BEVERLY HILLS, Mich. – Baseline testing – a combination of memory, reaction time, attention and stress assessments – is done in major pro sports because it is considered an objective and individualized tool to help decide whether to remove an athlete from a game.
The NCAA recommends baseline testing of all college athletes. While all states have laws that address preventing concussions in youth sports, many are weak and none require baseline testing.
Schools typically don’t argue with the benefit of testing, but cash-strapped districts often say the cost of offering such programs is prohibitive.
Michigan found the seed money to make it happen this year, taking $10,000 primarily from playoff gate profits.
“The schools that are engaged in the pilot program are learning more about sideline detection and making smarter removal-from-play decisions, “ said Jack Roberts, Michigan High School Athletic Association executive director. “We know they are removing players at a higher rate than schools who are not involved in our pilot programs.”
Health and safety advocates fear concussions often go undetected in high schools because of inconsistent protocols at districts unwilling or unable to spend money for detection.
It’s often on players to self-report concussions, or on coaches, who have many responsibilities and sometimes little training, to recognize symptoms.
The National Federation of State High School Associations says the only state association doing anything similar to Michigan is Mississippi, though that program covers far fewer schools and only football.
Many sideline concussion-testing programs are on the market at different price points. Michigan is testing the Illinois-based King-Devick Test affiliated with the Mayo Clinic and Maryland-based XLNTbrain Sport. The association provides them for free to the schools this year and next. Long term, Roberts thinks the association could fund it in part with a $3 to $5 fee per student.
The association expects to spend $20,000 next year to continue the program, Roberts said. He would like to see legislators assist, especially for poorer school districts, but the association is also working to get grants.
Steven Broglio, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and director of its NeuroTrauma Research Laboratory, co-authored a study that recommends such protocols at schools. It also urges hiring full-time athletic trainers to attend games and practices, something also recommended recently by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
He supports the school’s efforts, but with caution about the program’s ability to be widely applied.
“I’m a little concerned that they’re saying here’s a package that a coach, parent, anybody can use and that that’s good enough,” Broglio said. “Coaches are there to coach the team. They’re not necessarily there to manage medical injuries or medical conditions. Parents may or may not have the training depending on what their background is. “
The school in the Detroit suburb of Beverly Hills employs a full-time athletic trainer. Nationwide, just one-third of high schools have one, Broglio said.
