You may not expect that the National Football League is an organization with lobbyist pull in state capitals around the country. But they are, and they are lobbying for the safety and the prevention of personal injury for young athletes. The National Football League is assisting legislators in states across the country to develop rules that guard young athletes against the health consequences of concussions.

The professional football league has taken what it has learned about the management of concussions and has begun to apply its knowledge to assist young athletes who are at a greater risk to suffer long-term health complications from concussions than adult athletes. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year around 135,000 children ages 5 to 18 are sent to the emergency room for concussions or other head injury trauma that result from sports or recreation activities.

Concussion symptoms like nausea, headache, dizziness and problems concentrating can last from one week up to several months. Repeated head trauma can cause depression, memory issues and brain damage. Child athletes are more susceptible to long term brain damage than adults because their brains are in the process of developing. The National Football League has been working with state legislators to develop bills that require high school and other youth coaches to get training on how to recognize concussion symptoms.

There are other aspects of the proposed bills. The proposed bills would also ensure that young athletes be evaluated and approved by a licensed medical professional to return to play. Student athletes and their parents would be given handouts on concussion risks and symptoms. None of the proposed bills call for a coach to be punished, but a coach that allows an athlete to return too early could be left open to a civil suit says the NFL's vice president of government affairs. Within the last few years Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia and Oklahoma have passed laws on young athlete concussions. Pennsylvania has not.

Source: The Associated Press, "NFL Backs State Regulations for Youth Concussions," 1/16/11