NCAA "suggests" less full-contact in practice

[asu66]

From the NCAA Journal and The Washington Post Online

NCAA Targets Injury Cut With Less Full-Contact Football Practice
Eben Novy-Williams Jul 08, 2014 12:01 am ET

July 8 (Bloomberg) -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association suggested curbing full-contact football practices, echoing a policy instituted by the Ivy League in 2011.

The recommendation is among a set of guidelines created to “generate a cultural shift within college athletics,” the NCAA said on its website yesterday. Other changes suggested are requirements for medical care and instructions for the diagnosis and management of sport-related concussions.

The guidelines follow six months of talks between the NCAA, the College Athletic Trainers’ Society, medical organizations, coaches and administrators.

“It’s consensus,” NCAA Chief Medical Officer Brian Hainline said. “In terms of changing the culture around health and safety, that’s the best way to do it.”

Former football players are suing the NCAA over its handling of concussions and head trauma. A similar lawsuit against the National Football League led to a $765 million settlement that isn’t complete.

Under the new guidelines, football teams are allowed no more than two live contact practices a week during the regular season. That mirrors a policy implemented by the Ivy League three years ago and enacted by the Pac-12 Conference before last season.

Preseason Practice

During the preseason, teams can have a maximum of 12 live contact practices, with no more than one a day and four a week. Of the 15 allowable spring practice sessions, eight may allow live contact.

Discussions about safety in college football began in Atlanta in January at a summit that included trainers, neurologists and team physicians. The gathering also had representatives from major athletic conferences including the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Pac-12, Southeastern Conference and Ivy League.

“The opportunity to gather, at one table, the stakeholders from all disciplines in collegiate athletics, solely in the interest of student-athlete safety, is unprecedented,” said Scott Anderson, president of the College Athletic Trainers’ Society and head athletic trainer at the University of Oklahoma.

Under the revised guidelines, an athlete diagnosed with a concussion is not allowed to return to play in the current game or practice on the same day. Institutions must make their concussion management plans available to the public, and gradually ease injured students back into both athletics and academics.

Medical Liaison

Schools must also designate a licensed physician to serve as a liaison between athletes and health-care providers. Those groups should have “unchallengeable autonomous authority” over injury management and return-to-play decisions, according to the release.

The NCAA said the guidelines aren’t legislated rules and may be altered in the future as research continues to change the approach to player safety. In May, the governing body for college athletics announced a $30 million partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense to study concussion and other head trauma.

“Medicine really is a process that’s much more fluid, which led us to the guideline approach rather than pursuing legislation,” Hainline said. “The words we like to use are ‘living, breathing.’ We’d much rather have a living, breathing document that can shift based on emerging evidence.”

[AppState2014]

I am fearing the NCAA is going to overreact and do way more than it should, which will probably hurt the game as well. Some changes should be made and there should be a limit on full pad practices but I'm getting scared they are going to go too far.

[AppinVA]

You know what would stop a ton of injuries? Teach kids how to tackle the right way beginning in Pop Warner, and DO NOT abandon those techniques.

[AppSt94]

You know what would stop a ton of injuries? Teach kids how to tackle the right way beginning in Pop Warner, and DO NOT abandon those techniques.

Amen!! While we are at it how about getting the media to stop glorifying the "BIG" hits.

[luvyosef]

I am sorry if this sounds cruel, but I do not, in any way, support these former athletes at all who sue because of head trauma. I never played college football, but all throughout my prep days, my helmet always had a little sticker on it warning me of the risk I take playing the game.

If I can accept that and still make the decision to play, as have countless thousands, why should I feel sorry for some guy who knew the risks of playing a contact sport and now basically wants to earn a dime on somebody else's time? Sorry, not in my world. NCAA has always and will always be a joke. I hope the P5 break away just to shove it up their butt.

[NewApp]

I am sorry if this sounds cruel, but I do not, in any way, support these former athletes at all who sue because of head trauma. I never played college football, but all throughout my prep days, my helmet always had a little sticker on it warning me of the risk I take playing the game.

If I can accept that and still make the decision to play, as have countless thousands, why should I feel sorry for some guy who knew the risks of playing a contact sport and now basically wants to earn a dime on somebody else's time? Sorry, not in my world. NCAA has always and will always be a joke. I hope the P5 break away just to shove it up their butt.

<but all throughout my prep days, my helmet always had a little sticker on it warning me of the risk I take playing the game.>

In the early 80's through the early 90's those helmets were checked by the officials before the start of the first scrimmage game for those warning stickers and randomly during the rest of the season in case they came off or the print worn. Too, the head coach had to document a brief oral presentation reading and explaining the content of the warning before the first live practice.

[bcoach]

You know what would stop a ton of injuries? Teach kids how to tackle the right way beginning in Pop Warner, and DO NOT abandon those techniques.

A thousand time yes.

[wataugan03]

I am sorry if this sounds cruel, but I do not, in any way, support these former athletes at all who sue because of head trauma. I never played college football, but all throughout my prep days, my helmet always had a little sticker on it warning me of the risk I take playing the game.

If I can accept that and still make the decision to play, as have countless thousands, why should I feel sorry for some guy who knew the risks of playing a contact sport and now basically wants to earn a dime on somebody else's time? Sorry, not in my world. NCAA has always and will always be a joke. I hope the P5 break away just to shove it up their butt.

I think they are arguing the NCAA and its member institutions didn't actually tell them everything they knew about head concussions - that they along with everyone else were kept in the dark. Kind of like what the Tobacco companies did. And they are also arguing the NCAA and member institution's policies and practices for dealing with players who had head injuries were inadequate and that the the NCAA and member institutions knew it was inadequate.

That's basically what the NFL players argued and right now we're looking at a settlement of 870 million dollars (with the possibility that number goes up). I don't think you reach that kind of settlement unless you think you did something wrong and you really don't want to have it come out in discovery. The worst part is that the public will never know what might have come out in discovery . . . the NFL may well have some secret information that would make a difference when we are deciding whether or not to let our kids play football. I have no idea if the NCAA has anything to hide, but I hope we find out.