THE PLAYERS Championship took place March 10-15 at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. This year marked the seventh year that Nemours Children’s Health has been an official youth sponsor of THE PLAYERS Championship.
On Thursday, March 12, Nemours hosted a panel discussion centered around sports safety, and the developments and challenges surrounding it.
The panel was made up of Alfred Atanda, Jr., MD; Stephanie Pearce, MD; Myron L. Rolle, MD; and Maason Smith.
Nemours is committed to focusing on every aspect of a child’s health, and sports safety has many different facets. Smith, defensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars, talked about the NFL’s commitment to player safety in the development of new helmets, cleets, pads and natural grass fields instead of turf fields.
Pearce is an orthopedic surgeon and the director of sports medicine at Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville, and one of the team doctors for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team. She spoke about Nemours’ mission to take care of the entire athlete from every aspect including the physical, nutritional, psychological and social aspects. She said her job is to help her patients reach a better place.
“We want them to get to a stronger level than where they were before they got injured,” said Pearce.
One of Nemours’ clinical aspirations and research aspirations is looking at the things that put kids in the most danger out on a sports field, and head injuries are on the top of that list. Treatment for a concussion is not a one size fits all, and doctors look at the predominant symptom that an athlete with a concussion is facing. That could be insomnia, headaches or cognitive issues.
Rolle, a pediatric neurosurgeon with Nemours, said that it is important that we change the culture behind concussions.
“Big hits get featured on ESPN and social media; they get the most likes. As long as we start moving away from that emphasis in the game and more towards how good the block was then we will be going in the right direction,” said Rolle.
Smith agreed that it is time to de-emphasize this aspect of the game.
“The big hits shouldn’t be what kids want to do anymore because that is very dangerous,” he said.
Mental health is also an important part of the sports safety discussion. The sport a student athlete plays can easily become their whole identity. It is their friend / support group and where they go every day after school for either practice or a game. If they get injured and cannot play for a length of time, they can easily go into a state of depression.
“It’s important that we help them understand that they are more than their sport,” said Pearce.
When asked what advice he would give to young athletes, Smith said, “You get out of it what you put into it, so don’t give up.”
