Concussions caused by a series of hits, findings suggest

I came across an article today that had a lot of impact on me.  Testing on football players suggests that concussion really happen as a result cumulative blows to the head, not just one hit.

There is a link below to the article, which I highly suggest as a read.  But I wanted to take a minute to talk about what I feel is most important here...

New Rules Regarding Athlete Welfare and Academics

When college presidents from across the country are called to a “retreat” by the NCAA… you know something big is going to happen.

And it has.  And it is good. 

What it means for student athlete eligibility going forward is that, while student athletes will be eligible for additional scholarships to cover unforeseen costs that athletic scholarships can’t cover, the road to get them will be harder and it will be harder to keep.

Walter Harrison, chair of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance, and President of University of Hartford, said that the initiatives that they passed were “three of the most significant initiatives in NCAA history.”

The three areas that the initiative address are:

Scheduling disqualified the undefeated team from state tourney

Imagine going undefeated in regular season and then being disqualified because an administrator accidentally scheduled an extra match-up.  And to boot, you win the extra match-up!

Is this the team’s fault?  The coaches?  In the end, it didn’t matter.  An undefeated girls’ volleyball team had to forfeit their place in the state tournament, regardless.

Safeguarding student athlete eligibility is critical.  But the old adage that “what doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get managed” seems to still apply.

I am one of those people who actually believes that in the vast majority of situations like these, it really just is that we are human and that things get by us. 

Can we fault someone for adding an extra match into a schedule?  Technically we can.  But can we do it when we haven’t given them the tools and the resources to make sure that it doesn’t happen.  The line there gets fuzzy.

I have to hand it to the AD at the school though.  The following statement taken from a post on the Columbian demonstrates class…

HS Football Team Gives Back 8 Wins for Residency Violation

"A Catawba County high school had to forfeit all of its wins from last season after the state athletic association found an ineligible player on the team." -WBTV

8 wins and a tie... forfeited.  It's one of the only times we can officially change history with regard to highschool sports. 

Every school they beat in competition gets another win in their books.

Why?

Press Release: Core Transcripts Announces New Blog

Welcome to the Core Transcripts Blog!!!

On this blog we will be discussing topics such as:

• NCAA Clearinghouse Eligibility
• Issues facing Athletic Directors, Coaches, Trainers, etc
• Trends in student athletics
• Relevant Announcements
• Accolades
• Recruiting

We hope that it becomes one of your most frequented sources of information and discussion. 

We look forward to the comments and discussion that you contribute!

The Vindexis Team.