I was skating down the ice going after the puck and as I went around the corner I was slammed into the boards. I skated back to the bench in pain. It was my shoulder. "Hey coach I think there's something wrong with my shoulder. I might've dislocated it." My coach replied, "Ah you're fine, get back out there." I went back on the ice and tried to pass the puck but it didn't go very far and my shoulder was hurting again. I got off the ice for good. I broke my collar bone. It was my first game where we were allowed to check. I was 11 years old. I don't regret any of it either because it's my favorite sport and hitting is part of the game. I have played hockey since I was four years old and all the way through high school. 

Hockey in Wisconsin is a different kind of hockey than anywhere else. The stereotypical Wisconsin hockey player is a big farm boy, and that's not all that wrong. We don't play hockey with finesse like the players on the east coast. We hit people and hustle to the puck and try and score in any way possible, for lack of a better term, we're what they call "grinders." Some of us aren't, there's the occasional kid who can dance around players with the puck either because he's too scared to get hit or because he's just that good. High school is when the "grinding" really comes into play. Hockey is the biggest high school sport in Wisconsin by far. 96 teams, all in one division fighting for the state championship. The regular season is filled with goals and celebration, but most importantly big hits and big rivalries. Those are what make the student sections loud and into the game. Those are what also cause the most injuries.

A concussion is a brain injury that can happen from many things including: falling, a car crash, or a sports related injury. All of these can result in a bruising of the brain or damage to blood vessels and nerves in the brain, therefore, causing a concussion (Moreno). Common concussion symptoms are headache, nausea, problems with balance, vision, and fatigue, drowsiness, and memory loss in more severe cases. Roughly 3.8 million concussions occur each year in the United States from recreational and sports related injuries (Moreno). A study about the effects of a concussion on a youth brain found, "For ages 0 -- 19 years, 173,285 individuals are treated annually in the US for non-fatal concussion related to sports, most mild in origin," (Toledo). Concussions are one of the most common injuries in contact sports, more specifically, hockey and football. A Reuters Health article states, "Of all sports-related injuries that send kids younger than 18 to the emergency room, ice hockey accounts for almost 10 percent of concussions and more than 9 percent of internal organ injuries," (Rapaport). Even in professional leagues concussions are a hugely debated topic and more so in football than any other professional sport because the players experience constant head impacts almost every play. Linemen in the NFL have experienced long term mental health problems because they hit each other on the head every play of the game and that constant impact causes damage, and after a while can be fatal (Concussion). Although, concussions are a problem in sports and in general, it is a big deal because the safety of children is paramount, especially as a parent; however, changing the rules in sports like youth hockey is not the right way to prevent or decrease the amount of concussions, there are other ways that leave the integrity of the game in tact.

Concussions in hockey are very prevalent because it is such a fast paced and physical sport, even in youth hockey this is the case. Throughout Canada and America there are a total of roughly 900,000 registered youth hockey players (Bramley). I have seen teammates and opponents suffer from concussions that range from a minor concussion leaving you out for one game to a major concussion that can leave you out for the season. I have had teammates suffer from so many concussions that they can never play another contact sport in their life because they are at risk of death. In youth hockey concussions account for roughly 15% of all injuries in players ranging from 9 to 16 years old. Throughout my years of playing hockey I have broken both of my collar bones, gotten bumps and bruises all over my body, and have suffered a countless amount of concussions. One of them was pretty severe and left me out for a while. The other ones were minor and I didn't report them to my coach or trainer. Most of us didn't report our concussions in high school because we wanted to play and didn't really think anything of it when we got our "bell rung." However, looking back at it now, all of those times were definitely concussions of some magnitude and probably should've been looked at by a medical professional. I still experience some of the long term effects from these concussions, including memory loss. I don't know it for sure but sometimes I feel like my memory loss is a direct result from these concussions.

These concussions are a result of many things in hockey including head contact with other players, the ice, the boards, or the glass. All of these surfaces are hard and can easily cause a concussion if hit with the right amount of force. The force of a hit in hockey is "akin to blocking in football," (Seppa). However, in hockey you are skating at full speed and trying to stop the player with the puck from advancing. In a TED Talk about youth concussions Kim Gorgens said, "A hit in youth football can reach 103 Gs of force, but the average hit is around 95 Gs," (Gorgens). 95 Gs is still a lot of force for an average hit, and if a hockey hit is compared to a blocking hit in football, then hockey hits have right around the same amount of force as a football hit at a youth age. This causes injuries and concussions in these youth players, which causes debate about whether or not it is safe for these kids to play sports like hockey and even football. This topic of debate is becoming increasingly more relevant today. For youth hockey the question that arises is as follows: Should youth players be allowed to hit at such a young age, and if so, what age should that start at? 

The average age when kids playing hockey are allowed to start hitting is at the Peewee level, which is ages 11-12. This is the level that I started hitting at and I thought it was a perfect age to start at because by the time I got to high school I had enough experience where I knew how to hit and I knew how to take a hit. I don't believe the age for checking should be raised and I don't think that checking should be taken out of youth hockey for the reason that I just stated above, experience. When you have kids checking at an older age or not at all until high school they have less experience with hitting and they end up getting hurt even more in high school because they don't know how to hit or be hit. There was a study done that shows experience doesn't necessarily change the amount of concussions that occur. In this study 68 teams from Alberta at the Bantam level, ages 13-14, who had two years of checking experience in Peewees were compared to 62 teams from Quebec at the same Bantam level, but had no experience with checking in Peewees. The results showed that there were 51 concussions among the players in Alberta with checking experience, and 49 concussions among the players in Quebec with no checking experience (Emery). Having experience is better than not having any because the players in Quebec still had almost the same amount of concussions, and Quebec having six less teams, the percentage of concussions was higher than Alberta. When you experience checking at a younger age you are more prepared for it and know what to expect from it as you get older where checking is much bigger.

However, there is a very good and recent study that shows how not hitting decreases the amount of concussions in youth hockey. In an article by Nathan Seppa, a study was conducted involving two Canadian provinces, Quebec and Alberta, and their youth hockey leagues. The study followed 76 youth teams in Quebec where there is no checking allowed in the league and 74 teams in Alberta where checking is allowed in the same season. The players were all in the Peewee group, so 11-12 years old. The Alberta league reported 73 concussions among the 74 teams with checking. The Quebec league reported 20 concussions where checking is not allowed. All of the kids were wearing protective measures against concussions including helmets and mouth guards. Quebec doesn't allow checking under the age of twelve. As a result of this, more kids are playing hockey in Quebec (Johnson). This is a perfect example of how the amount of concussions can be significantly decreased if checking were eliminated at a younger age, while at the same time increasing participation in hockey. 

Although, I have endured a number of injuries from playing hockey throughout my youth years I still don't believe concussions will stop completely if checking is eliminated. There are so many other things that can cause a concussion in youth hockey. Yes, checking is a big part of it, but many of those concussions that result from checking are caused by illegal checks and hits that also result in a penalty. Anthony Kontos is the research director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Sports Medicine Concussion Program. He conducted a study earlier this year and he found that, "Illegal plays resulting in penalties accounted for 43 percent of the concussions," (Reinberg). Illegal hits in hockey can be very dangerous and can hurt players permanently. One of the most dangerous penalties is checking from behind. In most cases now a day you will get a 12-minute penalty and depending on how severe the hit was you could be ejected from the game and out for the next one too. This hit is so dangerous because you can paralyze people if they are hit into the boards hard enough from behind. Another penalty is charging, this is when a player is skating full speed, jumps, and leaves their feet in order to hit someone. This is dangerous because it usually results in the player getting hit in the head because jumping tends to cause the player to hit higher than he normally would. Elbowing is another penalty that can result in dangerous head contact because your elbow is what is hitting the other player, and players will usually aim pretty high when hitting with their elbow. Cross checking is dangerous because you hold your stick horizontally at shoulder height and hit another player with it. This usually ends up with players getting hit in the neck or higher. Other penalties include hooking, tripping, high sticking, and unsportsmanlike conduct.

Penalties are a big part of why kids get concussions when playing hockey, so instead of changing the rules and eliminating checking from the game, referees should be more aware of these illegal hits. If referees are more aware then they can call penalties and teach the kids what not to do in the game. When the kids learn at a younger age it carries on through their hockey career and when they get older they won't hit people illegally. In the same study as above Kontos believes that, "Training kids to obey the rules and enforcing penalties may reduce the number of concussions," (Reinberg). Kontos continues to give a personal quote about the matter, "Better enforcement of existing penalties for illegal hits -- especially those from behind when players are less able to protect themselves -- may help to limit concussions in youth ice hockey," (Kontos, qtd in Reinberg). Teaching kids at a younger age is also the coach's responsibility. People always say you should practice how you play in a game. If coaches teach kids safe play in practice, then they will play games in a safer way. Although, concussions were three times more likely to happen during a game than practice, hockey players experience more concussions in practice than players in other sports do (Reinberg). Players look up to their coaches, I know I did, and if my coach taught me how to check in a safe, but effective way then I would listen. Coaches are role models to many players and players always remember their coaches. If these coaches have that much influence over their players, then they should use it to teach safer play.

Another responsibility coaches have in order to reduce concussions without changing the rules is to be more aware of concussions in their players and watch for symptoms or warning signs. A study followed coaches and their teams in order to see how many of these coaches would let their players return to the ice if they saw warning signs of a concussion. It was found that 80% of coaches would not let their players return to the ice if they saw warning signs of a concussion (Bramley). However, there was another factor that played into these results. Coaches would determine whether the symptoms called for a minor or severe concussion. If they felt it was a severe concussion 99% of coaches wouldn't let their players return to the ice (Bramley). If it only seemed like a minor concussion 83% of coaches wouldn't let their players back on the ice (Bramley). They also found that more coaches were more likely to let their players reenter the game if it was important, like a playoff game, or if it was an "elite" player with symptoms (Bramley). It is important that coaches take their players off the ice immediately if concussion symptoms are shown or seen.

Medical physicians should be on the bench or at least in the ice rink so when a player comes off the ice with symptoms they can be looked at by a medical professional. The medical personnel can give the players a series of tests in order to determine how severe the concussion may be. The most recent and accurate test is called the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing, or most commonly known as the ImPACT test (Harrison). The ImPACT test is given before the season starts in order to give a baseline standard for the test. It is a test filled with simple memory and cognitive questions. Then, if concussion symptoms occur a medical professional can give that player the ImPACT test again and compare the scores with the baseline scores to determine how severe the concussion may be. Anthony Kontos said, "These findings highlight the importance of providing medical assistance, not only during ice hockey games, but also during practices, where more concussions occurred than expected," (Anthony Kontos, qtd in Reinberg). Having a medical professional at the game or practice at all times is extremely helpful in reducing concussions because it gives another chance for someone other than a coach or player to judge if there is a concussion or not.

An article by Dr. Syd Johnson aims to prove that the only way to get rid of concussions in youth hockey is to eliminate body checking from the sport as a whole. He said, "To substantially reduce the number of concussions and subconcussion impacts in junior hockey would require a comprehensive set of changes to how minor hockey is played, including the elimination of bodychecking," (Johnson). He makes cases about how players with concussions often experience negative effects in their academic performance as well as their athletic performance. This can be true because players who suffer from concussions may end up having to miss days at school or be given a lighter work load. This all leads to falling behind in school and the student then has to work harder after suffering a concussion to catch up. He also explains how injury rates increase and skill development is hindered when checking is introduced. The skill development of a player is hindered with checking because instead of focusing on the fundamentals of hockey, the player focuses on trying not to get hit or focuses on how to hit better than the other guy. A study in his article followed 67 players among two teams from ages 16-21 for one season. He found that 17 of the 67 players suffered from a concussion, and five players suffered from a second concussion in the same season (Johnson). Hockey is a physical sport and maybe eliminating checking from youth hockey is a solution to getting rid of concussions too.

There are other ways to prevent concussions in the sport including: teaching safe play to kids, having medical professionals on site, coaches being more aware of symptoms, referees being more aware of illegal hits, and the advancement of helmet technology. There was a study done that put sensors in the helmets of players in order to determine where the most contact to the head was and how hard it was hit (Mihalik). This study can help make helmets in the future better and more protective to the more vulnerable spots on the player's head. If we eliminate checking from the game, are we really playing hockey anymore? Hockey is a physical sport and injuries are going to happen and some of those injuries are going to be concussions, but that doesn't mean we change the integrity of the game and how it's been played for almost a century now. If the rules are changed at a younger level it starts a cycle of no hitting and that cycle is continued into the older leagues like the NHL and soon enough there will be no hitting in the NHL because no one will know how to hit. Every sport has some risk for a concussion because there are so many things that can happen, the risk might be higher in some sports, but there's always a risk. The danger of the sport is what drives people to watch it and play it. People want to see the big hits and the fights because it's an adrenaline rush and dangerous.

