Congress Briefed On Plan To Protect Youth Athletes

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/preps/2013/02/05/youth-sports-safety-summit-washington-dc-concussions-heart-related-deaths/1894743/

Amid high scrutiny of NFL concussions, the 4th Youth Sports Safety Summit convened Tuesday to address injuries of all types that occur by the millions annually in high school and youth sports.

Legislators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday were be briefed on the summit’s new National Action Plan to protect youth athletes.

“All of the work we’re doing needs to trickle down to the lower age groups,” said Dawn Comstock, associate professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health speaking at the event held by the Youth Sports Safety Alliance.

“We know a lot about pro athletes, we know a lot about collegiate athletes, we’re learning more about high school athletes. We know almost nothing about athletes younger than high school,” she said at the luncheon meeting.

The Youth Sports Safety Alliance, an organization of more than 100 groups spearheaded by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), released a list of 40 sports-related deaths in 2012 in high school and youth sports, most heart-related. The alliance estimated about 2 million injuries occur each year in high school sports resulting in 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations.