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.
2017 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 20, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2016-17 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, celebrating its 28th anniversary, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 704 scholarships have been awarded.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships will be awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification, and could have more than one finalist. New Boston Huron has three finalists this year. Seventeen schools each have two finalists: Blissfield, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Coldwater, Dearborn Divine Child, Detroit Catholic Central, Edwardsburg, Gladwin, Greenville, Ishpeming, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, Midland Dow, Pewamo-Westphalia, Saline, Sault Ste. Marie, Sturgis, Watervliet and Yale.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.63, while the average of the application pool was 2.18. There are 72 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but one of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 409 schools which submitted applicants, 52 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,515 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the Scholar-Athlete page of the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 70-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 7, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 14 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 21. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 25, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
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.
2016-17 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Trevor Roznowski, Alpena
Jordan George-Nwogu, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Nathan Jones, Battle Creek Lakeview
Jonah Kamoo, Birmingham Groves
Ben Williams, Birmingham Seaholm
Andrew R Twiford, Byron Center
Eric Bach, Coldwater
Kameron Miller, Coldwater
CJ Baird, Detroit Catholic Central
Jackson Ross, Detroit Catholic Central
Justin Beemer, Fenton
Steven Stine, Fraser
Dominic LaJoie, Gaylord
Drew VanAndel, Grand Haven
Michael Gumbko, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Connor K Fischer, Grandville
Michael Visscher, Holland
Tyler Opdycke, Livonia Churchill
Varun R Shanker, Midland Dow
Gary R O'Brien III, Riverview
Aidan Carichner, Saline
Connor Bryant Meehan, Saline
Matthew J Polzin, Sturgis
Andrew Long, White Lake Lakeland
GIRLS CLASS A
Kaitlyn Coons, Cedar Springs
Lindsay Duca, East Grand Rapids
Sarah Kurpiers, Farmington Hills Mercy
Jocelyn Prinz, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Paige Hallock, Greenville
Landon Kemp, Greenville
Amber Nicole Manitowabi-Huebner, Marquette
Alex Wilkinson, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg
Caroline Szabo, Midland Dow
Jordan Walker, Muskegon Mona Shores
Emma Streveler, New Baltimore Anchor Bay
Alexa Scroggie, New Boston Huron
Elizabeth Stockert, New Boston Huron
Allissa Wight, New Boston Huron
Katelyn Jones, Owosso
Jalynn Byers, Petoskey
Mackenzie Carano, Pinckney
Sydney Asuncion, Rochester
Allyson Faulkner, Rockford
Harmony Groves, Sturgis
Maggie Dutmers, Traverse City Central
Hunter Kehoe, Traverse City West
Nikki Sorgi, Utica Ford
Aubrey Fetzer, Warren Cousino
BOYS CLASS B
Brayden Huddleston, Benzie Central
Tait Morrissey, Big Rapids
Michael Bian, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Michael J Gussert, Cadillac
Christopher A Roush, Chelsea
Collin Lieber, Croswell-Lexington
Evan Latham, Dearborn Divine Child
Adam Kozinski, Edwardsburg
Patrick Johns, Marine City
Richard Dominick Reo III, Paw Paw
Brendan Gered Fraser, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Ryley Alaspa, Sault Ste. Marie
Ryan Sanderson, Sault Ste. Marie
Josef Hissom, Spring Lake
Andrew D Marten, Tecumseh
Cade Smeznik, Yale
GIRLS CLASS B
Emma Nowak, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Michel Faliski, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Jasmine Harper, Clare
Madeline Filiatraut, Dearborn Divine Child
Sasha Hartje, Detroit Country Day
Noelle Kraus, Edwardsburg
Peyton Rellinger, Gladwin
Lindsey Shearer, Gladwin
Erika Freyhof, Hamilton
Morgan Colling, Houghton
Haley Heldt, Midland Bullock Creek
Megan Aalberts, Otsego
Raechel K McKiernan, Richmond
Kylie Hutchinson, Shepherd
Kim Anh Nguyen, Wyoming Kelloggsville
Gabrielle Smith, Yale
BOYS CLASS C
Clark Brady, Bad Axe
Spencer Fisher, Blissfield
Jonathan Lutchka, Grass Lake
Sam Bailey, Harbor Springs
Ashok Ravindran, Ishpeming
Joe Rigling, Leroy Pine River
Alexander Dixon, Madison Heights Bishop Foley Catholic
Jacob Shoop, Mason County Central
Bryce J Thelen, Pewamo-Westphalia
Nicholas Hammond, Riverview Gabriel Richard
Tyler Brant, Watervliet
Cameron Rendo, Watervliet
GIRLS CLASS C
Kelsey Wyman, Blissfield
Madeline Wu, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett
Khora Swanson, Ishpeming
Hope Baldwin, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
Quinn Epkey, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
Keilene Renae Elmer, Lincoln Alcona
Bailey Downs, Munising
Maysa Sitar, Newberry
Mary Hoopes, North Muskegon
Brenna Wirth, Pewamo-Westphalia
Sidney Linck, Ravenna
Madison Bryce, St. Charles
BOYS CLASS D
Jacob Single, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Jacob Martin, Athens
Richard Steffan, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
Elijah Newton, Central Lake
Jace Feldpausch, Fowler
Brian A Price, Mio
Nicholas Morgenstern, Muskegon Catholic Central
Seth Polfus, Powers North Central
GIRLS CLASS D
Rachel Hiveley, Au Gres-Sims
Allyson Richards, Fruitport Calvary Christian
Alexa Destrampe, Lake Linden-Hubbell
Jade Sibley, Marcellus
Mary Leighton, Mendon
Alexis McConnell, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart
Grace Alvesteffer, Pentwater
Rhiley Hubert, Rapid River