TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j a n / f e b 2 0 1 7 27 O n the evening of Aug. 25, 2016, the St. John's Mavericks junior varsity football team faced off against the Concordia Lutheran Crusaders in the first game of the season. It was a muggy 82 degrees on Skip Lee Field at St. John's School in Houston, as the junior varsity cheer squad pumped up the students and family members in the stands. A few minutes into the first quarter, the Mavericks quarterback threw an interception that was picked up by the Crusaders' defense. Freshman Luke Venus, a Mavericks offensive guard, chased after the player who retrieved the ball. But before he could go in for the tackle, another player rushed him for the block. In that split second, approximately 1,600 pounds of tackling force hit Luke as the two players' helmets collided. Luke, at 5'11" and 190 pounds, closed his eyes and flinched at the moment of impact. When he opened his eyes, he was still standing and ready to play. But the unseen damage to his brain was done. He powered through the game, playing both sides of the ball as an offensive left guard and defensive tackle. He felt fine until he and his team- mates returned to the locker rooms after the game. "When I was getting out of my uniform and getting into the showers, I started getting this really bad headache," Luke recalled. "I told my teammates, and they were joking, 'You better watch out. You might have a concussion.' I was making jokes, like, 'I don't have a concussion. There's no way. My head is rock hard.'" But by the time Luke returned home, he began experiencing an onslaught of symptoms. His headache turned quickly into a migraine. He started feeling dizzy and nauseous, and began vomiting almost immediately. The joke was a reality: Luke had a concussion. Hard knocks Concussions are a type of brain injury caused by a sudden impact or blow to the head or body that rattles the brain inside the skull. This damages brain cells and causes a chemical imbalance within the cells that disrupts blood flow and impairs the brain's ability to absorb oxygen and glucose, two essential energy sources for proper brain function. While it can take days or weeks for the brain to regain its chemical equilibrium, people suffering from concussions can experience symptoms that include mental confusion, disorientation, head- aches, nausea and sensitivity to light and noise. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics examined concussions in football players ages 5 to 23, using samples of players from youth, high school and college levels. In the 2012 and 2013 seasons, nearly 22 percent of the reported concussions came from collegiate football and nearly 12 percent from youth levels. More than 66 percent of the concussions were sustained from high school football. Why? Ambitious and overzealous student athletes are driven to succeed in hopes of scoring an athletic scholarship. Some high school football players are not as muscular as others, and size disparities give larger athletes an unfair advan- tage over smaller players. In addition, teams with a shortage of talent may require players to play both offensive and defensive positions. That was the case for Luke. "My theory is, playing both sides of the ball caused the players to become tired more quickly and, when they got tired, they started dropping and leading with their heads and started hitting with improper technique," said Jimmy Roton, Jr., director of sports medicine at St. John's School. "You can buy all the helmets you want, but if kids are not hitting properly and safely … then the problem is just going to keep on going." With high concussion rates affecting a large population of high school football players, law- makers and medical experts are pushing to make football safer for young student athletes. In 2011, Natasha's Law went into effect in Texas, requiring coaches and athletic trainers to take a two-hour training course on concussion protocol, including how to identify and react to concussions. The state law also requires a physician to approve students to return to play. Previously, coaches were allowed to clear players for practice or games as long as they were free of symptoms for 15 minutes post-incident. "We are working on reducing the number of concussions with better helmet equipment, neck strengthening, education and rule changes. But are we there yet? No," said Kenneth Podell, Ph.D., director of the Houston Methodist Concussion Center and neuropsychological consultant for the Houston Texans, Houston Astros, Houston Dynamos, Houston Dash and Rice University Athletics. (continued) Before I had my concussion, I would make jokes with my friends about it and say that it's only mental. But after this incident, I've realized how severe this can be and how it can really impact your life and your future. — LUKE VENUS St. John's School freshman and junior varsity football player Tackling Concussions in High School HEAD GAME b y S h a n l e y C h i e n

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