Thoughts on this release.

[maven]

Originally Posted by ajmc

NFHS 3-5-10 has addressed this problem for many years, and covers concussions as well as any other "apparently injured player" situation. Game officials are NOT usually trained medical personnel, but we all should be responsible adults who recognize that the safety and health of participants in games we officiate is a primary focus.

Referring the player to the sideline for appropriate professional evaluation is a prudent protocol. Normally the player being sent back in to participate, after evaluation, is determined to be fit to play, and that conclusion is made by the appropriate sideline personnel, who it is reasonable to understand is also a, "responsible adults who recognize that the safety and health of participants in games we officiate is a primary focus".

However, in rare circumstances when the field officials remain uncomfortable with the player returning because of his behavior or actions, and there is concern that the player may still be, "an apparently injured player" they should simply reapply the instructions of NFHS 3-5-10 and refer the player back to the sideline for re-evaluation.

Your remarks don't address the concern. The new law in Ohio (which OHSAA has adopted as policy) specifies that, if an official in any sport sends a player off and uses the word 'concussion', that player is ineligible to participate further in that contest and for the remainder of that day. Period, medical examination notwithstanding.

Coaches worry that this policy bypasses their medical personnel (one area football team has the chief of the Cleveland Clinic neurosurgery unit on its sideline) and makes the officials responsible for this call.

So officials find themselves in a crossfire between the state, which wants us to err on the side of safety and send kids off, and coaches and schools, who want us to do nothing.

The press release from the state is hardly illuminating, I would say, and merely describes the crossfire without proposing any remedy for it.