MHSAA Announces 2015-16 Concussion Data
September 12, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has completed an unprecedented yearlong collection of head injury reports from its member schools, mandated in 2015-16 for the first time as part of an effort to identify and reduce the incidence of those types of injuries in educational athletics.
The MHSAA requested that member schools report, by sport, possible concussions by their student-athletes during both practice and competition. Reporting for the 2016-17 school year is underway, and schools again are required to designate if potential concussions occurred during competition or practice and at which level – varsity, junior varsity or freshman.
The full report of all head injuries experienced during 2015-16 by student-athletes at MHSAA member high schools – including percentages by sport (per 1,000 participants), gender and team level, as well as data tracking when athletes returned to play – is available on the Health & Safety page of the MHSAA Website.
The MHSAA received data from more than 99 percent of its member high schools after the end of the fall, winter and spring seasons, and continued to track each injury report through its conclusion this summer. Member junior high and middle schools also were allowed, although not mandated, to report their potential head injuries; those findings are not part of the published report.
It is the hope that universities, health care systems and the National Federation of State High School Associations will take part in analyzing the data. The MHSAA will work, in particular, with Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports to explore these findings and their relation to possible changes and additions in coaches education.
“We know that school sports are safer than they’ve ever been, thanks to advances in equipment, increased and more complete coaches education and rules designed to bring higher levels of safety to both practices and competition,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “However, this unprecedented effort will allow us for the first time to set a baseline by which we can determine year-to-year progress as we work to reduce the incidence of head injuries in school sports, while providing questions we will seek to answer with assistance from our research partners.”
Student-athletes at MHSAA member high schools encountered during 2015-16 a total of 4,452 head injuries – or 5.9 per member school. Total participation in MHSAA sports for 2015-16 was 284,227 – with students counted once for each sport he or she played – and only 1.6 percent of participants experienced a head injury. Boys experienced 3,003 – or 67 percent – of those injuries, although boys participation in sports, especially contact sports, also was higher than girls.
More than half of head injuries – 54 percent – were experienced by varsity athletes. A total of 2,973 – or 67 percent – came in competition as opposed to practice. More than half took place during either the middle of practice or middle of competition as opposed to the start or end, and nearly 56 percent of injuries were a result of person-to-person contact. The largest percentage of athletes – 28 percent – returned to activity after 6 to 10 days, while 20 percent of those who suffered head injuries returned after 11-15 days of rest.
Not surprisingly, contact sports revealed the most head injuries. Ranking first was 11-player football with 49 head injuries per 1,000 participants, followed by ice hockey with 38 and 8-player football with 34. However, girls soccer was just behind with 30 injuries per 1,000 participants, and girls basketball ranked fifth with 29 injuries per 1,000.
A startling disparity in the number of reported head injuries suffered by girls and boys playing the same sports was the most significant finding revealed by the concussion reporting. Soccer, basketball and baseball/softball are played under identical or nearly identical rules, and in those sports females reported significantly more concussions than males playing the same or similar sport.
Female soccer players reported 30 concussions per 1,000 participants. Male soccer players, meanwhile, reported only 18 concussions per 1,000 participants. Female basketball players reported 29 concussions per 1,000 participants; male players reported 11. Softball players reported 11 concussions per 1,000 participants, and baseball players reported four per 1,000.
“Experts tell us that it’s not surprising that girls report more head injuries than boys. But we found it stunning how many more head injuries were reported for girls than boys,” Roberts said. “As we delve deeper into the data, we hope to identify what physiological, social and psychological factors may contribute to this disparity – and how we can better prepare school personnel and especially coaches to watch for over- or under-reporting.”
Schools report possible concussions online via the MHSAA Website. Reports are then examined by members of the MHSAA staff, who follow up with school administrators as those student-athletes continue to receive care and eventually return to play. Student privacy is protected.
The reporting of possible concussions is part of a three-pronged advance by the MHSAA in concussion care begun during the 2015-16 school year which is producing data related to the frequency and severity of head injuries. The MHSAA in fall 2015 launched the largest-ever state high school association sideline concussion testing pilot program, with 62 schools taking part by using one of two screening tests designed to detect concussions. One of the objectives of the pilot was to increase awareness of concussions and improve sideline detection, and results indicated that the average number of possible concussions reported by pilot schools exceeded the average reported by schools outside the pilot group. For the 2016-17 school year, 34 schools are taking part in one of the two pilot programs as the project was concentrated to include schools which were diverse in size and location and able to best conduct the pilots to completion. The pilots will focus on sports for which most concussions occur, according to the mandated reporting by all schools during the 2015-16 school year.
The MHSAA also is the first state association to provide all participants at every member high school and junior high/middle school with insurance intended to pay accident medical expense benefits – covering deductibles and co-pays left unpaid by other policies – resulting from head injuries sustained during school practices or competitions and at no cost to either schools or families. During 2015-16, a total of 159 claims were made – with more than half coming in football (55) or girls basketball (29).
Previously, the MHSAA also was among the first state associations to adopt a return-to-play protocol that keeps an athlete out of activity until at least the next day after a suspected concussion, and allows that athlete to return to play only after he or she has been cleared unconditionally for activity by a doctor (M.D. or D.O.), physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
Jacques to Receive Forsythe Award for Local Leadership, Peninsula & Statewide Service
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 1, 2024
Serving as athletic director at Michigan’s northernmost high school, Calumet’s Sean Jacques has impacted student-athletes not only in his community, but across the Upper Peninsula and all the way to the state’s southern borders as a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Representative Council. To recognize his far-reaching contributions across several leadership roles, Jacques has been selected as the 2024 honoree for the MHSAA’s Charles E. Forsythe Lifetime Achievement Award.
The annual award is in its 47th year and named after former MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe, the Association's first full-time and longest-serving chief executive. Forsythe Award recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contributions to the interscholastic athletics community at the local, regional and statewide levels. Jacques will be honored during the MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals on March 23 at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
A 1985 graduate of Calumet, Jacques taught for one year at Lansing Everett before returning to his alma mater in 1992, when he began teaching primarily technology and metal shop until becoming the athletic director and an assistant principal in 2008. He served in those administrative roles through the end of the 2021-22 school year and currently is an instructor for the Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw school district’s Upper Peninsula Virtual Academy.
During his tenure as athletic director, Calumet added junior varsity hockey, junior varsity and varsity softball, and varsity baseball, bowling and gymnastics teams. He led facility upgrades including the addition of a turf football field, new locker rooms and an additional gymnasium, creating a home not only for Copper Kings athletes and coaches but for those from all over the northern UP as Calumet is a frequent host of MHSAA District and Regional events plus Coaching Advancement Program (CAP) sessions.
Also under his direction, Calumet became the first Upper Peninsula school to join the MHSAA School Broadcast Program, and he created the high school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2016, Calumet became the only Upper Peninsula school to earn the prestigious Michigan Exemplary Athletic Program honor from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA).
“When I became athletic director, my goal was number one, we were going to run a classy program. We were going to do it right. We weren’t going to be lazy about anything, not take the easy road. I wanted to do right for the kids, the school district and the community,” Jacques said. “We went after a lot of different things. It’s very cliché, but we really did try to put kids first. Every decision we made, we always tried to make decisions with that in mind – what’s best for the kids – and worked hard to be innovative and try to run a quality, classy program.”
His impact hardly has been contained to the Keweenaw Peninsula. He served as president of both the Keweenaw Area Athletic Directors group and Upper Peninsula Athletic Directors Association from 2014-22, in addition to serving as commissioner for the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference from 2012-22 and the Great Lakes Hockey Conference from 2009-22. He began his tenure on the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee in 2014, when he also was first elected to the MHSAA Representative Council as the delegate for Class C and D schools in the Upper Peninsula. He is serving on the MHSAA’s Audit and Finance Committee currently, and will conclude his tenure on Council in December.
Jacques also served as an MIAAA regional representative for more than a decade and was named Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA in 2013 and 2016. The Upper Peninsula Athletic Directors Association named him its Upper Peninsula Athletic Director of the Year in 2019.
Jacques also currently is among eight mentors to new athletic administrators across the state as part of the MHSAA’s first-year AD Connection Program. In this role, Jacques directly works with 16 recently-hired athletic directors as they navigate the job’s many and various responsibilities.
“Sean Jacques brings knowledge of so many aspects of school sports, not only the work done day-to-day as an athletic director but as an innovator who developed an athletic department recognized and respected across the state,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “His community, the Upper Peninsula and Michigan as a whole continue to benefit from his dedication and leadership – and we’re fortunate he’s sharing that expertise with the next generation of athletic directors as part of our mentorship program.”
Jacques has contributed nearly as significantly on the field of play. He has been an MHSAA registered official for 35 years, in hockey for the entirety and adding track & field in 1994-95 and cross country in 2009-10. He officiated at the MHSAA Hockey Finals in 2016 and has served as a board member for the Copper Country Hockey Officials Association, including as its scheduler for 14 years. He has 40 years as a registered official with USA Hockey, serving as officiating supervisor for the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) for 20 years and as Michigan’s referee-in-chief from 2006-15, and he was a member of USA Hockey’s national instructor staff from 1997-2019. An accomplished college official as well, he worked in that capacity for more than 25 seasons, including 15 at the Division I level in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).
His time at Calumet has included stepping into many more roles to help provide student-athletes with the fullest possible experience. He served as public address announcer for football for 16 seasons and Calumet hockey for more than a decade. He also lent his voice to radio broadcasts for Calumet volleyball and coached freshman football at the school for two seasons.
Jacques has served on the boards for the Calumet Hockey Association, Calumet All-Sports Booster Club and Calumet High School Band Parents Club, the latter two as treasurer. He remains president of the Hall of Fame board.
“I’m a Calumet grad, and when you’re the athletic director at the school you’re from, I think it’s something a little bit different,” Jacques said. “You bleed the school colors and put that extra effort in because it’s home.”
Jacques played football as a student at Calumet and served as the hockey team’s student equipment manager as a senior. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial education in 1989 from Northern Michigan University, and then a master’s in educational administration from NMU in 2000. He received his certified master athletic administrator (CMAA) designation in 2020 from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) – becoming the only Upper Peninsula athletic director to achieve that accomplishment.
Jacques also has served his community as a volunteer firefighter since 1991 and as assistant fire chief since 1998.
Past recipients
1978 - Brick Fowler, Port Huron; Paul Smarks, Warren
1979 - Earl Messner, Reed City; Howard Beatty, Saginaw
1980 - Max Carey, Freesoil
1981 - Steven Sluka, Grand Haven; Samuel Madden, Detroit
1982 - Ernest Buckholz, Mt. Clemens; T. Arthur Treloar, Petoskey
1983 - Leroy Dues, Detroit; Richard Maher, Sturgis
1984 - William Hart, Marquette; Donald Stamats, Caro
1985 - John Cotton, Farmington; Robert James, Warren
1986 - William Robinson, Detroit; Irving Soderland, Norway
1987 - Jack Streidl, Plainwell; Wayne Hellenga, Decatur
1988 - Jack Johnson, Dearborn; Alan Williams, North Adams
1989 - Walter Bazylewicz, Berkley; Dennis Kiley, Jackson
1990 - Webster Morrison, Pickford; Herbert Quade, Benton Harbor
1991 - Clifford Buckmaster, Petoskey; Donald Domke, Northville
1992 - William Maskill, Kalamazoo; Thomas G. McShannock, Muskegon
1993 - Roy A. Allen Jr., Detroit; John Duncan, Cedarville
1994 - Kermit Ambrose, Royal Oak
1995 - Bob Perry, Lowell
1996 - Charles H. Jones, Royal Oak
1997 - Michael A. Foster, Richland; Robert G. Grimes, Battle Creek
1998 - Lofton C. Greene, River Rouge; Joseph J. Todey, Essexville
1999 - Bernie Larson, Battle Creek
2000 - Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo; Jerry Cvengros, Escanaba
2001 - Norm Johnson, Bangor; George Lovich, Canton
2002 - John Fundukian, Novi
2003 - Ken Semelsberger, Port Huron
2004 - Marco Marcet, Frankenmuth
2005 - Jim Feldkamp, Troy
2006 - Dan McShannock, Midland; Dail Prucka, Monroe
2007 - Keith Eldred, Williamston; Tom Hickman, Spring Lake
2008 - Jamie Gent, Haslett; William Newkirk, Sanford Meridian
2009 - Paul Ellinger, Cheboygan
2010 - Rudy Godefroidt, Hemlock; Mike Boyd, Waterford
2011 - Eric C. Federico, Trenton
2012 - Bill Mick, Midland
2013 - Jim Gilmore, Tecumseh; Dave Hutton, Grandville
2014 - Dan Flynn, Escanaba
2015 - Hugh Matson, Saginaw
2016 - Gary Hice, Petoskey; Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2017 - Chuck Nurek, Rochester Hills
2018 - Gary Ellis, Allegan
2019 - Jim Derocher, Negaunee; Fredrick J. Smith, Stevensville
2020 - Michael Garvey, Lawton
2021 - Leroy Hackley Jr., Byron Center; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2022 - Bruce Horsch, Houghton
2023 - Karen Leinaar, Frankfort
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
PHOTO Calumet athletic director Sean Jacques, second from left, presents the Class C girls basketball championship trophy to Copper Kings coach Jeff Twardzik in 2015.