New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Cheshire schools report one of highest rates of concussions in state
CHESHIRE — Football is the sport that has caused the most concussions in Cheshire students over the past four years, and Cheshire Public Schools reported the 15th-highest total of concussions in the state during the same period, according to state data.
Many school districts fail to report data, though it is mandated by law, a CT Insider investigation found. Since the law’s passage, each year, the state education department sends surveys to 197 districts it says are required to submit concussion data. Districts have between May and July to complete the surveys with data from the previous school year and return them.
Cheshire Athletic Director John Perosino said Cheshire’s high statewide ranking could be because it thoroughly reports concussions while other districts do not.
“I would say that because we are so comprehensive and because we’re educating on it so much, and because we are a community that is really active and really values sports and athletics, those could be some reasons as to why you see a disparity between us and others in the state,” Perosino said.
Seventeen football players got concussions in the 2021-2022 school year, according to state data, but Perosino said school records show just seven football concussions that year. Perosino said there is also a discrepancy between the overall number of concussions in the state data, 53, and the number the district reported, just 36, for the 2021-2022 year.
Districts are required to track concussions and report them to the state, denoting factors like sport, gender and grade level. Even if a student gets a concussion outside of school activities, the school nurse still reports it. State data shows concussions by several categories, including “School Athletics — Interscholastic” and “NonSchool Sports Related (i.e. Local Town Recreational Sports).”
Additionally, the school only offers football for grades 7-12 while the state data for football could include any age — for example, youth football leagues in Cheshire. Last year, a large portion of concussions took place outside of school.
The Cheshire Parks & Recreation Department only offers youth basketball, and it is not required to track concussions, according to Program Supervisor Elizabeth Mayne. She said the department provides information about concussions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to participants on the registration website. Cheshire Junior Football and Cheerleading did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Cheshire Lacrosse Club.
The district had zero football concussions in 2020-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the season. The previous year it had 11; last year it had seven, per state data, in line with statewide trends showing football as a large contributor to overall concussion numbers.
Perosino said the number of football concussions may seem higher because it has an average roster with three times as many players as other sports.
“There is a reason why the state has a specialized course for football coaches, due to the physicality of the tackling and the nature of that sport,” Perosino said. “We know our athletes are more susceptible to concussions. So we do everything we can to mitigate that and to coach it up to try and keep our athletes safe.”
Perosino said concussion education is a mandatory part of coaching certification, and football coaches complete more specialized training. Perosino said certification must be refreshed every five years, and the coaches complete a refresher on concussion signs and symptoms in their annual one-on-one with Perosino.
“We have a pretty comprehensive plan in Cheshire in regards to making sure there’s an awareness about the signs and symptoms of concussions,” Perosino said.
Perosino said the district goes beyond state mandates by having each new student complete a baseline test of brain function through the ImPACT Concussion Test.
Perosino said the district follows return-to-play protocols set by the district’s athletic governing body, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. Students start with gradual exercise with a trainer that increases over time. They also retake the ImPACT test to ensure they’re at or near their baseline.
School officials do not diagnose concussions, Perosino said, and they require a medical note, which the school nurse uses in her overall concussion data collection. The nurse fills out a report to the state at the end of every year for every grade in the district.
Ryan noted that children sustain injuries that don’t get diagnosed. She said education is important, as is refraining from jumping to the worst possible conclusion.
“The first words that need to come out of any provider’s mouth is: ‘You will get better,’” Ryan said.