My research is about youth sports like hockey and football and how athletes get concussions because they play with contact at a younger age. Today, there is a big debate about how to prevent these concussions from happening. There are many ways to prevent concussions, but there is also the problem of how they are caused. This rose the question of how the age that contact is first allowed in youth hockey or football affects the players' proneness to concussions. I am interested in this topic because I was once a kid who played hockey and football. I have been injured while playing both sports as a kid, breaking both collar bones from hockey and getting 3 concussions total. I don't necessarily believe these sports should ban contact at a younger age, but rather teach the kids to play in a safer way, therefore, helping eliminate illegal hits and checks in both sports, while making the kids smarter and more understanding of the game. I have played hockey since I was 4 and football from 5th to 8th grade, so I know about the sports and how they are played. I also know the kinds of injuries you can get from these sports, whether it be from my own experience or from a teammate's experience. 

In an article by Laird Harrison called, "Study Fuels Controversy Over Football Concussions in Teens," a study about youth football concussions from 1997-2000 is explored and also somewhat discredited by another, more recent study. The first study claims that football players do better on mental ability tests the longer they are on the field, even if they suffer from concussions. They studied 1,289 players and 4% suffered from concussions and were back in school within seven days. One expert on brain injuries completely rejected this study and said it was out of date. Two recent studies show how concussions do affect the brains of athletes in contact sports. Some major values and interests that are at stake here are safety among kids in football and how out dated research may not be credible in our times today. With the exception of the first study that lacks evidence and background information on the doctor who did it, the article is all credible because it is a health news article. Also, the doctors and professionals quoted in the article include the President of the NFL's physician society and a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Boston University. There is bias toward concussions affecting young athletes.

An article titled, "Youth Hockey Concussions Similar to Other Contact Sports," by Lisa Rapaport shows a study that draws a correlation between minutes on the ice in practice and games and how many concussions are diagnosed. Athletes ages 12-14 are two times more prone to concussions than athletes ages 15-18. Another study showed that of all sports related injuries that sent kids younger than 18 to the ER, 10% of concussions among those injuries were from hockey. They don't want kids to stop playing the sport, they just want kids to be educated on how to be safe and play legally. The article is biased toward the safety of youth atheltes and how playing the game in a safer way will lead to less concussions. The source is credible because this article is from a well known news outlet and written from a pediatric study about youth concussions.

In a newspaper article by Nathan Seppa titled, "A Check on Youth Hockey Injuries," explains how the force of a check in hockey is similar to the force of a block in football. A study from 2010 measured the injuries recorded by two separate leagues in Canada that contained 11 and 12 year olds. One league in Alberta allowed checking at this age, while the other, in Quebec, did not allow checking at this age. Alberta recorded 73 concussions, while Quebec recorded only 20. The values that this article pointed out are when kids are allowed to check at this age there are huge size differences between them because of things like puberty, therefore, concussions and other injuries are more likely to occur. Major interests at stake are whether or not checking should be allowed for kids at this age. This research was done almost 6 years ago, when I was just past that age. This I believe is credible because I was allowed to check when I was 11 and 12, but now you are not where I'm from, so it makes me wonder if this research had something to do with it.

My research exigence is arguable because there are many people that don't believe there is a correlation between the contact and getting concussions, they say it's just part of the game. People have banned contact in youth hockey, while others have kept it. Some have found research that proves there is no affect on the brain, while others have found research saying contact does affect the brain. These perspectives don't really influence me because I have already gone through the youth hockey and football phases, but I do believe research needs to be done and a firm conclusion should be made in order to help kids in the future. I want to make my research exigence more specific and zoom in on concussions in just youth hockey or football. I am more interested in hockey and have played it longer than football, therefore, I will pursue an exigence solely in youth hockey and how concussions affect the sport as a whole at those younger ages.

