Sport

A proportionate high number of injuries have been sustained during scholastic sporting activities. The greatest challenge has been identifying athletes who could be suspects with injuries. injuries to the head are known have serious consequences due to concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries resulting from them.

The use of two approaches which are Standard Assessment of Concussion and the Balance Error Scoring System has been reliable only as a post cognitive tool of assessment. This has necessitated the use of different biomechanical variables that would give informed results for concussion assessments at this level of sporting.

Methodology
This study was carried out in a single central Illinois high school. Data was collected from a group of 35 participants. Samples were drawn from all levels of a varsity population. Variables like age, height, and mass, year of study, primary position and helmet age were also noted prior to onset of data collection. 32 of the athletes used a new or 1-yerar-old Riddell Revolution helmet (RiddellAll American, Elyria, OH) with a HITS encoder fitted inside in all sessions. The rest had their helmets without a decoder. However, the look and function between the two kinds of helmets was identical (Broglio, et al, 2009). The encoder recorded any impact subjected to it and transmitted it to a sideline computer for clinical use and data storage for later analysis. The limit of computer was 137m (150 yards). The computer then processed data using novel algorithm to determine the location and magnitude of each impact on the head.

Unnecessary impacts such as throws, dropping, and swinging of one helmet against another were discarded from data.  Data available contained information regarding to peak linear acceleration, rotational acceleration (from x- and y- axis angular accelerations), impact location, and date and time of the impact. All the analysis were completed using SPSS with a statistical significance set at P.01 based on the results from the study (Broglio, et al, 2009).

Results
Out of a total of 19224 impacts 82 impacts were discarded as they were found to be legitimate. The following observations were made. First, there was no notable difference among the players age, height and helmet age. A notable difference was noted in players mass and head mass between offensive and defensive skill players (Broglio, et al, 2009).

Discussion
The study provides a statistical analysis of variables that describes head impacts during interscholastic football athletics. The mean linear acceleration resulting from impacts recorded during scholastic games (24.76g) and practices (23.6g) was found to exceed that reported at collegiate level (22.25) across all session types. Impacts on the top of the head resulted in greatest linear acceleration. This increased magnitude may result in a potent injury in high school athletes. This is a worth noting revelation considering that, more than 50 of these athletes has no access to medical coverage (Broglio, et al, 2009). Emphasis on safe tackling techniques can reduce the risk of concussions and serious cervical spine injuries.  The study recommends for further study of head impacts resulting in concussions. During such study, it would be of importance to focus on the playing time and skill level of athletes.

 Personal opinion
Our bodies are self aware of any impacts and resultant impacts that happen to them. However, these shocks must not be of high intensity as such shocks could be injurious to our body. During a football activity such as the one under study, there is self- awareness of what is going on at the surrounding which makes the body be in a state of readiness to any impact.  A human body has a great mechanism of deciphering pain caused by impacts and any impact that does not make the body aware of its existence is as minor as its effects. The study ignores the causes of unreported cases of concussive impacts such as fatigue on muscles due to exhaustion. The study could have been broad enough to give necessary information about how these impacts happen. Such information would in turn have determined the location and magnitude of impact.
This study had a loophole in the way it collected its data. In actual fact, the act of recruiting participants of the study was a wrong start. This is because participants were not supposed to be self-aware that their actions during exercise sessions and actual game activities were being monitored. The criterion used in choosing participants of the study whether voluntary or selective is not well defined.   This study could have used methods that would involve non-cognitive approaches. By letting them know of an existing study on the number of impacts on their heads, they may have shifted their attention more on the impacts than the actual sporting activity. This may have consequentially have given a higher number of results than it could have been in a normal sport.  Use of variables such as player position was in no doubt bound to give varied results.  This is mainly because the player position determines the level of activity and energy input during sporting activity.

It is self evident that, Sporting event is bound to produce most instances of impacts due to the increased level of activity. There has been known to be some cases of impacts that are as a result of intended foul-play by opposing player. One cannot be sure if there were instances where the player out of his consciousness avoided impacts.  The resultant linear or rotational acceleration could not necessarily be linked to the impact occurred. This is because players are sometimes known to foresee an impact and they in turn swings away to avoid the impact. Such swings would result in small impacts but a resultant high linear or angular acceleration. The resultant accelerations would also have resulted from a reflex action of the body to the impact other than force due to impact.

The study failed to cover the most important and crucial part. The omission of cause of impacts in interscholastic football athletes negates the purpose of study.  If previous reports had proved that such impacts had resultant linear and rotational accelerations, why would the study omit the inclusion of their causes It would have been worth finding the reason behind high number of consequential scholastic impacts than just mounting figures without a justification of why such incidents happened.

In conclusion, the study compared its findings with those of collegiate and professional football levels. In contrary, the swiftness of a player and ability to cause or ovoid impact is dependent on the experience and tactfulness of a player. At scholastic level, players are still at a training stage and they cannot be compared with those at collegiate and professional football levels.