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Kids and contact sports

What’s the score on kids’ sports and head injuries? Dave Briggs finds out

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Originally published in Today's Parent September 2011

Sherri Sanders breathes a sigh of relief every time one of her three kids comes off the ice. “There’s so many goons out there that have your number, especially if they’re 14-year-olds,” Sanders says.

That said, the mother of three from St. Thomas, Ont., wouldn’t think of banning her sons Alex, 14, and Duncan, 12, and daughter Cameryn, 10, from playing competitive hockey: “They love it.” Still, she worries about them getting a concussion and what it could mean to their long-term health. “They’re not going to go to the NHL. They need their brains to think,” Sanders says.

Yet, it’s the increase and severity of concussions in pro sports in recent years — highlighted by Sidney Crosby’s long absence from the NHL — that have raised awareness and concerns for parents. So how do you weigh the risks and benefits to make the right choice for your kids?

Know the facts

Over the course of a year of play, the chance of a 10-year-old suffering a concussion in a contact sport is about 10 percent. “The statistics show a significant escalation of head injuries beginning probably in the 10- and 11-year-olds, and then going straight up to age 20,” says Charles Tator, a neurosurgeon and founder of ThinkFirst Canada, a national non-profit group dedicated to the prevention of brain and spinal cord injuries.

Trouble is that concussions can be difficult to diagnose in the first place. Concussions rarely show up on conventional neuro-imaging tests and are easy to miss — particularly if another injury occurs at the same time, says Robin Green, Canada Research Chair in Traumatic Brain Injury at Toronto Rehab. “If someone gets a blow, but they hurt their leg, people may not be attuned to the possibility of a concussion,” Green says. “The same thing happens in emergencies. When someone gets into a car accident and sustains a spinal cord injury, often the brain injury gets missed.”

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