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.

Germad Reed

Football teaches you the discipline to hit hard and when knocked down, get up and do it again

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EL PASO – I look to the sideline at my position coach to get the call, a series of quick hand signals repeated three times. “Over 4 Dagger Right Echo,” I yell out to my teammates so that we all can be on the same page. Now, I look at the Tulane University lineup formation and recall what plays they run out of the 10 personal formations. The first number is for how many backs are in and the second number tells how many tight ends. In this formation the quarterback is usually aligned in shotgun with the back either to his left or right.

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.