Concussions In Sports Essay

Over the past decade, soccer has been becoming an even more popular sport than it once was. With this popularity though, comes a greater chance for injury. Most soccer-related injuries include ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tears or meniscus tears, but there is a much more dangerous injury making up “22% of the total injuries in football” (Al-Kashmiri 189). Note, that in this instance, and many more, “football” is referring to the non-American term for soccer. A concussion, defined by Monica E. Maher, is “a complex pathophysiological process, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces” (271). Since soccer is a growing popular sport, especially in young children, there are many ways for amateur players to get injured. Many ignorant people view concussions as a simple headache, but they are so much more. Not only do concussion cause physical pain, but they can also be responsible for causing psychological damage. In her book,
Since children are younger than adults, their skulls are not as strong. This means that their brains are not as protected as the brain of an adult. One doctor, Dr. Lyle Micheli “recommends that no child under the age of 14 head a soccer ball” (Broglio 31). Not only will this help reduce the risk of concussion in younger athletes, but it well help them to keep the ball on the ground, which will inevitably help their foot skills. Not only that, but it will also help to prevent second-impact syndrome and CTE. Second-impact syndrome happens when an athlete returns to play too quickly, which leaves their brain vulnerable to injury. It doesn’t take a big force to impact a second injury on the brain while it is healing; rather, the smallest force can injury the brain just as much during the healing process. Another hit to the head will cause a second concussion, but the damages of this second-impact syndrome are “severe and irreversible” (Parks