22 Feb Hockey Concussions on the Rise
Hockey concussions: on the rise or is our awareness increasing?
Go into any rink and you will see a similar pattern, dismal faces on hockey parents that should be at the rink to be social and enjoy watching their children grow through the great sport of hockey. Perhaps they are genuinely trying to enjoy themselves in a sport with so much uncertainty in the area of safety. It’s tough to smile when shift by shift, there is a high probability your little “Johnny” could get badly injured.
Looking at the recent media frenzy around hockey concussions, it is easy to see that the incidence of head injuries in hockey is definitely on the rise. But a deeper look into the issue points at a definite paradigm shift in how we feel about our national past time.
Rock ’em Sock ’em sales are down, people have tried on more than one occasion to lynch Don Cherry; times are definitely changing! There is a pretty strong uprising of parents and fans that believe hockey needs to be safer. Body contact had been changed from 9 to 11 years of age, there’s been talk of taking fighting out of the game, and now the media frenzy is on protecting players against concussions! The stories definitely don’t start or end with Ethan Thompson and Zachary Ace Nuttall, 2 young players who’s hockey concussions were featured in the Toronto Star. There are players all over the country who are experiencing symptoms and being diagnosed weekly! Facts are facts: people want change, but there is no need to panic. Injury has no place in the game, but as with everything there is always an element of risk. The key is not to overall the game, but to find ways to minimize the element of risk.
Perhaps minimizing this comes in the form of improved body contact clinics in the critical Atom-Minor Peewee transition years. Maybe it involves a deeper focus on getting the associations to better train their coaches! Either way, we are interested in hearing FROM YOU AS TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE THE NEXT STEP WILL BE!
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