ATSU selected for national study aimed at curbing injury among athletes
Posted: September 1, 2015
A.T. Still University’s (ATSU) Athletic Training program has been selected to collaborate on a national study to observe player health and safety among youth football athletes.
Directed by USA Football and the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention, ATSU will observe the effectiveness of Heads Up Football®, a program developed by USA Football aimed at comprehensive coach education and various health and safety protocols, including concussion awareness, to advance safety among athletes ages 5 to 15.
“Overall, youth football players sustain concussions at nearly the same rate in practice as high school and college athletes, but are injured at a rate three to four times higher than older players during games,” said Tamara Valovich McLeod, PhD, ATC, FNATA, professor and director of ATSU’s Athletic Training program, and Datalys’ Arizona principal investigator.
ATSU has been collaborating in a series of studies investigating player injury data, which includes the impact of age-only versus age-weight leagues on injury risk and head impacts.
The 2014 study, which was released earlier this year, reported that Heads Up Football intervention did reduce injury rates. More than 2,100 tackle football players ages 5 to 15 across 100 teams, 10 youth organizations, and spanning four states, were observed. Of the 2,108 players in the study’s sample, 1,404 were in Heads Up Football-practicing leagues, and 704 were in leagues that did not employ Heads Up Football.
“It does appear that with proper coach education and player restrictions we can reduce the rates of injury. The goal is to advance player safety so that young athletes enter the field confidently and can enjoy the game safely,” said Dr. Valovich McLeod, who contributed to the 2014 investigation paper published by Datalys in July.