Preliminary Concussion Data Announced
December 9, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association this school year requested for the first time that member schools report possible concussions by their student-athletes during both practice and competition. Preliminary data from the fall season shows two percent of more than 100,000 high school athletes experienced concussions, and 27 percent of high schools responding reported that none of their athletes experienced concussions while participating in MHSAA sports.
The MHSAA received data from 744 – or 99 percent – of its member high schools at the end of the fall season. The average number of concussions reported by member high schools through Dec. 4, 2015, was 3.2 concussions per school. Fifty-two percent of reporting schools stated they had two or fewer concussions by athletes this fall.
Football, the fall season’s most-played sport with 39 percent of all fall participants, revealed 79 percent of all concussions reported for the season. Boys soccer, with nearly 14 percent of fall sport participants, revealed 11 percent of all concussions reported.
Data collected by the MHSAA remains preliminary, in part, because results noted include pending reports that have not been verified. After completion of these follow-up reports, the final number of concussions that actually occurred this past season may be lower than the preliminary numbers being reported at this time. The data analyzed to date is for high schools only, although middle schools also have the opportunity to report possible concussions. A full breakdown of the data including concussions by gender, sport, team level (varsity through junior high) and setting (practice or event) will be reported after the conclusion of the spring 2016 season.
The reporting of possible concussions is part of a three-pronged advance by the MHSAA in concussion care during the 2015-16 school year, all of which are producing data related to the frequency and severity of head injuries. The MHSAA this fall became the first state association to offer pilot sideline concussion testing, with 62 schools taking part in one of two programs. One of the objectives of the pilot programs was to increase awareness of concussions and improve sideline detection; and preliminary results indicate that the average number of possible concussions reported by pilot schools exceeds the average reported by schools outside the pilot group.
Of 36 schools reporting the most concussions this fall, 11 are part of the MHSAA’s pilot sideline detection programs. Those programs – King-Devick Test and XLNTbrain Sport – utilize technology to provide on-site testing of athletes who have sustained possible concussions, with results of those examinations then compared against baseline tests taken by athletes previously.
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. The program will produce additional data about the frequency and severity of head injuries. While it is still early, only 34 claims have been made on the insurance policy designed to assist in payment for concussion care. Twenty of the claims are for football, 11 for soccer.
“These three efforts combined are part of making our good programs better,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “We’re pleased to provide these services to our schools, and we anticipate having a comprehensive report after the end of the school year, with that data then used by the National Federation of State High School Associations and research institutions to continue to make our games safer.”
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.
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 for activity by a doctor (M.D. or D.O.), physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner.
“These pilot programs, and the reporting of potential concussions by all of our schools, have made administrators, coaches and athletes more aware of the possibility of concussions and the importance of immediate detection and care,” Roberts said. “Many of our schools have long had programs in place to detect concussions and provide care. The opportunities to test, report and receive financial assistance in the event of a concussion have encouraged all of our schools to consider additional ways to better care for their student-athletes.
“These latest in a long line of health and safety initiatives will establish a baseline, and eventually allow us to determine if we are making progress year-to-year in Michigan school sports in this critical area of health and safety.”
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.
Summit Academy North's McKoy to Bring Vast Experiences to MHSAA Staff
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 23, 2021
Will McKoy realized fairly early in his sports career at Northwest Halifax High School in Littleton, N.C., that he likely wouldn’t be picking up a college scholarship playing basketball or competing in track & field.
But he did figure out during those experiences what he wanted to do in college and after, thanks to the impact made on him by his basketball coach.
“He was the athletic director as well, and I thought that was the coolest job,” McKoy said. “From early on, when I was in high school, I knew that’s what I wanted to do – be a basketball coach and athletic director.”
McKoy got a taste of coaching while a student assistant from 2006-09 at Wayne State University. And when he graduated that spring, that’s what he figured he’d do next – teach physical education and coach basketball, landing a job at Detroit Henry Ford Academy School for Creative Arts. He would work toward landing an athletic director’s job eventually.
Two weeks after he was hired, and before school had even begun, eventually showed up – his new school needed an AD, and McKoy jumped in.
He learned quickly, and on the fly. And a decade later, his role in school sports has grown to include a statewide voice with an opportunity to make that level of impact daily, drawing on experiences as district athletic director, conference president, member of the MHSAA’s Representative Council as well as a Division I college football official and sergeant in the U.S. Army.
McKoy has been named to an assistant director’s position with the MHSAA, effective in mid-July. He will serve as the administrator for football and girls and boys basketball, among other responsibilities. He will be taking up many of the duties of current assistant director Nate Hampton, who will be retiring in July after 32 years on staff.
McKoy has served as district athletic director for Summit Academy North Schools in Romulus since 2011 after previously serving two years as athletic director at Henry Ford Academy. He also has served as president, vice president, and commissioner of multiple sports for the Charter School Conference, while working as an NCAA football official since 2009.
He has provided advocacy for schools statewide and perspective particularly from the Metro Detroit and charter school communities during his two years serving on the Representative Council, and those connections will continue to be valuable in his new role, as will his variety of past experiences.
“To me, the opportunity to affect change at the next level, and then working with a diverse group within the entire state – not just my niche, but the entire state – is exciting to me,” McKoy said. “Vitally for me, and I think part of the attraction of the position, was trying to figure out ways to bridge the gap between the suburbs, rural schools and city schools, particularly with some of the needs of the Detroit Public Schools and charter schools as well, trying to help them be successful with everything the MHSAA does to support those schools.”
Summit Academy North opened in 1996 for students grades K-5 and expanded instruction to include K-12 the following year, and athletics have increased their overall success substantially under McKoy.
He has increased the number of opportunities at all levels – notably with the creation of elementary intramurals and expansion of the middle and high school athletic program from 19 to a peak of 41 teams for grades 7-12, including 17 on the varsity level. Nine of those varsity teams have won a league title during his tenure. The baseball team has won eight conference championships with McKoy as AD, the softball team six and the boys cross country team last fall won its 10th-straight league title and sent a runner to the MHSAA Finals for the second-straight year.
The school’s boys basketball varsity advanced to the Division 2 Quarterfinals this season, after winning its first District and Regional championships. The football team has amassed its best four-year stretch (25-13), the bowling programs have sent at least one competitor to the Finals four straight seasons and the girls track & field team this spring won its first league title. The volleyball, girls soccer, boys soccer, girls cross country and wrestling teams also have won either a league or District title under his leadership of the department.
McKoy also oversaw the expansion of the Charter School Conference from eight to its current 16 member schools.
“We’re tremendously excited to have Will joining our staff,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “His background, experience and energy are something we are thrilled to have in our building.”
McKoy received his certified athletic administrator (CAA) designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) in 2014. He was named his region’s Athletic Director of the Year in 2019 by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). In addition to the MIAAA and NIAAA, McKoy is a member of the Michigan Collegiate Football Officials Association (MCFOA) and Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM).
His officiating experience has included working at the Division I level in the Mid-American Conference and Missouri Valley Conference. He also worked from 2014-16 and again during 2017-18 with the National Football League as an instant replay booth and field communicator and K-Ball coordinator.
McKoy is honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, having served as a human resources sergeant from 1999-2004 with assignments in Germany, Kuwait and also Iraq for 13 months during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 2009 from Wayne State University, and a master’s in sports administration from Wayne State in 2011.
McKoy is married to wife Terri McKoy and the father of sons William Jr. and Winston.
PHOTOS courtesy of William McKoy and Romulus Summit Academy North schools.