High School Football

The following two paragraphs quoted from a medical journal, tell about the organizations that have been collecting data on high school football cervical spine injuries. What most parents, coaches, and players don’t know, is that cervical spine degeneration, herniated disks, and other neck-related problems can occur later in life, even when no bones are broken.

“In order to track nonfatal catastrophic injuries, Torg et al[1] established the National Football Head and Neck Injury Registry in 1975, which collected data on CSIs through the early 1990s. In 1977, the NCAA initiated funding for a National Survey of Catastrophic Injuries directed by Mueller and Blyth.[2]–[4] In 1982, this project was expanded to include all sports and renamed the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Both projects used similar methods of collecting data. These sources included coaches, school administrators, medical personnel, athletic organizations, a national newspaper-clipping service, and professional associates. The collection of these data was crucial in preventing catastrophic injuries.[12]

“In 1987, a joint endeavor was initiated between the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and the section on Sports Medicine of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. As a result, Cantu became responsible for monitoring the collected medical data.[2] This project continues to collect data on these injuries.”

Reference:

Jonathan F. Heck, Kenneth S. Clarke, Thomas R. Peterson, Joseph S. Torg, and Michael P. Weis: National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Head-Down Contact and Spearing in Tackle Football. J Athl Train. 2004 March; 39 (1): 101–111.

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Written for the Cervical Spine Foundation (CervicalSpineFoundation.org) October 18, 2004.