If you haven't read this piece from ex-RSLer Alecko Eskandarian about his struggles with concussions, then I recommend it to you.
I may use this article to describe my own experience to others. I've had a migraine for seven years as a result of the last one. It's incredibly frustrating for me when someone treats it lightly. The invisible nature of traumatic brain injury makes it easy to minimize. After spending the evening with some extended family, I can feel my pulse in my head. It sucks. Maybe the next neurologist can help more than the last one.
This could get long, I apologize. @The Franchise who is your neurologist? Thank you @Ismitje For Posting this. I have had at least 4 (but probably more) concussions. My first when I was 15, and most recently about a year and a half ago (I'm 30 now) Each one has seemed to have a worse, longer lasting affect. A concussion from 2012 caused me to no longer be able to focus for extended periods, I had to drop out of school as I was pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. Grad schools were applied for, and I had half a semester left of undergrad, but all of this was in vain because I could no longer even read a few pages of a textbook. I still have an almost constant headache/migraine that has forced me to miss many days of work, and to have to spend countless hours away from my 5 and 3 year old kids because they are just too loud. It is heartbreaking for me, and for my family. The thing that frustrates me though, is that nobody can see what is going on. I am told by people to "fight through your headache" or "I get headaches too, you'll be fine" It's not fine. We really do need more information, help and protection for people who have suffered from a traumatic brain injury. Not just in the soccer world, but in all sports and walks of life. Thank you Alecko for being another voice for this cause. And if any of you think you can benefit in any way from me, please reach out. I know I rarely comment, but I'm here a lot. -rant off
I moved to California a couple years ago. The best neurologist I've seen was Kathleen Digre at the U of U. She's a neuro-opthamologist at the Moran Eye Center. She was an opthamologist who had too many patients with migraine that weren't getting quality care, so went back to school. She's about as good as can be found in most of the country in migraine. (Honestly, that bar is really low. Most of the doctors I've seen either didn't know migraine very well or just plain didn't care.)
It's sadly like this for any condition that isn't visible. My mother has Fibro Myalga, and it's rough. I'd like to feel like I'm somewhat understanding, but I still fall into thinking she's more fine then she is at times. There's also the whole host of mental illnesses people go through as well. I really wish the world as a whole would understand that these things aren't just thinks you fight through, or just get over. Does someone just fight through a broken leg? No? Then why do they think any of this is any different?
I know that this isn't a funny subject, but I found humor in the thread title typo. I'm assuming that was unintentional. Great article by Esky. I hope the study of concussions continues to improve. It seems almost weekly that I see someone in a college or NFL game receive a concussion worthy hit, but they keep on playing.
I'm not too sure how many of you are aware, but there was a new mandate put into effect in youth soccer this year. Under the age of 12, players are not allowed to head the ball. Among other reasons (many legal) the idea was to cut down on the risk of concussions. It's been flat out bizarre to watch the reaction of those involved in youth soccer to this change. Some obvious objections came out from the older people involved. "This isn't soccer" was a statement I heard a hundred plus times in less than a month. It was sad and shocking to hear how many coaches saw this as a huge hit to their style of play. I mean, these are kids under the age of twelve we're talking about, shouldn't the focus always be on technical development? You play 95%+ of this game with your feet. To say "this isn't soccer" makes me wonder what the hell your soccer is. Other objections were just silly. Some coaches honestly thought that by not teaching heading at a young age you would just delay the time of the injury. "I'm going to have 13 year olds who don't know how to head a ball and just hurt themselves then". The realization that, hey, maybe you should then teach them slowly at that age how to head the ball seemed not to dawn on them. Or that, after years of not having the ball in the air much, the kids won't want to suddenly smash it 30 feet high... Others had objections that I could understand, but also just didn't appear to be fully thought out. "Well you're just going to have kids karate kicking each other in the head if they cant head the ball". The realization that soccer should be played below the waist for a large majority of the game just didn't click. I mean, I understood this thought from the coaches who viewed defenders as those who could kick the ball the hardest and the furthest. They also took every goal kick, even after they implemented a free build out line, as a kick that went at least 10 feet in the air and cleared player's heads. These coaches missed what this was trying to accomplish entirely. The scariest of objections/reactions came from the overly competitive folks, though. "Well if heading is illegal, I'm just going to have my kids hit all of their shots and set pieces head high towards goal". Completely and utterly missing the point while also finding a way to make it worse. The thought that "lets take a rule applied to 12 year old and less and find a way to win with it" was so shocking and saddening. These folks almost always also said something along the lines of "most concussions I've seen in soccer don't come from heading the ball. They come from collisions." When pushed to ask where the ball was in the collision, it's funny how many admit "well it was in the air for or from a header". Yet, they still hold their position. What is sad in all of this is that the data for concussions is swept to the side in each and every reaction. Not a single person who has complained about this rule has given much, if any, thought to the dangers that come with concussions. There is mandatory training and such that all coaches and managers must go through, but it's constantly swept under the rug. Too many people reacted to this rule change as if US Soccer was just covering their ass on a legal perspective. Which, don't get me wrong, they are. But it's SO MUCH MORE than that. This is long but let me sum up: If you are at all involved in youth sports, be a vocal advocate of this. Don't just check the box of doing it yourself or on your teams. I've had to stop games my team has played in because the opposing coach put in a player that shouldn't be playing. No game is more important than someone's health - ESPECIALLY youth soccer.
Next time you have one of those meetings invite me along, I'll put together a slide show with actual scientific data showing what's happening to those kid's brains, we'll see how much they bitch when they find out their kids memory test performance is being reduced some 40-60%: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161023154804.htm Here's the actual article if you want to read it, keep in mind this isn't the only study done analyzing the effects of heading a soccer ball which shows very negative side effects to the brain: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235239641630490X
Also note that this test was performed on 22 year old females (+/- 3 years). I imagine the performance results are enhanced (worse) for a younger developing brain.
It really bothers me that the parents and coaches in youth sports don't seem to care. I'd wager a good 99% of people playing won't even make it to a semi pro status, and certainly not to the MLS or greater where they can actually make a living from the sport. It's sad that the adults have to have such a win at all costs mentality that they're willing to risk the long term health of their own child. The funny thing is, those with the actual skill to make it, will likely be the more technical players that are relying less on heading the ball, and the typical cheap youth tricks of using height or speed to brute force wins. IMO, the whole point of youth sports should be focusing on having fun, making some new friends, and getting some exercise in a more fun way. Sure it's fun to win, but we should be trying to develop good habits in these kids, and not focusing on some age 10 trophy that nobody will care about later on.
Between MLS and USL there are roughly 1,500 rostered players MAXIMUM, there probably aren't even that many US players playing abroad. According the AYSO website there are over 3 million youth players, basic math would say that 99.999% of kids playing soccer right now won't ever sniff a field as a professional soccer player on any level. Parents that are willing to sacrifice kid's health, especially something as critical as long-term brain health, for their kids to play a sport the vast majority won't pursue past high school are just flat out stupid. Parents like that need a serious smack upside the head, I'd be more than happy to provide the harsh medical and scientific reasons to counter their idiocy and then a 2x4 to hit anyone in the head who speaks up against.
The sad thing is, many of those parents will continue to brush it aside. I don't know if it's a newer thing, or I'm just older and notice it more, but people seem to really love to dismiss any scientific evidence if it goes against whatever their feelings are. It's sad how we can be advancing at such a rate, yet somehow fall backwards at the same time because of people being too stubborn to adapt.
Completely agree with your point, but I'm guessing that the AYSO number includes girls where as your professional number doesn't. So adjust it by 0.01% or so. Also, having worked in the public schools I'm constantly amazed by the shear idiocy of some parents. So freaking true. I think that some scientific outlets trying to manipulate data for their political agenda is partly the reason. I think another part of the reason is the rise in sensational "documentaries" that portray opinions as scientific fact.
I think it's part regular media, and a ton of social media. You see it time and time again where a more reputable news source will throw out a click bait headline about a study, only to find out if you actually look at the findings for a few minutes you realize the headline and article were completely wrong, or really stretched to get where they're at. Then, you get Twitter and Facebook BS that people will just share like it's gospel. Some days I'd get in a mood and go through and debunk all the false posts, only to have the same people praising it turn around and basically pretend it was still true because it was in line with their beliefs. It's just maddening seeing people blindly share some of this stuff without spending even 10 seconds figuring out of it was even true or not. I guess if there's one good thing to come out of this election, it's certainly got me checking my Facebook a lot less.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the "Concussion" movie with Will Smith. Fantastic movie, and to be honest, I haven't been able to watch a football game since I saw the movie.
I think a key point here is a lot of coaches receive a salary or stipend for coaching youth soccer. Parents want to put their kids on winning teams, not necessarily just teams that are local or where the child's friends are playing. Coaches that win have more demand within the organization because they will attract more players, and coaches that win get the better teams. That's why many coaches put more emphasis on winning, rather than on development. The winning coaches also attract scouts for colleges. If they get even one kid on scholarship, that gives the coach/club that carrot to dangle in front of parents stating they have success placing players with schools on scholarships.
I get paid to coach youth soccer. "Winning" isn't anywhere close to my list of priorities. I know exactly where you are coming from with this, though. Parents chase results. At a certain age (15+) I get this. By that point, the point of the game is to win. No doubt. What you see, though, is that it starts younger and younger and younger. Let me give you one of the saddest examples I've seen of this: I started coaching a group of 9 year old kids last year (tryouts in May 2015). This was their first year in competitive soccer. Now, in another discussion we can talk about when is the proper age to start competitive sports, but for now lets say this is fine. So for every single one of these kids, this is their first time playing in competitive sports. Many had family that had played competitively and had assumptions around it, but those can be changed if you give the kid the right environment. After a summer of training we played in our first tournament. At this tournament were many of the teams we would eventually play in our Fall and Spring season. There was one particular team that played amazing soccer. The kids were great with the ball at their feet and showed vision that was well above their age. They lost in the final, though, to another team from the same club. This really shouldn't matter, it's a random club tournament in Utah before the season starts. The whole purpose being to let the kids play in a game environment after so many training/scrimmage sessions. Not for this coach, though. In the Fall I was excited to play against this team. Other teams were on the "lets win by playing long ball ugly soccer" train which is hard to play against on a small field with 9 year old's not at the technical level yet to just boss those style of opponents. These guys would be different. It would be a good display of soccer and really enjoyable for both teams. Boy was I wrong. This club had decided to move players between their two clubs to keep a few of the technical players while also adding in your typical boom ball player. And the boom ball style was winning, so they were going with it. No joke, the first play of the game they had the kick off: They shot from it. My GK wasn't crazy off his line or anything, they just shot so as not to have the ball on their side of the field. Everything they won on a tackle, one touch then smash up the field. Not even looking to pass, it was just "the goal is that way, make the ball go there". And it was working because it created chaos. They still had players technical enough to score from 6 yards out. It was anything but soccer, though. This team hasn't lost a game in regular season play since. They pride themselves on playing crap soccer that scores lots of goals. In two or three years, they will lose. I've seen this show over and over again, but the coach and parents just can't see it. They see WINNING and random trophies at youth tournaments (in SLC) that they think justify their style.
There have been published studies on the effects of pseudo-documentaries in the dumbing-down of the audience, of the population, of America.
I stopped watching football (for the most part, occasionally watch my college team play) when the NFL denials about concussions surfaced alongside the overwhelming evidence of destroyed lives.
It was terrifying. As debilitating as my own injury is, and as much as it has cost me, I'm still recognizably myself. Not everyone with head injuries is. Your brain is where you keep your you. Serious injury makes it hard to find.
Hello. Been reading these forums for years and have been following RSL since the club was announced. I created an account just to comment on this thread. Reading through Esky's article was hard for me. When I was younger, I too suffered with a headache that didn't go away for over 6 years and could easily escalate to a migraine that could last for several days. The best doctor I ever saw was Kathleen Digre at the U of U. I can't recommend her enough. Even though we never could pin down exactly what the underlining problem was, she was best neurologist I saw. I saw a bunch of them, along with other specialists. She is the first one to give it a name to me, chronic daily headache, which I believe is just an umbrella term. I had some bleeding in my brain and an abnormal growth of blood vessels. Was that the cause? Who knows. She actually suspected seizures as well. It is a silent illness and quite debilitating. I had to drop out of high school. (I did go back and graduate later) Eventually, just as mysteriously as the chronic pain came, it faded away. What a miracle that was. After years of having that constant companion of a headache to have a pain-free day...even just a second, was so liberating it was almost enough to bring me out of my crippling clinical depression. The full blown migraines stuck around. 5 years ago I was diagnosed with a seizure disorder, I would lose time and memories but I didn't know what was going on until I crashed my car and got a concussion and the responding paramedics on scene saw me having an one. Ironically, the seizure medication has all but eliminated the migraines. Fascinating how the brain works. I was barely functional for a few months after the crash and the concussion, though. I am doing quite well now. In conclusion, good luck The Franchise and anyone else silently suffering. I am glad brain injuries are (slowly) getting attention they so rightfully deserve. And go RSL, I suppose.