A lot of good work is being done to educate parents and coaches about preventing athletic head injruies. A new documentary called Head Games blows a loud whistle to remind us that there is much more work to do..
From the Head Games website:
Inspired by events from the book Head Games written by former Ivy League football star and WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski, and featuring interviews with Nowinski, Bob Costas (NBC Sports), Keith Primeau (NHL All-Star), Cindy Parlow Cone (Olympic Gold Medalist, Women’s Soccer), and many more, HEAD GAMES exposes viewers to one of the leading public health issues of our time, raising the question: “How much of you are you willing to lose for a game?”
From the New York Times:
Steve James’s troubling new documentary, “Head Games,” reckons some of the terrible costs of modern American sports culture. Focusing on football, hockey and women’s soccer, the film looks at the widespread incidence of head injuries that threaten the well-being of competitors at every level, from youth leagues to the pros. Recent neurological research suggests that even mild and infrequent concussions can have terrible long-term consequences. Repeated impact, of the kind that is routine in football, especially, can lead to dementia and severe psychological disorders.
Guiding us through this grim medical information is Christopher Nowinski, a former Harvard defensive lineman who went from the Ivy League to professional wrestling. He is now the public face of an institute at Boston University specializing in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a brain disease that is believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head, and that seems to occur with alarming frequency among athletes.
Please check out Head Games. It might help you save a life.