As kids return to school and school sports, this is a story for all parents of team players.

My father is of the generation whose members believed that “good athletes can play hurt.”

How he still is here is hard to imagine. He and all of the others who played—without the helmets of today, either—-somehow survived.

But that is not due to their endurance or grit, just luck.

If you have that kind of “too motivated” young player in your household, you definitely need to learn how to make your own assessments of when it is okay to play again.

Today, coaches are more careful about protective helmets and watching for head injuries but these can be sneaky ones. Head injury symptoms do not always show up right away.

“If In Doubt, Sit Them Out”

In her Personal Health column this week, Jane Brody writes about the importance of protecting young brains in sports.

However, in everyday life, it can be hard for adults to know what’s the right thing to do when the kids want back into the game.

A helpful checklist makes this much more straight-forward.

On a scale of 0-6, adults note which, if any, symptoms are present starting from the point of injury,2-3 hours later, then 24, 48 and 72.

The story says that any player who has any one of the symptoms on the checklist should not play.

These symptoms are signs that the brain has not healed. (Emphasis added)

The New York Times

Graded Symptom Checklist

“Issued by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the checklist should be used at the time of a head injury and at least four times afterward: at 2 to 3 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours after the injury, or until all symptoms have cleared.”

Source: New York Times, Personal Health, August 25, 2009

Source: National Athletic Trainers’ Association Checklist