New Jersey Proposal Aims to Protect High School Athletes

High school athletes in New Jersey may have further protection from the long term effects of a traumatic brain injury.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) has proposed a new regulation that will require athletes who sustain a concussion to get a certified physician's approval before returning to the sport.

Schools that do not comply with the NJSIAA regulation could face serious sanctions, including the risk of dismissal from the state athletic association. Although it may remove athletes from play for a short period, the new regulation is designed to protect the health of the student athletes.

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), including concussions, are serious injuries that currently do not have a cure. Although concussions are one of many types of TBIs, frequent head injuries can make individuals more concussion prone, which may impact his or her health as they grow older.

Sports-related injuries impact younger athletes whose brains are still in the development stages thus, these injuries can ultimately affect an individual's cognitive and emotional development.

Close to 20 percent of high school athletes experience a brain injury each year.

Furthermore, trainers, coaches and athletes will be required to attend annual head injury training that focuses on symptom recognition. Parents will also receive educational material prior to the start of each sports season.

Under the new guidelines, students will not be allowed to return to the sport for at least a week without exhibiting symptoms from a prior head injury. The National Football League updated a similar guideline which now prevents athletes from returning to a game after sustaining a head injury.

The NFL's change of policy in addition with several high profile brain injuries sustained by Olympic athletes has shed light on the risk of permanent damage from a head injury.

New Jersey is one of many nationwide efforts to protect student athletes from brain injury effects. Under the Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act, or ConTACT Act, schools would have the financial resources available to prevent, diagnose and treat concussions and other head injuries that occur during sporting events.

The Center for Disease Control reports that a traumatic brain injury occurs every 23 seconds in the United States, some of which are serious enough to end a promising student athlete's career indefinitely before they graduate high school.

The organization is expected to adopt the regulation by the end of April 2010.


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