Jul 17, 2018Concussions Concern for Girls’ Soccer
A recent study found that girls’ soccer players are at the greatest risk of concussions, even more than football players.
According to the News Chief, the study, conducted by Wellington Hsu, Michael S. Schallmo and Joseph a. Weiner of Northwestern University, found that 300,000 adolescents suffer concussions every year. Concussions comprise 27 percent of all injuries in girls’ soccer, compared to 24 percent in football.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to report that concussions now account for a higher proportion of injuries in girls soccer than boys football,” the researchers said. “By identifying differences in the proportion and rate of concussions in high school sports, this study may help to inform future work aimed at examining specific risk factors and developing targeted measures to reduce concussion incidences.”
Sergio Quintana, football coach for the Rams, said that according to a Washington Post article, football has more concussions for the number of games played compared to soccer, but said concussions are a significant problem for girls’ soccer.
“Just the other day my daughter was out with a concussion playing club soccer,” he said. “Not all players in soccer have a lot of playing experience, don’t know how to fall, it’s all new to them dealing with the challenges of soccer. A lot of kids hit their head on the turf and end up with a concussion or a ball is hit into their face.”
Quintana pointed out a Washington Post article that said if you compared in games played, football has more concussions than soccer, but agrees it is a serious problem in girls.
Kyle Niblett, Public Relations Specialist for the Florida High School Athletic Association, said his organization had a concussion protocol in place, and tried to educate coaches about how best to handle concussions.
“I think the education and the protocol is good, I don’t know if there is that much more FHSAA can do,” he said. “Referees maybe could call tighter games. I would like to see a tighter game called.”