Local lawmakers seek national concussion standards

In a small conference room at Suffolk Community College's Ammerman Campus, two local U.S. representatives tried to tackle a very big issue: youth athletes and concussions.

Long Island congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) and congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) held a field hearing for the committee on education and labor, hearing from a doctor, a high school trainer, a former high school athlete and two former NFL players as to whether a federal standard can be set in the treatment and prevention of concussions in high school and youth-sport athletes.

Craig LoNigro, the athletic trainer and a health education teacher at Comsewogue High School, cited a 2009 report that estimated 400,000 high school athletes suffered brain injuries in the 2008-09 school year. Many returned to play too soon and their academic work suffered, along with their ability to play sports.

"I found it hard to concentrate in class," said Caitlin Monaghan, a basketball and soccer player at Garden City High School who suffered two concussions within a month of her senior year, in 2006. "My work suffered."

The committee held a hearing in Washington in May to begin the discussion on some sort of national "return to play" guidelines for concussions in youth sports; since then, six states have adopted standards, and New York has a bill pending in the state Assembly to adopt similar guidelines: that all high school athletes who suffer a suspected concussion not return to play that day, that they are examined by a trainer or doctor and that they are eased back into participation, much like the guidelines for pro athletes now in effect.

"Given some of the financial constraints of schools, having care and testing available for everyone is a tough thing," Bishop said. "National guidelines are a good idea, a good start. Enforcing them is much, much harder."

Bishop said he was encouraged to hear from Dr. Hayley Queller, an orthopedic surgeon based in East Setauket who started conducting baseline neurological exams for four high schools in Suffolk County this year, that the tests - neurocognitive exams that are conducted before a sport's season begins, which can be referred to when an athlete suffers a brain injury to determine the extent - cost only $2 per athlete.

"Hearing that is good news," Bishop said. "Cost is obviously a huge factor."

As is the "warrior mentality" of playing through pain, outlined by former Jets receiver Rich Caster and former Chargers offensive lineman Courtney Hall, who testified to their experiences with concussions in the 1970s, '80s and '90s.

"The questions were usually, 'How many fingers am I holding up?' or 'What day is it?' " Hall said. "We always played on Sundays. You weren't expected to miss time with a concussion, and you didn't want to."