Please review these facts from published research papers on concussions in soccer and sports in general and respond to Question 7.
• Soccer is the #1 sport for reported concussions among female youth athletes.
• Any child who has had one concussion, or certainly 2, is at much greater risk of sustaining another than a player who has never had one.
• 70-85% of concussions are from normal run of play: collisions, falls, accidents at the goal, knees, etc. Heading accounts for only 15 to 30% of concussions depending on who is speaking or the study cited.
• Younger players take longer to recover from a concussion than older players. (Don’t be in a hurry to get your child back in school!)
• Girls are more likely to get a concussion in soccer than boys.
• Vision problems have been commonly reported in children with concussions and can lead to academic difficulty.
• Damage to the brain caused by concussion can last for decades after the original head trauma.