Concussions Are Now the Leading Cause of Injury for Children in Sports, But The Details Might Surprise You

A new study published indicates that elementary school-aged children who participate in recreational sports face a greater risk of suffering concussions and other catastrophic injuries.

While most of the media attention surrounding this issue in older children and young adults has focused on the tendency for sports like football to inflict these types of injuries, in this particular study, a number of the concussions occurred in other activities, such as soccer and softball. This reflects a serious issue, these activities are not on anyone’s radar in terms of posing a threat of brain injury and therefore no one is collecting injury data or paying attention to what needs to be done to address the problem.

Why We Should Care?

This is not only a serious concern due to the concussions themselves, but the repercussions of young people whose brains are still forming suffering from repeated brain injuries and eventually developing serious issues, such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), as a result.

What About Litigation?

A number of lawsuits have been filed against youth leagues such as Pop Warner in connection with allegations that the leagues knew of the harm and did nothing to address it or warn families about the issue. Class action lawsuits have also been filed against other leaders in organized sports, such as the NCAA and NFL. However, the concept that this issue could be widely connected to a number of children’s recreational sports has not yet been effectively explored or addressed, and, meanwhile, many children may suffer as a result.

In addition, due to these types of lawsuits often being settled outside of court, issues of liability in connection with youth sports and the dangers they pose have not yet been well established in terms of clear liability in the courts. While participants (and their guardians) have a duty to exercise due to care and some risks are assumed in activities like these, still, some families are choosing to file suit against these leagues and even the coaches in some circumstances, as some courts have found that it is possible for coaches to have breached their duty not to increase the already-inherent risks present in the sports by providing inadequate supervision. In some cases, medical personnel have also been joined on litigation, arguing that their actions (or failure to act) resulted in negligence, and this exacerbated the harm caused by the youth sports concussion.

Contact Our Florida Personal Injury Attorneys Today

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury, contact our experienced injury attorneys at Douglas & Douglas today to find out how we can help. We are here to ensure that justice is done for you and your family.