How To Prevent, Evaluate And Treat Concussions In Youth Athletes

Behind eight first-place finishes and numerous record-setting performances, the Brunswick School swimming team concluded its 2021-2022 season with a meet to remember at the NEPSAC Division I Championships held this past weekend at Phillips Exeter Academy.

Brunswick placed second in the team standings at the 11team New England championship meet, earning 429.5 team points. The Bruins came close to winning the team title, as Phillips Andover Academy captured the championship with 433 points. Phillips Andover Academy has won the NEPSAC Division I title six times in a row.

The meet commenced with Brunswick’s Lucas Hodgson, Alexander Hazlett, Ben Wu and Ivey Gehring combining to win the 200-yard medley relay in an automatic All-American time of 1:29.95. They also set a pool record on their way to winning the New England title in the event.

In the 200-yard freestyle, Bruins senior Alexander Hazlett finished first in an automatic AllAmerican time of 1:38.71. He also broke the Division I meet record. Brunswick teammate Ryan Ohl was the runner-up in 1:41.70.

The 200-yard individual medley saw Brunswick junior Patchy Mullen earn the silver medal (1:54.42). Christopher Xia from Phillips Andover Academy was the champion (1:52.53) and Bruins sophomore Ben Wu was third (1:54.43).

Hodgson, a senior, was the 50-freestyle winner for the Bruins. He registered an All-American automatic time of 19.91 seconds, which was also a Division I Championships record and a pool record. Gehring took fifth in the 50 freestyle race (21.83).

In diving action, Bruins senior Owen Neviera finished fifth with a score of 260.80 points. Liam Hochman, a Loomis Chaffee senior, won the New England diving championship (386.75).

Hazlett captured the gold medal in the 100 butterfly, clocking in at 48.05, an All-America automatic time. Teammate Jack Moore was fourth in 50.58. Ohl gave the Bruins a first-place finish in the 100 freestyle (46.20), tying Ethan Van De Water from Phillips Exeter.

In the 500 freestyle, Brunswick’s Ben Wu, a sophomore, took fifth in 4:48.48. The Bruins 200-yard freestyle foursome of Hodgson, Gehring, Ohl and Mullen set a pool record and won the event in an All-American automatic time of 1:22.82.

Hodgson was the NEPSAC champion in the 100-yard backstroke, posting a time of 48.587 seconds, an automatic AllAmerican showing and pool record. Mullen finished second in the 100 breaststroke (57.27), while Gehring placed sixth (58.95).

Brunswick ended the meet in impressive fashion, as Ryan Ohl, Wu, Mullen and Hazlett combined for a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:03.60) – an AllAmerica automatic time and pool record.

Hazlett was named the Swimmer of the Meet for the Bruins, who also won the team championship at the FAA Championships this season.

Greenwich eliminated from Division I boys hockey tournament with 3-0 opening-round loss to Darien

By David Fierro

As Tuesday’s state tournament game between Greenwich and Darien remained scoreless well into the second period, the tension mounted. Then Arthur Devillers scored and Darien’s outlook quickly changed.

The Blue Wave gathered a wave of momentum following Dellivers’ goal and rode it to a hard-fought 3-0 victory over Greenwich in the first round of the CIAC Division I Boys Hockey Tournament at Darien Ice House.

With the win, sixth-seeded Darien (13-8-1) advanced to the Division I Tournament quarterfinals, where it will face third-seeded Northwest Catholic. Meanwhile, the loss ended the season for 11th-seeded Greenwich, which finished with a record of 6-141. The Cardinals were 6-5-1 after 12 games, but dropped their final nine games and scored only seven goals in the process. Greenwich was shutout in its final three matchups.

“You get in a mindset where they are tough to come by and you start squeezing the stick a little more,” Greenwich coach Jack Duffy said of the team’s scoring difficulties. “We had a couple of chances really early, we hit a crossbar and you think if you get one of those, maybe it chances your fortunes.”

The defeat marked Greenwich’s third of the season against rival Darien. The Blue Wave beat the Cardinals, 4-2, at an outdoor game held at Greenwich Skating Club, then posted a 5-0 triumph at Darien Ice House last month.

“We really wanted to come here tonight and compete for 45 minutes and I think we did that,” Duffy said. “You hope coming into the playoffs that you can turn things around with an upset win, but it wasn’t meant to be tonight, but I’m really proud of the effort of the kids.”

This meeting between the FCIAC foes was more of a defensiveminded matchup, as shots on goal for both squads were limited. Darien edged Greenwich in shots on goal, 20-19, with senior goalie Chris Schofield earning the shutout win with 19 saves. Junior goaltender Cole Studwell registered 17 saves for the Cardinals, who entered the second period in a scoreless deadlock.

The victors received two goals from senior forward Billy Branca and one tally from Devillers, who notched the game’s go-ahead goal. The Blue Wave went into the game coming off a shutout loss to Ridgefield in the semifinal-round of the FCIAC Tournament. Ridgefield proceeded to win the FCIAC Tournament title.

“We were happy to get the ‘W’ after the loss last week,” Darien coach Mac Budd said. “I thought they responded very well. I thought they responded to the first four or five minutes. They (Greenwich) put us on our heels without, any question, the first four or five minutes and our guys responded.”

The Cards had one of the game’s first scoring opportunities and narrowly missed scoring the opening goal. Greenwich senior defenseman Brendan Frost slapped a shot from just below the blue line that hit the crossbar 50 seconds into the first period. Schofield made a 1-on-1 save off a shot from close in by senior forward Daniel Greenbaum and senior forward Danny Pratley directed a shot toward Schofield from the right wing. Studwell, meanwhile, made eight saves for the Cardinals during the first period.

Greenwich killed a Darien power play early in the second period, but the home team cashed in on their second man-up advantage. The Blue Wave went on a power play due to a too many men on ice infraction and Devillers tallied.

Digging the puck out along the boards, senior forward Alex Garabet slid the puck to Devillers, who from just above the left faceoff dot snapped a one-timer past Studwell, going top shelf, giving Darien a 1-0 lead with 2:36 remaining in the second period.

“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve done that in practice,” Devillers said. “The low guy on the wall, pass across. I knew he was going to be looking for me and that’s what killed us the first game, we didn’t get that first goal, so the first goal was everything. He made an unbelievable play, he got it and passed it across.”

Indeed, the Blue Wave were aiming to get that all-important opening goal.

“The first goal is always the most crucial goal, especially in playoffs when goals are hard to come by,” Devillers said. “We lost the Ridgefield game, because we couldn’t capitalize in the beginning.”

Said Budd: “Arthur is great he is, obviously, one of the goal scorers that we have and he’s put some big goals in for us. He’s risen to the occasion.”

An interference penalty put Darien on the power play at the 9:46 mark of the third period and just one second after the power play ended, the Blue Wave scored. Branca knocked in a rebound, making it 2-0 with 7:45 left in the third period. Sophomore Charlie Schwind and junior Graf Ely were each credited with assists on the play.

“Billy Branca’s goal was huge,” Devillers said. “At 1-0, anything can happen in a playoff game.”

Duffy said: “It’s game of inches and you just can’t give a team like that three power plays.”

Branca’s second goal occurred with 2:55 to go in the game. Ely and junior Bobby Whitaker assisted on the tally, which put the Blue Wave on top, 3-0. Sophomore Thomas Holland and senior Ryan Spengler helped pace the Blue Wave’s defensive effort.

“What I especially like is when we play like that, that’s how we’ve won games, with very good team defense,” Budd said. “We played well in our own end, obviously, Schofield’s been fantastic, our ‘D’ has been fantastic, but our forwards are good – our total team defense is good. That’s how we’ve been winning these games, where they’re low scoring games and today we were lucky.”

“Our defense set the pace early, the backcheck from our forwards,” Devillers noted. “It was just team ‘D’. We let up zero goals. Everyone came in as one team and it was constant pressure – no odd-man rushes and that’s just great play by our defense, they’ve been playing great all year.”

Frost, junior Peter Lewis, senior Jordan Bowbeer, junior Alex McGarvey and sophomore Kyle Allen formed a solid rotation of defensemen for Greenwich.

“We came out and we had a strong first period,” said Frost, who along with senior forward Nate Duffy and defenseman Shea Madden, served as the Cards’ captain. “We had a lot of chances this whole game, we just couldn’t get it into the back of the net and that was just a problem of ours pretty much the whole season. But I’m really proud of our guys, every game they got better. We battled really hard and I think Darien was just able to execute a little bit better.”

Coach Duffy enjoyed watching his captains and seniors on the team lead the squad.

“They’re great kids, I’m always impressed with our guys on this team the last few years. We have a big senior class, they all led very well and they were a tight-knit group. I a lot of respect for these kids.”

Even though victories were hard to come by late in the season, the Cardinals know they put in the maximum effort.

“I don’t think our record shows much about the integrity and talent of this team,” Frost said. “We lost a lot in a row, we had a five-game winning streak, but at the end of the day, this is playoff hockey, so the regular season doesn’t matter, I’m just proud of the effort the boys gave today.”

How to Prevent, Evaluate and Treat Concussions in Youth Athletes

According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates, 1.6 to 3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussions occur each year in the U.S. A concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury and is generally caused by a sudden, significant blunt-force trauma to the head or body or a fall, bump to the head or other type of accident.

“Getting prompt proper treatment can help individuals recover as quickly and completely as possible,” said ONS Sports Concussion Center Director Benjamin R. Greene, M.D. “At ONS, concussion evaluations are highly personalized for each patient. The goal of the evaluation is to identify the particular symptoms from the history and physical exam, and when necessary, tailor treatment toward those symptoms”, he said.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms of a concussion may be obvious, such as headache or blurry vision, or may be as subtle as simply not feeling quite right. Signs and symptoms of a concussion may not appear until hours or days after the event. While most patients will recover without issue within a couple of weeks, some patients may experience prolonged symptoms.

Dr. Greene advises that individuals experiencing any of the following symptoms following a head trauma visit a nearby emergency room as these may indicate a more serious condition:

• Unequal pupil size • Drowsiness or inability to wake up • Persistent or worsening headache • Slurred speech, weakness, numbness, or decreased coordination • Repeated vomiting or persistent nausea • Convulsions or seizures • Unusual behavior, increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation • Loss of consciousness DIAGNOSIS

The evaluating physician will base his or her diagnosis on the details of the injury, a cognitive evaluation and neurological examination. Tests to evaluate thinking (cognitive) ability include several factors such as memory, concentration and recall of information.

Neurological exams will evaluate vision, hearing, strength, sensation, balance, coordination and reflexes. If a patient is experiencing severe headaches, seizures, repeated vomiting or worsening symptoms, brain imaging tests such as an MRI or CT scan may be recommended.

TREATMENT

Following a concussion, it is recommended that patients rest for approximately 24 hours, avoiding any excessive physical and cognitive exertion as well as screen time.

They should then slowly progress back to normal life as permitted by their symptoms. “Early initiation of sub-symptom threshold light physical activity can be very helpful in speeding recovery. It is extremely important to avoid any further head trauma before patients are fully recovered,” said Dr. Greene.

Some student-athletes require academic adjustments to ease their return to school. All student-athletes must fully be back to school without issues before we can initiate the return to play protocol, a six-step progressive return to sport that is typically overseen by the school ATC. Some patients with persistent symptoms may require referral for physical therapy or evaluation by sub specialists such as neuropsychologists, headache specialists, neuro-ophthalmologists, etc. • Always supervise younger children, and do not let them use sporting equipment or play sports that are not age appropriate. • Don’t allow dives into water less than nine feet deep. • Don’t permit athletes to participate in sports when tired or not well. • Don’t rely on solely on protective equipment to prevent concussions. Tell athletes you always expect good sportsmanship, both on and off the playing field. Ensure that athletes avoid unsafe actions such as: o Striking another athlete in the head. o Using their head or helmet to contact another athlete. o Making illegal contacts or checking, tackling or colliding with an unprotected opponent; and/or trying to injure or put another athlete at risk for injury.

“When evaluating a patient for a sportrelated concussion, it is important to understand and recognize the many ways in which the symptoms of a concussion may manifest. When a patient with a suspected sports concussion is seen by a physician on the ONS concussion team, they will receive a thorough evaluation to identify the particular symptoms and triggers so that a tailored treatment plan can be created,” said Dr. Greene.

With spring sports fast approaching, Orthopaedic & Neurosurgery Specialists (ONS), the leading provider of sports medicine care in Connecticut and Westchester, has launched a Sport Concussion Center to evaluate and treat concussions in youth athletes. The ONS Concussion Center is a resource for coaches, trainers as well as parents who are concerned that an athlete may have suffered a concussion.

For more information visit www.onsmd. com.

Benjamin Greene, M.D. is dual board certified in pediatrics and primary care sports medicine, Dr. Greene graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies. He received a medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and completed his pediatric residency at New York Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital followed by fellowship training in primary care sports medicine at New York University Langone Health.

Dr. Greene has sports team coverage experience at the high school, collegiate and professional levels, including Long Island University, College of Mount Saint Vincent, New York University, Yeshiva University and New Jersey’s Metropolitan Riveters Professional Women’s Ice Hockey Team. Dr. Greene is a member of American Medical Society of Sports Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association.