Youth football injuries can stay with children well after wins and losses

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As a football player, Ed Stansbury led El Paso’s Irvin High School to four district championships, was named MVP by the El Paso Times and the El Paso Herald-Post, won a bowl game with UCLA and then went on to play three years in the NFL for the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks. But he said if he had the choice to do it all over again and relive his glory days on the field, he probably wouldn’t. “I’ve been 10 years away from football, but it’s now that I’m feeling all the effects,” Stansbury said. “I read about the symptoms that I’m suffering from now—loss of memory, short-term memory, things aren’t coming to me as quick anymore and I blank out sometimes.”

Now, Stansbury is the director of operations for the Greater El Paso Football Showcase, where he gives speeches to El Paso football players and helps them along the way in their careers. He also provides expert analysis for high school football on KTSM Channel 9’s Overtime show.

UTEP running back Josh Bell at a recent game vs FIU. (Ivan Pier Aguirre/Courtesy of UTEP Athletics)

Concussions bedevil sports, but today they are taken seriously

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EL PASO — Any athlete can suffer some type of brain injury in a game or in practice during a career especially in the very competitive college and pro sports. Most athletes get concussions, but they are usually unaware of the injury, so they continue to play. But today, any symptoms are taken very seriously by trainers and coaches to make sure that their players are safe. Some symptoms that should be flagged right away are headaches, fuzzy or blurry vision, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, sensitivity to light or noise, balance problems, or fatigue lack of energy to do anything. Other symptoms include emotional problems such as easily getting upset, sad, nervous or anxious.

UTEP football players ready for the Houston game. (Ivan Pierre Aguirre/Courtesy of UTEP Athletics)

Concussions – the most common injury for young athletes – have lifelong medical consequences

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EL PASO – Stadium lights beam down on a high school Friday night football game as the ball is snapped, shoulder pads clash and the crowd roars when the wide receiver dodges, turns around and reaches for the ball only to be blindsided by a crushing tackle that floors him with a concussion. Concussions are the most common injury athletes face and it is an injury that has lifelong medical consequences for young athletes. Sports-related concussions rank second in the number of brain injuries after motor vehicle accidents according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We deal with some kind of concussion about two to three players a game,” said Casey Austin, a graduate assistant and athletic trainer at the University of Texas at El Paso. UTEP’s football team experiences some 24 concussions per season, he said, but “that’s not including practice concussions.”  The number of concussions would be higher, he said, if practices are included.