The next day, his father, Dr. Alexander N. Bohatiuk, received a phone call at work: Nicholas went out for recess and began vomiting.
"I remember it like it was yesterday, because we could not believe what had just happened," Dr. Bohatiuk said of what he called "a dirty hit."
"So we had to shut Nicholas down for 2 weeks. He came back and was fine."
The young player had suffered a concussion. Although we have come to think of concussions as a byproduct of pro or collegiate sports, it is also an especially alarming concern for youth-league players, whose brains are still in a stage of development. But it has not been until recently that adults have stepped forward to address it, with the passage of legislation last spring in Washington state that prohibits young players who show any signs of concussion from participating in sports unless they receive clearance from a doctor. The NFL just last week also began running 30-second public service announcements addressing the issue of concussions.
Such forward-thinking efforts have been embraced by the Team Comcast "AAA" Youth Hockey Club, which has received funding from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to develop and conduct a concusssion-management program. In an effort to promote concussion awareness among coaches, players and parents, players 11 years old and above received neurocognitive testing, the aim of which is to provide a baseline for athletes to safely play again in the aftermath of a head injury. More than 120 players participated in the "ImPACT" neurocognitive test, which was administered at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Care Network's Specialty Care Center in Voorhees, N.J.
Primeau characterizes the program as "cutting edge."
