New Minnesota Law Raises Concussion Awareness, Aims to Reduce Injuries

Editor's Note: This story is part of a three-part series examining the new state law on sports-related concussions in Minnesota youth sports. The series was reported by John Hageman, Richfield Patch Editor Caitlin Burgess, and edited by Regional Sports Coordinator Mark Remme.

Within the last decade, both sons of Minnesota state Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka) suffered severe concussions while playing sports.

One, who ran head-on into another baseball player at home plate, had lingering effects for a year and a half, making it hard to concentrate in school. The other, who suffered an injury while playing football, had to give up the sport.

My son “would just keep repeating phrases,” Bonoff said. “He sounded like Rain Man. It was very scary. We didn’t know what was going on.”

Now, a new state law co-authored by Bonoff, should make students, parents and coaches more aware of the dangers that concussions present to young athletes—and not just in football. Gov. Mark Dayton’s signature on the bill in late May came during a period of increased awareness of sports-related concussions nationwide.

The law went into effect for high school athletics in mid-August and for youth sports Sept. 1 and according to Todd Olson, ’s athletic director and head football coach, Richfield had an easy transition since it had already implemented a concussion management system five years ago.

“The program is funded by the [] boosters and private donations,” he said. “And it’s available to all athletes, regardless of the sport.”

Best of all, Olson said: “We’re building some data ... [and] I can tell you the number of head injuries have been greatly reduced over the last two years as a result [of our efforts].”

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that changes the way the brain functions and is often caused by a blow to the head, according to Heather Bergeson, a sports medicine physician at the TRIA Orthopedic Center in Minneapolis. In Minnesota athletics, football is the leading cause of concussions, but head injuries are common in all forms of competition.

Olson said that the district’s coaches and trainers all completed the necessary training quickly and had no issues going into the school year.

“The only issue was the implementation of the bill was ‘right now,’” he said. “ But I think most districts in Minnesota did a tremendous job of getting their certifications … Our coaches and officials did a phenomenal job.”
          
What the law means for youth sports:

• Information about concussions should be made available to high school and youth league coaches, officials, athletes and their parents. This is intended to help everyone involved in sports become more aware of concussions, so parents such as Bonoff can better deal with the injury.
• Coaches and officials participating in organized sports programs must complete an online training exercise provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which discusses the risks, treatment and potential effects of sports concussions.            
• A player who has been removed from a sport with a possible concussion must be examined by a physician, and must be certified as having no symptoms of the concussion before returning to the sport. This is meant to reduce the frequency of second concussions before an athlete recovers from the first, which can cause more damage.

“How many concussions is too many? We don’t know,” said Heather Bergeson, a sports physician at the TRIA Orthopaedic Center. “We do know that youth tend to develop more long-term symptoms than adults.”