As football concussions continue to create concern from the pros to youth leagues, an Argyle high school is taking a high-tech approach to fighting the problem.
Players at Liberty Christian School are wearing small sensors in their helmets this year that monitor the force of hits they’re taking on the field. Their coaches and team doctor on the sidelines then receive the data on iPads so they can better inform players about the hits they’ve been taking and make decisions about pulling players from the game for concussion concerns.
The technology’s already paid off for sophomore running back Andre Washington, whose helmet sensor read high during his team's game against Gilmer High School Sept. 9. Team doctor Chad Stephens said he and coaches immediately talked to Washington on the sidelines to inform him of the elevated risk he faced if the hits kept coming.
Washington stayed in the game briefly until he took a helmet-to-helmet hit in the third quarter. He said he didn’t hesitate to head to the bench knowing about his previous hits.
"The technology's amazing. In the middle of the game they started warning me that I'd been having some hard hits,” he said. "I didn't really know that my head was feeling that bad until they actually told me and they started testing me, and I realized my vision was a little bit off."
It turned out that Washington did suffer a minor concussion, but the early detection kept him from pushing it any further. The team put him into concussion protocols and he took time off to recover.
What a recovery though. When Washington returned to the field last week against John Paul II, he scored six touchdowns and led Liberty to their first win of the year.
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Stephens said the technology definitely gives some peace of mind at a time when football concussions are proving to be life changing for some players across the country.
"It gives me a lot better indicator of what an injury is they might suffer on the field,” he said.
According to our partners at the Denton Record-Chronicle, the program costs Liberty about $100 per player per year. That cost can be a major factor for teams looking to adopt the technology.
