Wellness Council Looks at Concussions in High School Sports

The Community Wellness Council of the Bellmores and Merricks held a presentation on Monday night at the Brookside Junior High School in North Merrick on the rising danger of concussions in girls lacrosse, as well as several other high school sports.

Legislator Dave Denenberg, D-Merrick, was on hand to voice his support of the council and the seriousness of their presentation.

"Whether it's P.A.L, little league, high school, middle school, college or professional sports, it's a huge issue, and that's why the Wellness Council is bringing this program here to you today," said Denenberg at the beginning of the evening. "… It's about all high school, all colleges, all participants, and how we protect ourselves. I want to thank the Wellness Council for doing this."

Emilio Manzo, president of the Wellness Council, introduced ESPN's video entitled "Unprotected." The video is about concussions in girls lacrosse. Helmets are not permitted in girls lacrosse, and this is where Manzo's argument begins.

"The protection of our children, that's the bottom line," said Manzo of what the council's goal was. "In lacrosse, if we don't protect the girls and their heads they say that the rise of concussion is 30-40 percent and very year it's just going to get higher."

In the video, two sisters talk about their struggles since receiving concussions while playing lacrosse. There is also a section of the video that includes an interview with the President of U.S. Lacrosse, Steve Stenersen, where he says that helmets would not solve the problem.

"When I first saw this, to say that I was shocked and appalled is the least to say," Manzo said. "…"In my opinion, they should have helmets."

Fran Licausi, executive director of the Wellness Council, agreed that the installation of helmets in girls lacrosse in a necessary step to protect the young athletes playing the sport.

"The helmet is very important," she said. "… You're going to have some injuries, but the helmet might help a little bit. It's going to help both the boys and the girls."

She added: "Girls are starting to play rough just like the boys. We want to get the word out to try and prevent this. [We want] to get the girls some extra protection too for playing sports."

After the video, Manzo brought two lacrosse players out on stage – a boy and a girl. The differences between the two were immediately noticeable. The boy wore elbow pads, a chest guard, a helmet and gloves. The girl only wore an eye guard, which is the only protection girls are permitted to wear.

Stephene Morena, an affiliate of the Jacobi Medical Center, the LIJ Cohen's Children Medical Center, and the Winthrop University Hospital, spoke about the brain and its vulnerability in any sport.

Morena discussed the symptoms of a concussion, the different types of concussions, how to evaluate whether or not a person has suffered a concussion and the overall results of a concussion.

"All of the kids should really wear helmets," Morena said. "… Any kind of head injury can hurt the kid. I don't see why they don't use them."

The information from the presentation sparked interest from audience members, as during the Q&A session one man asked, "You'd give your daughter a helmet to ride a bicycle wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you in sports?"

The growing concern of concussions and injuries, not just in girls lacrosse, but in all sports, centers around one underlying goal: the safe of our young athletes.

"A lot of kids are getting concussions in a lot of sports, not only the girls but the boys too. … We want the kids to be safe," Licausi said. "We don't want facial injuries and we don't want head injuries."