Logo

Counting Concussions

December 9, 2016

Member high schools of the Michigan High School Athletic Association are in the second year of required reporting of concussions that occur during practices and contests in all levels of all sports served by the MHSAA. In year one there were 4,452 confirmed concussions reported. Less than two percent of almost 300,000 participants sustained a concussion, about half of which caused the student to be withheld from activity for between five and 15 days.

Not surprisingly, approximately half of the confirmed concussions were reported by Class A schools, which typically sponsor more sports and have larger squads than smaller schools. Class B schools provided almost 30 percent of the reports; Class C schools nearly 15 percent; and Class D schools less than six percent.

As we transition from fall to winter season, we can begin to make comparisons between years one and two of the mandated reporting. At this point, schools are reporting 1.6 percent fewer concussions this year than last.

This is surprising, because sideline personnel of member high schools have become more alert to the signs and symptoms of concussions. We anticipated that this would lead to more concussions being reported.

It is possible that these early stats are a sign of real progress in reducing head injuries in school sports. And, grabbing our attention most from the early reports is that 11-player football is reporting 3.9 percent fewer concussions as of Nov. 30, 2016 compared to the same week in 2015; and boys soccer is reporting 10.9 percent fewer than on the same date last year.

Centennial Celebration

October 20, 2017

The National Federation of State High School Associations is preparing to celebrate its 100th year of service during the 2018-19 school year. It may be unfair to boil down to a few bullet points a century of contributions to school sports, but I make the attempt here – with the credentials that there has been a John E. Roberts heading up a National Federation member state organization for more than 60 of those years (my dad in Wisconsin for nearly 30 years, followed by my more than 31 years in Michigan).

Here, in my opinion, are the four greatest gifts of the National Federation to school sports in America:

  • In the late 1920s and 1930s, the National Federation’s leadership influenced the end of national high school tournaments. First four, then a dozen and then two dozen very young state high school associations, through their even younger National Federation, successfully challenged prestigious universities (like the University of Chicago) and the biggest names in college sports (like Amos Alonzo Stagg) who conducted national high school tournaments.

  • During the next decades, and one sport at a time, the National Federation assumed from the colleges and non-school organizations responsibility for writing the playing rules for high school level competition, intentionally crafting rules that promoted greater participant safety and much more ease of understanding and enforcement by contest officials. The National Federation now releases about 40 publications each year, serving 16 different sports.

  • At the start of the new millennium, the National Federation began its march to emerge as the nation’s most prolific provider of online education for coaches. The National Federation now has more than 50 different online courses available, including more than 20 free courses; and approximately five million courses have been delivered.

  • In 2013, the NFHS Network was launched to provide a digital broadcast home for state high school association tournaments and the School Broadcast Program. With more than 3,000 events produced each month now, this is the most effective platform in National Federation history for promoting the excitement, diversity and values of school-sponsored sports.