Schools: youth coaches are instructed how to teach the sport's fundamentals properly
- USA Football Player Academies: youth players (aged 7-14) are taught proper football fundamentals
- USA Football State Leadership Forums: commissioners learn best practices, including insight on concussion
- All three of these events educate participants on important health and safety issues, including concussion awareness through CDC-authored material. USA Football stresses that athletes must not return to play until an appropriate healthcare professional clears them to do so.
- USA Football's Online Coaching Certification Program for Youth Tackle and Flag Football
- USA Football is adding concussion awareness content and quizzes to its online football coaching course by April 2010
- USA Football's concussion-related course content is created by its Football & Wellness Committee, the CDC, and the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA)
- USA Football's Football & Wellness Committee is composed of experts in several areas, including player health, hydration, and nutrition
- USA Football's coaching education course includes 11 chapter quizzes, each of which must result in an 80% score in order to advance to the succeeding chapter
- Youth league commissioners can track and confirm coaches' course completions
- More than 26,000 youth football coaches have completed this course since May 2008
- National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) "Fundamentals of Coaching Football" Course
- Produced by USA Football, this course teaches proper coaching fundamentals to America's high school football coaches
RULES
- USA Football Youth Football Rulebook
- USA Football has written a youth football rules book with assistance from the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) and the NFHS to establish important youth football standards
- The USA Football Youth Football Rulebook was distributed to more than 450 youth football league commissioners and beta-tested in 2009 in Northern Virginia. The rulebook will be available on a national basis in 2010.
RESEARCH
- Annual Participation and Player Health Studies
- USA Football continues youth football's most accurate participation study monitoring players, coaches, and teams
- USA Football will invest annually to execute a study to learn more about youth football injury rates and how they are affected by different standards of play (Age & Weight, Age and Grade-based)
CONTENT DISTRIBUTION IN 2010
- USA Football State Leadership Forums: educate 700-plus youth football league commissioners with CDC-authored material
- USA Football Coaching Schools: distribute and review CDC-authored material to more than 5,000 youth coaches
- Player Academies: distribute and review CDC-authored material with youth players and parents
- usafootball.com continues to share a range of important health and safety news for players, parents and coaches
