High school sports injuries increase during fall

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KFVS) – Fall means Friday night lights and many other popular sporting events are back in Missouri. But with the return of fall sports comes the return of sports injuries.

Dr. Clayton Nuelle with MU Health said sports injuries increase in the fall. Possibly the most serious type of injury to look out for is head injuries.

“If an athlete or a player has any sort of alteration in consciousness, that’s a first obvious sign of a potential head injury,” Nuelle said. “More subtle signs are if they have headaches or if they have difficulty in vision or difficulty with balance.”

Under a Missouri law called “Interscholastic Youth Sports Brain Injury Prevention Act”, schools must have parents sign a slip saying they understand the risk of brain injury before their student can participate in school sports.

The Missouri State High School Sports Activity Association, or MSHSAA, has to release an annual report on head injuries. According to the most recent report, football is by far the most popular sport for Missouri students, there were over 1,000 head injuries among Missouri high school football players in 2022. Cheerleading and girls’ soccer both had over 250 head injuries statewide in the same year.

“Cheerleading with all of the lifts and gymnastics, there is a greater risk for head injury. Girls’ soccer also has issues, and some of those issues are going to be with headers, but most often it’s going to be kind of a head-to-head or head-to-other area impact,” said Dr. Jennifer Rukstad with MSHSAA.

There is no requirement in Missouri for paramedics or ambulances to be at sports games, even though the risk of injury is high. Rukstad said this is because there are not enough ambulances in Missouri to cover all the high school games going on at one time and ensure there are some available for others.

“They have found other ways to be responsive, whether that’s through volunteer fire or other ways to do that, but our schools have been very creative with the resources that they have,” Rukstad said.

Rukstad encourages schools to have some kind of medical expert on hand, even though it’s not required.

There is always a risk of injury when playing a sport, but Rukstad said that risk is worth it to the kids for the physical and social skills they gain.

“All of that is to allow students to feel part of a team, and they’re all working toward a common goal that’s important for life,” Rukstad said.

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