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The Big Announcements from The White House Summit on Sports Concussions
Today, President Obama is bringing together 200 sports officials, medical experts, parent activists, and young athletes for the first White House summit on sports concussions, and the day looks to be filled with announcements from numerous important institutions within sports and medicine.
The Associated Press received many of these announcements ahead of the opening of the summit, which Boston.com published. Below you can find the highlights expected to be announced throughout the day:
- The NCAA and Defense Department will be launching a $30 million joint effort to produce research on concussion risks, treatment and management.
- The NFL will commit $25 million over the next three years in an effort to promote youth sports safety, including support for new pilot programs intended to put more athletic trainers in schools.
- The National Institutes of Health will undertake a new research effort investigating the chronic effects of repetitive concussions, supported by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health through an initial investment of $16 million from the NFL. This funding, along with grants announced late last year, fulfills a $30 million commitment the league made to the institutes in 2012.
- With a $10 million investment from New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, UCLA will launch the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT program to target sports concussion prevention, outreach, research and treatment for athletes of all ages, especially youth athletes. The money will also contribute to planning for a national system to determine the incidence of youth sports concussions.
- Pop Warner Little Scholars will participate in a research project modeled on a system that tracks concussions and concussion trends in high school sports.
- Safe Kids Worldwide, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, will host more than 200 sports safety clinics for parents, coaches, and young athletes across the country, including education on concussions.
- USA Cheer will unveil a new Head Injury Protocol to more than 300,000 cheerleaders and their coaches this summer to teach them how to prevent, identify, and seek treatment for suspected head injuries. Updated cheerleading guidelines designed to reduce head injuries will also be released.
- U.S. Soccer will employ a chief medical officer to work with the medical community and experts in the field of concussion management and prevention.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will promote the use of a new app intended to help parents learn how to recognize concussion symptoms and teaching parents what to do if they think their child has a concussion.
- The National Federation of State High School Associations, which writes playing rules for high school-level sports, will host a concussion summit this year focused on practices to minimize injury risks in high school athletes.
- The National High School Athletic Coaches Association will provide education sessions on concussions at its summer convention.
