St. Norbert College

Much attention has been given to sports-related concussions over the past few years. It is important for all athletes and coaches to recognize the signs and symptoms of a head injury and refer them to trained medical staff immediately. Any athlete demonstrating signs or symptoms of a head injury, should be removed from participation immediately and be evaluated by a medical professional (M.D., certified athletic trainer, etc.). The NCAA mandates that all institutions have a concussion-management plan, which ensures that student-athletes are not allowed to return to participation before being cleared by medical staff.

• St. Norbert Athletics Concussion Management Plan
• St. Norbert College Medical Staff: Concussion Information and Treatment
• NCAA Concussion Fact Sheet: Athletes
• NCAA Concussion Fact Sheet: Coaches
• NCAA Video: Concussions – Don’t Hide It, Report It, Take Time to Recover. This link provides more than 15 educational resources provided by the NCAA. The video is on the right side of the page.

A few documentaries that illustrate the dangers of concussions in sports are recommended viewing for our student-athletes:

• “Head Games,” by Steve James (2012), available on DVD, Hulu, Netflix, etc.
• “Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis,” by Steve James (2014)
• “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis,” by PBS Frontline (2013)

For more information on concussions, see the following publications from leading worldwide researchers in sports-related concussion:

• American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Position Statement on Concussion in Sport
• Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport from the Fourth International Conference on Concussion in Sport
• National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Management of Sport Concussion (2014)