Concussions: a common injury for players of contact sports everywhere. Though football immediately comes to mind as a sport in which players are liable to face the risk of head injury, everything from soccer to hockey to track and field can theoretically cause significant head trauma if an accident occurs. Even day-to-day gym classes can pose a threat! No athletic activity, regardless of the level at which it is played, is completely risk-free.
One of the easiest ways to prevent concussions in your school athletes is investing in pads for gym walls or high school wall mats. Cushioning any blows your school athletes may endure if they bash into the wall can greatly reduce the risk of head trauma.
At SportsGraphics, we’d be happy to provide your school with the adequate wall padding, regardless of which grades you serve. From column padding to stage padding, we have everything you need to show your students that administration cares about their safety—and for some products, we even have custom branding to boot!
However, as high-quality as our products are, we also know that concussions remain a reality for schools everywhere. As experts in impact-related wall padding, we feel it is our duty to share what every athletic director and sports coach should know about head trauma in their students, regardless of which sports they supervise.
Concussions are a Serious Issue in Youth
But you don’t need us to tell you that. A quick Internet search provides countless statistics and in-depth articles from hospitals about how large an issue head trauma is in youth sports and beyond. For the sake of simplification, though, here are three things that you, as someone who supervises school sports, need to know:
● In some cases, policies are changing to reduce concussion risks. At a state and local level, organizations everywhere are taking steps to reduce the risk of head trauma. Keep your eyes on the rulebook of the applicable school or league, and don’t be afraid to ask the appropriate authorities if you don’t quite understand.
● Always play it safe. Just because your students are wearing the appropriate protective equipment doesn’t mean they’re completely safe from concussions. As a supervisor, it’s your job to watch that play remains safe to minimize concussion risk.
● As a coach, be attentive. Some students might attempt to tough out their concussion and keep playing through it. It’s your responsibility as an adult to pull any student suspected of a concussion aside and run the appropriate testing.
Ways Schools Can Protect Students From Concussions
If you're looking to keep your students from suffering from injuries, especially concussions, investing in the proper safety gear is essential. To start with, you'll want to ensure that students are given the right equipment for the sports they play. Football players, for example, should always wear helmets. When cheerleaders practice in the gym, they should have mats underneath them.
Then you need to ensure that the coaches responsible for the athletes are practicing suitable safety protocols and looking out for the health of each student. This means they should stop any dangerous behavior and not push their students too far.
How Protective Wall Padding Protects From Concussions
Finally, to protect your students from issues like concussions, it's vital to have the correct wall padding and outdoor padding where students will practice sports, perform events, and hold assemblies.
Wall padding from SportsGraphics can help protect your student in many ways, such as:
● Ensuring basketball plays and others playing sports in the gym don't run straight into a wall.
● Keeping baseball players and other players of field sports protected when running near bleachers or in the dugout.
● Making sure that any student performing in the gym doesn't hurt themselves against a wall or the indoor bleachers.
Learn more about custom wall padding, gym padding, and bleacher curtains by reaching out today.
Contact SportsGraphics for Comprehensive Wall Padding
Again, one of the easiest ways to keep kids safe from concussions is investing in good wall padding, and SportsGraphics is just the company to provide. Give our Clarion, Iowa office a call now at 800-257-6405.