Focusing on brain health

BGS Head of Performance Development Adam Bloch

Concussion among athletes is a growing issue in world sport. A greater understanding of the brain and how it functions is critical to ensuring the best outcome for our students. Given the size and scope of the BGS Cocurricular program and the overarching endeavour to ensure the health and wellbeing of all students, our focus is to ensure our practices and procedures continually evolve and improve.

Early in 2021, BGS formalised a partnership with Neuroflex to ensure we offer students best practice baselining and clinical assessment following a suspected concussion. The focus on brain health shows the School’s commitment to properly investigating any head trauma beyond the incident where it occurred.

The Neuroflex platform allows baseline testing of an individual in less than 10 minutes. Built into the VR goggles are two cameras with six infrared sensors in each camera. These sensors track and determine the operational quality of the vestibular and ocular functions of the individual. A carefully mapped combination of fixed and functional head movement tests allows for the precise comparison of an individual’s brain health against the calculated standard deviations approved by the system’s medical team, built upon hundreds of thousands of data points.

During Term 2, BGS Performance Development staff Cat Paice and Jordan Manning oversaw the baseline testing process of the Open Rugby and Basketball squads. The annual rugby camp at Northgate provided the perfect opportunity to conduct a further 200 baseline tests for students ranging from U11 to Open.

It was the first time a school conducted this baselining process in-house, including students as young as Year 5. It was also the first time basketball had been included in the process, indicating an understanding that a ruck or a maul is not required for a concussion to occur.

After a suspected head knock has occurred, BGS staff can undertake a follow-up test with the NeuroFlex platform and provide information to the treating doctor, who can then decide whether the student has a concussion.

Annual testing of all players is possible so that we can track changes in brain health throughout a student’s time at school. Our goal is to manage and track the brain health of our student-athletes longitudinally across all sports.

As staff and students become more familiar with the Neuroflex platform, the potential for brain rehabilitation through targeted performance exercises will be increasingly effective.

Feedback on this process has been positive. We are excited to continue modifying and improving our implementation to ensure the best possible outcomes regarding athlete injury management and the overall brain health and wellbeing of BGS boys.