Imagine a small rubber disk hitting you with no protection, well many years ago, the National Hockey League goaltenders underwent many challenges to help improve the game to what it is today. They helped to go from no helmets, to some high protection face masks. Improved the old straight edge wooden sticks, into some curved foam core sticks. And even went from thin foam pads, to a thin shock absorbing leg protection. despite the old unproductive equipment, today there are new ways of protecting a goalie, goalie equipment has evolved because the equipment today is a has been improved a lot better than what it was before.…
The new rules in the National Football League are changing the way the game is being played and the way it affects the players. One of the many ways it affects the players is benefiting their health, and that’s why most of the new rules are added into the NFL. There is an average of 128 concussions per year and about nine concussions per week. There are positive ends and negative ends of the whole situation that can make the game boring for the players and also the spectators. This also makes the game safer for the players in their long-term life from their kids to their own health. The NFL could be changing for the better, or for the worse of it.…
The Globe and Mail’s editorial, “The NHL’s Concussion Quandary”(2015), speaks out regarding the level of long-term harm professional hockey players are enduring due to the lack of guidelines when it comes to concussion protocol. Coming from a hockey family, with professional connections, one must consider what goes on between the players, trainers, coaches, general managers, and everyday fans being the issue not the regulations of the league. “The NHL’s Concussion Quandary” is finding players returning to the game too soon a pressing problem, what the outside eye doesn’t see is the player “sucking it up” to receive their pay check and bonuses. Although their main talent lies on the ice, professional hockey players have skill when it comes to…
The N.F.L created the head, neck, and spine committee with the intention of diagnosing, preventing, and treating any N.F.L football player that sustains an injury, including concussions. However, concussions remain a major issue happening in the football world and players continue to remain affected by them. In fact during the 2015 pre and regular season games, 271 players sustained concussions, making it a 31.6 increase from 2014 (Breslow). This set of statistics proves that the concussion crisis continues to increase because each year more players continue to become affected by concussions. Furthermore, it tells people that concussions don’t only happen in regular games, but during pre season games as well. In addition concussions regularly occur in highschool and little league football. As a matter of fact, around 47% of concussions occur in high school students (Sports). Which represents one of the highest percentages among other high school sports. This again proves that concussions do not only happen in the major leagues. The N.F.L also plays a major rule in these outside leagues. The New York Times stated, “the league’s public position could influence other levels of football because many college, high school and youth leagues take their cues…
Current National Hockey League Commissioner, Gary Bettman has asked many inquiring questions to the governing body of the league along with the general managers of all thirty teams on how to handle this delicate issue. Hockey is a collision sport, not just a contact sport. Rough contact is an essential part of the game. Hockey is also an extremely fast game. During the General Manager meetings in March of 2011 Bettman was quoted, “A full 14 percent of N.H.L. concussions are caused by “legal head shots”; i.e., north-south hits…
The reality of games related concussions has started a culture change, as prove by campaigns to teach athletes, mentors, doctors, and guardians of young athletes about concussion; by manage changes intended to decrease the danger of head injury; and by the order of enactment intended to secure youthful athletes associated with having a concussion.…
The National Hockey League is one of the most intense and aggressive leagues in the world. The NHL is home to the best professional hockey players in the world; professionals who perform every night for their teammates, coaches, and especially their fans. This is a league where every night players risk their bodies being knocked to the ice and punched in the face by their opponents. Because of this risk, the NHL needs to find a way to protect the star players they have. Fighting and open ice hits should be removed from the game of hockey in order to limit head injuries, avoid deadly situations, and encourage better quality game.…
Concussions cause the dangerous disease CTE that has already claimed the lives of many athletes in the NFL and in other sports. We are doing research on CTE but a lot more needs to be done. If the NFL is going to be safer they need to relinquish all of their information and research on player brain injuries. Some good things are being done to rule changes to make the game safer, but it is still not enough. There is a fine line however between changing rules and changing the game, which the NFL will have to navigate carefully. One of the better answers to these brain injuries is to improve the helmet protecting the head. Many developers have made ingenious new ideas to combat the concussion epidemic in football. It is up to the NFL to adopt the new innovations to the football helmet to drastically improve player safety. A person’s brain is the most important part of the body. It just makes sense to want to protect it as much as possible. As the public becomes more aware of the dangers football has on a player’s brain people may reconsider playing football. If the NFL is going to have a future, they must make their game safer. If people see less players effected by concussions on TV public perception of football will improve. Something clearly needs to be done to combat these serious health problems facing current and past NFL…
Reminding coaches to teach “Head’s up, Don’t duck” may be one of the most important things in helping develop a brand new player. Hockey is a physical sport for girls and boys and injuries are inevitable, but life changing injuries should never happen. “Head’s up, Don’t duck” teaches players to keep their heads up around the boards and how to take a check. There are seven steps as a part of the “Heads up, don’t duck” initiative. The seven steps include keeping your head up, getting a different body part to help the impact, going in at an angle to get the puck, keeping heads out of checks, keeping skates parallel and knees bent, and skating (Heads). It also enforces rules that are important in keeping the game safe such as no checking/hitting from behind and wearing a proper mouthguard and helmet (Heads). All of these steps are precautions to keep players safe from concussions and paralyzing neck injuries. When players don’t follow this though, devastating injuries can occur. In the Past 10…
The league has been around for a long time and the safety regulations have improved drastically. In the 1920’s all the way through the 1940’s the game of football was played with forms of leather helmets. These styles of head protectors provided almost zero percent increase in head protection. Finally in the 50’s and 60’s the recognizable plastic helmet was introduced. The real breakthrough was when the company Riddell appeared in the 70’s. They added air in the padded helmets to reduce impact. Riddell has been the leader in helmet safety ever since.…
The topic that I have found the most intriguing in the sport of hockey is the increased speed of the game through the decades. The movement speed, puck speed and decision making has all increased since the game first began, this is resulting in a much higher risk of head injuries. The players in the game today are very susceptible to concussions, as many superstars of hockey world have been affected by head injuries which have resulted in many early retirements or a lot of time spent off the ice. To consider how dangerous and easy it is for players to get concussions, it seems quite ludicrous when you see historical games when all players on the ice would play the game of hockey without helmets. Given the nature of competition and how much more competitive the league (NHL) has become; players are now becoming bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. This is causing a higher percentage of players becoming injured and more importantly serious head injuries. If the current trend of improving athletes continues, then the hockey athletes of the next generation will only become bigger, stronger and faster which has the potential to cause much bigger problems as players will become more vulnerable to head injuries. As much as helmets have improved since they first came out, it still doesn’t fully protect a players neck and head when a hit of high velocity is delivered. The use of lighter equipment and more aerodynamic gear, players are become faster and lighter. Players today have been taught to protect themselves by absorbing body contact and to anticipate body checks by keeping their heads up. However given how the game of hockey is played, there is a high level of aggression and retaliation especially at the higher level when there are superstars on the ice that so called “enforcers” would target. These injuries are mostly incurred through the hitting aspect of the game; however fighting also plays a part. Hits from behind, body checks into the boards, open ice…
To begin with, many hockey helmets being made are unsafe, which cause the risk for a concussion more likely for…
It is only now that we have begun to realize the severity of concussions and the effect they have on the lives of athletes. Players must play the game. They must not try to ruin our lives or the lives of the opponent through brain impact.…
Concussion in youth sports is a bigger problem now than ever with 2.4 million cases each year a majority from participation in full contact football. Concussions in American youth football has just seen as “just a part of the game” this misconception has led to years of neglecting head injuries on the field. This attitude has caused a reluctance to make changes to the game and its concussion protocol to make it safer for the players. Some of these Preventable head injuries on the field can resulted in permeant brain damage in players who are allowed to go back on the field after their concussion. Society has chosen to turn a blind eye to the short term and long term effects of concussions just because they are invisible to the naked…
On the other hand, there are rules in place that help deal with concussions. As well as protective gear that helps prevent concussions. The head gear is lined with vinyl that absorbs multiple shocks to the head, however these head gears are only used in football, and hockey. (Article 1) The rules also in place say that a health care provider has to allow a player to return if they suffer a concussion, but a health care provider can miss a certain point in their diagnosis.…