North Pocono soccer coach Dave Davis recalls when Drew Collins came out for the team.
A big and strong freshman, Collins played with a passion coaches love to see. It resulted in a strong start to his high school soccer career.
That start, however, was halted in a junior varsity match midway through the season. Collins was sprinting downfield, trying to make a play on the ball when he fell to the ground and was inadvertently kicked in the head.
He blacked out.
When he got up, Collins remembers having a splitting headache and was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion.
He missed the rest of the season.
Collins returned for his sophomore season, ready to contribute once again. It was early in the season and he went up for a headball, only he didn’t get the ball. Rather, he collided with his opponent and was headed on the left temple.
His fear had become a reality, yet again. Collins was again diagnosed with a concussion, forcing him to miss half of his sophomore season.
"As an athlete, it’s very hard because you know you want to be a part of that team and you want to help them win," Collins said. "I would’ve loved to get out there and play with my teammates. It was just frustrating to be on the sideline."
JASON FARMER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
North Pocono senior soccer player Drew Collins
wears a fully-padded headband meant to protect
himself from concussions. As part of his senior
project, Collins raised enough money to outfit the
schools' soccer teams with the same type of headband.
Collins' story is part of a growing epidemic in the soccer community.
While concussions are more synonymous with contact sports like football and hockey, soccer is seeing more incidences of concussions.
How are teams handling these situations? Is there enough being done to protect players, especially youths?
Those are just some questions a group of soccer parents and players want answered, according to a class-action lawsuit filed against FIFA, soccer’s international governing body.
The suit, which was filed in late August in the United States District Court in California, claims FIFA, as well as other American soccer organizations including the American Youth Soccer Organization and U.S. Soccer, has been irresponsible in the handling of head injuries.
The filing claims that nearly 50,000 high school soccer players were concussed in 2010, more than players in baseball, basketball, softball and wrestling combined.
The suit seeks changes in how soccer is played, rather than financial compensation. Some of those changes would be to limit how many times children under 17 are allowed to head the ball and require professional and other top-tier leagues to allow temporary substitution for a player who is examined for a head injury.
Athletes have been dealing with concussions for years. But the magnitude of their significance in sports is new.
"Maybe we’ve had our share of bell-ringers growing up as an athlete," Davis, the North Pocono coach, said. "Did we suffer concussions? I don’t know. Maybe we did by the textbook letter of the law. It does seem to be an epidemic right now.
"Do I have an answer for it? That’s the million-dollar question. What’s causing it or are we just being a bit more cautious, and even sometimes overly cautious?
Davis admits that concussions never really crossed his mind when he played. But that changed once he looked at it from the perspective of a parent. His son, Zach, is a junior on the Trojans.
"As a father, you feel for all these athletes that are out there and feel a lot more empathetic for them," he said. "If you twist an ankle, that's one thing. But concussions can be life-threatening. You only have one brain and you have to make the best of it.
"It's always the best for the athlete if we can minimize putting it in harm's way."
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association has taken steps toward educating its coaches on the issue. Each coach is required to take a concussion training video course issued by the National Federation of High Schools and pass a test at the end of it. If a new coach is hired, he or she must take the course, also.
"We’re more educated on how to handle these situations now," Holy Cross boys soccer coach Joe Dodgson said. "If somebody comes off the field and there’s no trainer, we’re taught to sit them and I think that’s a good thing.
"I think the best thing we can do as coaches and educators is to be more aware of a concussion, be more aware of treatment and understand that it can be a long-term issue."
Some schools have taken it a step further. Both the boys and girls soccer teams at Scranton Prep are required to take a baseline test prior to the start of the season.
The exam, which is computerized, tests a player’s brain functions, including reaction and thought process. If a player sustains a head injury, he or she must take the test again before getting back onto the field, a decision that can be tough to comprehend for some players.
"Whatever our trainers and doctors say, that’s what we’re going to do no matter what the kids are telling me," Scranton Prep girls coach Doug Knieser said. "Sometimes that kids get frustrated with the process and don’t completely understand it and I get that. They want to be out there and help their teammates.
Athletes at Holy Cross go through a similar test, as well, and the school’s coaches are now being educated on the issue.
Despite the advancements in technology, there may never be a way to fully prevent athletes from getting concussions and that’s something Collins realizes. But he saw what concussions did to his first two years of high school soccer and was determined to take a stand.
Last year, when he was assigned his senior project, Collins and a friend wanted to do something for the boys and girls soccer teams.
He thought of Alissa Kincel, a member of the girls team last year, and former teammate Blake Hawkins, both of whom suffered concussions.
He thought about his own experiences and how he didn’t want to see his teammates or any youth players have to go through it.
So Collins decided to raise money for headbands for the team. But they weren’t ordinary headbands. Rather, the headbands Collins wanted to get are 360-degree padded ones that protect the head.
Collins and his friend put out jars for donations, used social media sites like Facebook and Tumblr to get the word out and even accepted donations through a website.
His determination paid off, as $1,392 was raised to fund the headbands, which are made by ForceField. The money raised was enough for both the boys and girls teams, as well as some members of the North Pocono youth team.
"His character is top-notch," Davis said. "He seems to be a little enlightened when it comes to these headbands. He’s very passionate about spreading the word because he’s been through it himself.
"It doesn’t surprise me but it really is refreshing as an educator and a coach to see that type of initiative in a young man."
Collins remains on a mission. He wears his headband religiously, both at practice and in games. It’s gotten to the point, he noted, that he doesn’t really feel it when he plays.
He knows he can’t personally prevent anyone from getting a concussion. But he also knows he can play a vital role in preventing it.
And he’s going to continue to do so.
"Concussions are a terrible thing," he said. "But I feel like with these headbands and getting more of them out there and more parents to understand the dangers of concussions when their kids are young, we won’t have it grow into this bigger deal when they’re older and into the varsity levels of high school sports."