.&
Sats.

Making headway on head shots

Experts debate how to properly remove concussions from youth hockey

By David Krause — The Manitoban
(University of Manitoba)

WINNIPEG (CUP) — In January
of last year, Sidney Crosby — the
undeniable face of the NHL — was
concussed during a hockey game,
calling athlete safety in hockey into
question.

Rising concerns about concussions
among children playing in youth
hockey leagues has lead to some
reforms being floated around — chiefly
raising the checking age. Dr. Martin
Bunge, a paediatric radiologist at the
Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg and
Brian Foreman, a minor hockey coach
for the Manitoba’s Fort Garry Flyers,
shared their expert opinions on the
controversy.

Both Foreman and Dr. Bunge agree
concussions seem to be rare in junior or
minor hockey leagues.

“We don’t see many children with
concussions, but that does not say
that concussions don’t occur,” said
Dr. Bunge. “The junior hockey league
mandates that children wear helmets
during hockey to protect their heads.

Having said that, small concussions can -

occur.”

Foreman argues hitting will take
place in hockey — it’s the nature of
the sport — so responsible player
contact must be taught to minimize the
potential for injury.

“You also have to teach them,

number one, how to hit responsibly and
how to take a hit,” Forman emphasized.
“T think it’s the responsibility of
coaches to teach [the players] at a
younger age responsible ways to hit and
more importantly how to take a hit and
how not to put yourself in dangerous
situations when you are in the game.”

“[Checking] became a way to
separate player from puck,” Foreman
continued. “It’s also used strategically
to change momentum in games ...
perhaps to take the player mentally out
of the game — and that’s part of the
game.”

Foreman contends the quality of
modern hockey equipment doesn’t
allow players to feel the hits and

‘respond correctly.

“So you see sticks up, you see
elbows up and again our job as a
coach is to teach that properly and the
techniques properly,” he said. “And at
the grassroots level that will eventually
carry up to when these kids are in
junior and beyond. They will have
respect for players and the game, and
also they know that the hits are coming
and how to respond.”

Dr. Bunge said a concussion is
“a clinical diagnosis that is dependent
on whether the child has loss of
consciousness at the time and however
long loss of consciousness occurs.”

“The concussions are sometimes
picked up radiographically on an MRI
session,” Dr. Bunge said “What we are

looking for are tiny bleeds in the brain
at the junction of the grey and white
matter. They occur in very specific
portions of the brain, in the frontal
and temporal lobes, and these are the
areas of the brain which determine
personality and cognitive functions.”

_ Concussions can have long-effects
on the child’s health, he added.

“The problems that occur may
not manifest themselves immediately
other than post-concussion syndrome,
which presents the children with
headaches and generally not feeling
up to things,” said Dr. Bunge. “Later
on in life, however, children with
post-concussion syndromes are more
prone to degenerative diseases such as
Alzheimer’s.”

Dr. Bunge states that there should
be no checking or hitting in junior
hockey as it is dangerous to the child
and any risk should be avoided. He
also commented that the age in which
checking is introduced should be raised.

_ “EF would recommend that they
raise body checking to 15, 16 — if not
older. I don’t think it has any place in
sport,” he said.

Foreman disagreed with Dr.
Bunge’s stance on raising the age at
which checking is permissible, stating
that it can be done safely at any age,
as long as it is properly taught. But
that doesn’t mean he is opposed to any
changes.

   

“T really applaud the stance the
NHL is taking on head shots, and
hopefully that will filter down through
the NHL and through the leagues,”
said Foreman. “You need all players to
play hockey, and if we keep hitting and
hurting each other inappropriately, you
will run each other out of the game.”

As an alternative to hitting in
hockey, both Foreman and Dr. Bunge
agree smaller children and teenagers,
and those who don’t want to be hit

. should play on no-contact teams so

they can enjoy playing the game.
Hockey Canada has recently
implemented rules and regulations that
should help prevent concussions and
properly treat them when they happen.
New rules regarding head checking,
hitting from behind, equipment fitting,
and player/spectator conduct will be
monitored and enforced during the
2011-12 female and minor hockey seasons.

 

Capping it off: A look at the Whitecaps’ year

vats,

By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer

T= Vancouver Whitecaps
rounded out their inaugural
season with a win this past
weekend, posting a 2-0 shutout over
the Colorado Rapids. It was a win

that offered a glimmer of hope for the

future, a small block on which they can

build upon for next year.

20

 

The ‘Caps had a rough go of it this
year, hitting more lows than a Barry
White album, but the season was not
a total loss. One bright spot was the
emergence of Gershon Koffie as a stud
in the middle of the park. The 19-year-
old showed that he could do it all; he
made tackles left, right, and centre; he
stuck the ball in the back of the net; and
he distributed the ball like a midfield

general, Definitely a player that the
Whitecaps will have trouble holding
onto. Also of note are Camilo and
Hassli, who accounted for a whopping
65 per cent of the club’s goals this
season.

Unfortunately, the rest of the
squad, in my humble opinion, is
exceedingly mediocre. The defense, -
which was supposed to be the
Whitecaps’ strength this year, had more
holes than swiss cheese, allowing an
astounding 53 goals (“good” for third
most in the league). Jay DeMerit, the
original poster boy signing for the team,
seemed to do little more than keep the
other team onside, make haphazard
challenges, and generally be a burden...
when he managed to be healthy enough
to take to the pitch, that is. Joe Cannon
should retire. Jay Nolly should start.
Enough said. Moving forward, the
wingers showed themselves to have
little to no imagination; their move
of choice was often the “kick it down
the wing and sprint after it” —it was
like watching U8 soccer at times. The
middle of the park was patrolled by the
aforementioned Koffie and a generally
irrelevant partner. Thorrington and
Vagenas had varying levels of success,
but I often found them to make

agonizingly boneheaded decisions.
Finishing up front, Sanvezzo and Hassli
have had their fair share of goals, Long
Tan has looked promising in recent
weeks, and Omar Salgado has severely
disappointed. I realize that he’s only 18
years old, and that the ‘Caps intention
from the start of the season was to
bring him along slowly, but he has put
nothing on display. His work rate on
the field is questionable. He doesn’t
make tackles. He panics under pressure.

_He has no touch. It would appear that

he is yet another product of the “we’re
drafting you because you’re big”
mentality. I hope he proves me wrong.
The Vancouver Whitecaps are
going to finish at the bottom of the
Western Conference, but they will do
so with the knowledge that they have
finished strongly. The past few weeks
have looked, if not good, then better,
and with a little luck, the momentum
will follow through into next year.
“We’re Blue! We’re White! We’re
SRR RK KR dynamite!”

Note: As of the writing of this article,
the Whitecaps have not yet played their
final game of the season, but I hope
they play well enough so that this piece
still rings true.