Football (Tackle)

The National Athletic Equipment Reconditioners Association (NAERA)has announced that it will no longer accept football helmets for reconditioning and recertification which are more than 10-years old.  The policy, adopted at the group's annual meeting, will become effective at the start of the reconditioning season on September 1, 2011, as many schools have already paid for their helmets to be reconditioned for use this fall.

Pop Warner amended its football and spirit concussion safety rules effective September 30, 2010 to provide for the immediate removal of a player suspected of having suffered a head injury or concussion and no return to play without the approval of a licensed athletic trainer or medical professional who is not the parent/guardian of the player.

A change in the definition of a chop block in high school football, along with a strong emphasis on proper use of the helmet to minimize risk of injury, highlighted the January 21-23 meeting of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Football Rules Committee in Indianapolis.

Concussion in high school sports are increasing at a 15% annual rate, finds a new study. Consistent with previous studies, football accounted for more than half of all concussions and a concussion rate nearly double the rate for girls' soccer, the sport with the next highest rate. Concussion rates increased across all 12 sports studied.  Although the degree of change varied, ranging from an average annual increase of 8% for football to 27% for wrestling, Girls had a higher rate of concussion that that of boys in those sports (soccer, basketball, baseball/softball) where the boys' and girls' games are essentially the same.

U.S. high school athletes suffer an estimated 9,237 time-loss heat illnesses every year that are serious enough to keep them out of sports for one or more days, according to a new, first-of-its kind report from the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC), with football players most prone to heat illness.

The loss of electrolytes such as sodium and potassium through sweat can lead to muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting and even death.  Electrolytes are minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride) which send messages to nerves and muscles throughout the body,  and are involved with muscle contraction and relaxation during exercise, so that an imbalance can impact the actual contraction of the muscle itself.

Pre-season is a time when training is tough and calorie demands are high. It's also an important time to tackle any nutritional habits that can interfere with peak performance during the season, says a leading sports nutritionist.

Concussion rates in thirteen high school sports from 1998 to 2008, as reported in three separate studies, vary widely by sport and, in some cases, by gender.

Skin infections in athletes, including community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA), are extremely common.  The nature of athletics, which expose the skin to a wide variety of stresses, trauma, environmental factors, and infectious agents, all combine to continually attack the integrity of the skin and lead to considerable disruption to individual and team activities.  A new position statement by the National Athletic Trainers' Association, says that recognition of skin diseases is absolutely essential, particularly by certified athletic trainers, who "represent the first line of defense against spread of infections to other team members."