Florida, Texas move to track concussions in schools

Beginning this fall, Florida and Texas will be taking a closer look at concussions in all high school sports.

Both states recently approved measures to collect data from schools regarding the number of concussions in each sport. The mandates are part of a larger effort to address serious head injuries in sports.

Texas’ measure is a pilot program that will “attempt to collect information on every student that goes through a return to play concussion protocol at a school,” according to The Dallas Morning News. That data will then be analyzed by the University of Texas Southwestern.

“We’re kind of building the plane as we’re flying it,” UIL director of athletics Dr. Susan Elza told the newspaper. “(We’re hoping for) more sound data and more structure to collecting that data.”

Florida’s new policy requires all schools to report concussions in each sport. In a related move, the Florida High School Athletic Association earlier this month approved limits on live contact during football practices.

Michigan is among a limited number of states that have similar policies in reporting concussions. The statistics help to track which sports have the most concussions and whether safety protocols are having any effect.