B
S PORTS
Section B
Concussion
concerns
calmed
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
High school fall sports start practice
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
The start of fall sports means
high hopes for the upcoming
season, great expectations for
what is to come and an increased
awareness of concussions.
A concussion is defi ned by
the Center of Disease Control as
“a type of traumatic brain inju-
ry” that is caused by a direct hit
to the head or by an impact sus-
tained by the body that results in
a whiplash affect. As more and
more research from the National
Football League begins to circu-
late about concussions and what
the long term damage might
mean, high schools across the
country are fi nding ways to pre-
vent injuries of this nature in the
present.
At Cottage Grove High
School, athletic trainer Jared
Hutchins works with student
athletes to help them understand
the dangers of concussions and
how to move forward if they
have experienced brain trauma.
In 2013, Hutchins imple-
mented the use of the national
test called ImPACT. ImPACT
is an assessment that measures
cognitive functions in an indi-
vidual. All athletes at Cottage
Grove High School are required
to take it before the season starts
to provide a baseline in case
they suffer a head injury. If they
do suffer a head injury, they will
take the test again to see where
they scored and based off of the
results Hutchins can work to see
if they are ready to come back
and play or if they need more
rest.
“With the new tests we can
put them through they can know,
‘Oh yeah, okay I’m not ready.’
Because we have enough tests
now that show enough results
and they get some feedback that
I’m not ready to go yet,” said
Hutchins. “It isn’t just me say-
ing no you can’t go back in, or
kind of guessing, now we have
more tests which helps.”
While the type of concus-
sion that has been glorifi ed and
is most commonly thought of
when this topic comes up is the
head-to-head collision in foot-
ball, Hutchins notes that this is
by no means the most common
type.
“It’s you’re going down and
someone knees you in the head
or you get hit and your head
whiplashes off the ground. Just
awkward things like that,” said
Hutchins. “Girls soccer, basket-
ball you catch an elbow on a re-
bound. You think of concussion
and you think of this big colli-
sion and two people got really
hurt but a lot of time they just
got hit, a bump.”
It is after these bumps and
hits occur that athletes have to
proceed with caution and not
just power through the pain. Eh-
san Hazrat MD, who works at
the Cottage Grove PeaceHealth
clinic, also sees the danger of
concussions and that patience is
the key to getting better.
“With sports we always have
this mentality to be tough. And
yeah, the tougher you are the
more you do. This is that one
time that you don’t want to be
tough,” says Dr. Hazrat. “Even
if you suspect you have a con-
cussion it’s a good idea to kind
of take it easy for a week, or two
weeks. In the long run you will
benefi t from it.”
The Cottage Grove High School football team working on 11-on-11 drills on their fi rst day of practice. Fall sports started across all of Oregon on Monday.
Football camp
wraps up
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Last week, the Cottage Grove High School (CGHS)
football team hosted their annual football camp. The
camp that lasted from Monday to Thursday featured
morning sessions of middle school students and high
school underclassmen and the evenings had students
from kindergarten to fi fth grade. Despite two of the
evening sessions having to be cut from two hours to
one hour because of poor air quality due to the fi res in
the area, the camp continued and was seen as a success
by the coaches and players.
This year there were 45 kindergarten through fi fth
grade campers, 34 middle schoolers and 30 high
schoolers. The camp is a way for the players to work
on position-specifi c skills before the start of the fall
season.
With the younger students in the evenings, the
campers would rotate to different drills that focused
on a specifi c skill. At each station they were led by
a current CGHS football coach and a host of current
football players who were wearing their jerseys.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA
One of those play-
ers was junior DeJean
Alonzo. Alonzo, who
is currently the backup
quarterback and a defen-
sive back, was leading
drills in each of his re-
spective positions. With
excitement that matched
the energy levels of the
kids he was working with
and a constant stream
of positive language,
Alonzo was enjoying his
time leading the drills.
“I was in their shoes
at one point and it’s fun
to look up to the people
in the jersey,” said junior
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA
DeJean Alonzo. While A pair of campers take a water break on the last day of camp.
noting his role as a role
During the evening while the fi eld was fi lled with
model to the students, he also acknowledged that
football drills, the sidelines and bleachers saw the
working with the younger kids can be a lot to handle.
parents of the kids watching. Sitting on a bench was
“It’s funny when the little kindergartners come in, it’s a
Rachel Moses of Cottage Grove who has two sons, a
handful. They don’t know what they’re doing but they
nine and ten year old, playing football for the fi rst time
like to be here doing the drills.”
this year.
Head football coach Gary Roberts noted that seeing
“I was a little uneasy before we got started [playing
his players work with kids is a good lesson for them in
football] but the coaches are so gentle with them and
a number of ways.
they really take into account that it is their fi rst year.
“It’s a good week for our kids because they learn
It’s been a really great experience,” said Moses.
that it’s not that easy to be a coach,” said Roberts.
Athletes of the
Week
This week's athletes of the week are the 45
kindergarten through fi fth graders who were at
football camp. The group was clearly excited
to be at camp but were even more excited to
have their pictures taken.
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA
No races this weekend.
See you next weekend
enjoy the fair!