County already up to speed on concussion rules

By JUSTIN HARMON/Staff

Last week, Virginia representatives talked about a bill that would require medical clearance before a player is let back on the field.
The legislation, however, is old news in Washington County, where similar policies have been in place since November.
According to Washington County Public Schools Head Athletic Trainer Beth Funkhouser, area schools have been going off the National Federation of High School Association’s policy.
“It changed in early fall,” said Funkhouser.
Funkhouser said it came in the middle of football season, a tricky time to implement the policy.
“Football, basketball and soccer are the big three for concussions,” she said. “Although football players get a lot more than they should.”
Under the current policy, Funkhouser said there isn’t any chance of a same-day return to the sport and any student suffering from a head injury would be looking at a minimum of five days before they’re allowed to return to full contact in practice.
“The policies are pretty cut and dry. They’re very safe,” she said.
One of the big things that came in the change this fall was the removal of a grading system for concussions. According to Funkhouser, despite not allowing a student to return to play no matter the improvement shown over half an hour (the old rule would allow a same-day return to play if the injured showed no further signs of concussion over this time period) she still uses the grading system.
“Sometimes I just need to quantify the injury to the coaches,” she said.
Virginia’s bill was tabled for further discussion on last Wednesday but managed to pass the Senate on Monday according to the state’s legislative information system.
While Funkhouser supports more safety for the kids playing, she also said the bill is getting into some slippery slope territory.
According to the text of the bill that passed the Senate, a student wouldn’t be able to return to play until “evaluated by an appropriate licensed health care provider as determined by the Board of Education and in receipt of written clearance to return to play from such licensed health care provider.”
Funkhouser said getting too specific about who is able to make the call could be a bad thing.
According to reports, some lawmakers are concerned that family health care providers and nurses not fully trained to spot a concussion could give a fallacious good to go.
Though the bill still has to make it through the General Assembly before it can become law, Funkhouser said she thinks it’s “positive overall.”
Especially since concussions have become more of a problem in recent years.
“A helmet doesn’t stop a concussion,” said Funkhouser. “When these kids put on a helmet, they feel invincible and that’s just not the case.”
According to Funkhouser, the world of high school sports has gotten more cutthroat over the years. The players are bigger, faster and stronger than they ever were and anyone not prepared to enter the sport could easily find themselves hurt by the more aggressive players.
Funkhouser said Washington County isn’t plagued with concussed players, she said they do see their fair share.
“It’s one of the more common things we see,” she said.
One thing Funkhouser said could benefit student-athletes is a little more discretion. She said they need to know that just because they’re in a helmet, they’re not concussion-proof – a helmet only softens the blow.
“They’re basically wearing a giant bell on their heads,” she said.
Several states across the nation have already passed their own proactive measures to get concussion awareness out there and Funkhouser said the NFL and NCAA have both reviewed and reworked their policies as well.
According to Washington County Public School Superintendent Dr. Alan Lee, the county has already been proactive by hiring their athletic trainers such as Funkhouser.
“Some states out west require it,” he said. “We’re one of the few in the region that has them on staff… they’re an asset to our kids.”
As far as custom tailoring their policy, Lee said they’ll wait for a directive from the Virginia Board of Education before making any changes to what already works.
“We’ll come up with those when the law passes,” he said.
Justin Harmon can be reached at 628-7101 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)