Post Date: December 10, 2015
Source: Waterloo Region Record
Author: Christine Rivet
WATERLOO — Local high school football coach Peter Izzio is equally encouraged and worried the upcoming release of Hollywood movie “Concussion” will be a game-changer.
Encouraged because he thinks concussion awareness and concussion protocols need to be front and centre for athletes, their parents and coaches.
Worried because he thinks overreacting parents might pull their kids out of football for fear of them suffering a traumatic brain injury.
“When the movie comes out, I can’t help but wonder if it will do for playing football what ‘Jaws’ did for swimming in the ocean,” said Izzio.
“It could completely change what people think about head injuries and concussions,” added Izzio, a football coach at Sir John A. Macdonald and a former running back and coach at Wilfrid Laurier University.
“After this movie comes out, you might even start hearing people ask if we should even be playing football at all?”
The movie, opening Christmas Day, is based on the true story of an African doctor who discovers repeated brain damage from games led to the deaths of some NFL players.
Meanwhile, Rowan’s Law, a private member’s bill, was debated on Thursday at Queen’s Park in Toronto. It would become the first concussion legislation in Canada dedicated to the safety of young athletes.
For years, stories of high-profile athletes and their concussion woes and battles with post-concussion syndrome have made routine headlines.
The increased public awareness is a good thing, said Izzio, a local financial adviser, because more and more sports associations are adopting concussion protocols.
He and his wife Sally are parents of five kids, three of whom play contact sports in Waterloo, including their four-year-old daughter, Jenna. They are also longtime foster parents.
“Child protection is a big part of who we are,” he explained.
And so Izzio has launched his personal mission to educate and protect local kids.
He said he will sink $25,000 of his own money into a local program affiliated with the Brain Injury Association of Waterloo-Wellington, Lidz on Kidz, over the next year to educate elementary school students about the importance of wearing a helmet and to outfit children in need with helmets.
“There’s an absolute need. I don’t need a hero biscuit but unless people like me do it, there’s going to be nothing.”
Izzio, who suffered a concussion while playing football at Laurier, said he wants parents to know their kids’ safety is paramount to local high school football coaches.
The value of playing a team sport like football outweighs any risk of injury, added Izzio, whose 17-year-old son, Adam, plays football for SJAM.
“Concussions are going to happen,” Izzio said pointing to brain injuries that can result from other sports, car accidents and slip and falls.
“The issue isn’t that they happen. The issue is what are we as coaches going to do about it?”
Gone are the days when a coach would toss a concussed player back into the fray, Izzio said.
During his playing days with the Western Mustangs until 2009, Laurier’s head coach Michael Faulds shook off several hits to his head that were likely concussions.
“Back then, we’d just say, ‘Oh, I got my bell rung.’ And then we’d go back out there.”
That scenario was pretty much the norm before people became aware of the lasting effects of concussions, said Izzio.
“It’s no slight against anyone. We just know more now,” Izzio noted.
Nowadays, Faulds said he’s seen players opt to take to the field with everything from broken fingers, sprained ankles or even damaged knee ligaments.
But no longer are players interested in risking long-term problems by playing with a concussion — nor are they ever allowed to.
“I see a real difference in how everyone from our medical team, coaches and players react to a concussion. That’s progress,” said Faulds.
Nowadays, university and high school coaches have to follow strict protocols for players with head injuries.
Players are immediately removed from games or practices for at least a week. They must be seen by a medical professional and cleared before they can return to the field. Such injuries must also be reported to school officials.
What’s more, coaches are teaching their players to tackle and block more safely these days, Izzio said, adding there is less hitting in practices than before.
Despite strides made in protecting players, Izzio said local associations should make baseline testing, which can cost up to $90 per player, available to kids before they hit the field.
Baseline testing would help determine if a concussed player has recovered and is safe to return to play.
The Ontario University Athletics conference beefed up its concussion protocol this past season by limiting the number of full-contact practices teams can run. Baseline testing for all football players is mandatory in the league even before players hit the practice field.
Izzio’s own brush with a brain injury occurred back in 1987 while he was playing for Laurier in an exhibition game against Guelph.
He recalls absorbing a hit and “cracking” his helmet on the ground. Teammates told him his eyes rolled back into his head and he was helped off the field.
Izzio was so wobbly he sat out a week before he returned to the field, a wise move despite his coaches operating without any guidelines.
Luckily, he suffered no lasting effects.
For now, Izzio is left to wonder what the fallout will be after people see “Concussion.”
“My wife will probably see it and she will probably not want Adam to play football any more.
“I want my son to play high school football. But I also want to put him in a position where he can move through life as a healthy person.”