Helmets

HS Girls Lacrosse
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Matnum PI
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Helmets

Post by Matnum PI »

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cltlax
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Re: Helmets

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lagerhead
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Re: Helmets

Post by lagerhead »

By Bill Pennington

(New York Times) -- A University of Florida study includes data from roughly
350,000 games and practices in more than 30 states. Headgear for girls has
been mandated in Florida since 2015, and remains hotly debated.

In 2015, without empirical evidence or data that supported the decision,
Florida became the only state to require high school girls’ lacrosse teams to
wear protective headgear. Boys’ lacrosse teams nationwide have worn hard-shell
helmets for decades but girls, who play by rules that generally forbid
contact, have mostly spurned headgear.

The Florida rule created an ongoing and divisive debate fueled by fears that
the girls’ game would become as rugged as hard-hitting boys’ lacrosse. No
other state has mimicked Florida’s mandate in the last six years, and headgear
has largely remained optional in girls’ lacrosse.

But on Friday, in a landmark study that is likely to have widespread
repercussions for the sport, researchers at the University of Florida who
examined data from the last three girls’ lacrosse seasons concluded that
Florida’s female high school players were significantly less likely to sustain
concussions than their counterparts in states without a headgear requirement.

The study, unique in its scope because it includes data from roughly 350,000
games and practices in more than 30 states, reported that girls playing in
states without headgear mandates had a 59 percent higher concussion rate than
players in Florida. Moreover, games were more dangerous than practices.
Concussions rates were 74 percent higher during competitions among players in
states without compulsory headgear use when compared with games played in
Florida.

Dr. Daniel C. Herman, the study’s lead researcher, called the finding, which
will be presented Friday at the American Academy of Pediatrics national
conference, “nothing but good news.”

“Because we now know that helmets seem to be effective at reducing concussions
in high school girls’ lacrosse,” Herman added. “We wanted to remove the
emotion from the debate and focus on the data. Now there is something to
inform policymaking decisions that affect athlete safety.”

Todd Nelson, the assistant director of the New York State Public High School
Athletic Association, said his group had been awaiting the results of the
study, which he termed “significant.” Nelson said he hoped that USA Lacrosse,
the sport’s national governing body, and the National Federation of State High
School Associations would review the study’s conclusions and “possibly make
some rule changes.”

“If they do not,” Nelson, whose association represents a lacrosse hotbed,
said, “then our state association will look at that and possibly take some
action.”

Ann Carpenetti, a USA Lacrosse vice president, called the study “compelling
and very notable” and said she expected it to spawn considerable discourse
nationwide. USA Lacrosse, which co-funded the study along with the National
Operating Committee for Standards on Athletic Equipment, has not issued a
headgear recommendation.

“It’s so new, we haven’t been able to even share the results with stakeholders
and medical advisers,” said Carpenetti, whose organization spearheaded the
establishment of standards for girls-specific lacrosse headgear several years
ago. “Right now, we’re helping showcase evidence from a study that highlights
the risk mitigation benefits of wearing headgear for girls high school
lacrosse players.”

Carpenetti, however, added that she expected the topic will remain
controversial within the sport’s circles and cautioned, as did Herman, that
the new research did not address headgear use for girls younger than high
schoolers, or for college players.

USA Lacrosse has scheduled a sport medicine symposium for Wednesday and
Thursday, when the lead researchers of the Florida study will present their
findings. It is also worth noting that no athletic headgear has proved to
prevent all concussions. But in the case of lacrosse, headgear has been
effective in reducing head trauma caused by stick-to-head or ball-to-head
contact.

In roughly the past five years, as concerns about head injuries in youth
sports have escalated, hundreds of U.S. school districts have made headgear
compulsory at girls’ lacrosse games and practices. Two manufacturers, Cascade,
the leading maker of boys’ lacrosse helmets, and Hummingbird Sports in New
Jersey, have met the growing demand for lacrosse headgear designed for women.

But the pushback against headgear is staunch and well-connected since it
includes many of the highest-level college coaches, who worry that the
equipment will ruin the non-contact spirit of the girls’ game. Many fear that
headgear use will subsequently lead to shoulder and elbow pads and heavily
padded gloves, which are staples of the rough-and-tumble boys’ game. The more
gear on the players, their theory goes, the more physical the sport becomes.

Lynn Millinoff, who recently retired after 14 years as the girls’ lacrosse
coach at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Fla., views Florida’s headgear
era with a mix of emotions. She said the initial guidance from state officials
was chaotic and confounding. She believes the players felt more emboldened and
the game consequently grew rougher with more serious injuries from the neck
down. She said the headgear was still unpopular among players and worried
about the effect on participation levels since each piece of headgear costs
about $150.

“But I’m torn,” Millinoff said Thursday. “I’ve seen some of the kids on my
teams with concussions and it’s hard to watch that because they’re walking
around in a cloud. It’s tough for everybody.”
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