Moms Blow the Whistle on Repetitive Brain Trauma in Sports

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Save Your Brain's first campaign is to protect the brain health of child athletes by calling for an end to pediatric repetitive brain trauma as an inherent risk in sport.

Moms who lost their sons to CTE and brain injury along with former NFL players, doctors, experts and advocates join the Patrick Risha CTE Awareness Foundation, Child Athlete Advocates, Pink Concussions and the National Cheer Safety Foundation to launch the "Save Your Brain" campaign on Capitol Hill in the Cannon Caucus room at March 16 at 1:00 pm for Brain Injury Awareness Day. 

The mission of Save Your Brain is to protect brain health through education, awareness, research and public policy.

"After attending the Congressional round table on Monday and hearing Jeff Miller, Vice President of Health & Safety for the NFL publicly admit for the first time the link between football, repetitive hits and chronic traumatic encephalopathy it's very timely for myself and other parents to take a stand to lead the way to protect children from brain trauma," shared Kimberly Archie legal consultant, expert witness in sports injury litigation and mother to youth football player CTE victim number six. 

The campaign already boasts a choir of well known voices to support the initiative.

"I support the Save Your Brain Campaign. We don't need children to endure thousands of subconcussive hits while their brains are developing. With the range of alternatives, and with the ease of retooling tackle leagues to flag, eliminating youth tackle football is overdue." -Chris Borland retired NFL player & advocate  

"We know that athletes can develop CTE as children, without ever playing beyond high school. We need to consider all options to prevent this terrible disease. No one understands the burden of CTE more than the families of those affected, and their stories must be heard." – Chris Nowinski, executive director of the Concussion Legacy Foundation

"CTE is an invisible disease with repercussions not seen until the damage has been done. If parents could see the affect upon their child's brain with repetitive trauma from contact sports, young children would not be allowed to play these sports. The tragedy is that CTE is 100% preventable. The Save Your Brain campaign will be the most critical awareness campaign of this decade, changing youth sports and saving lives." -Stacey J. Robinson, MD
Board Certified Family Medicine & Integrative Medicine

"PINKconcussions takes a stand with these other organizations to support contact youth sports organizations to switch to safer tag-options: tag-football, tag-rugby and no heading soccer to join with youth hockey and lacrosse who have no checking versions of their sports." -Katherine Price Snedaker LCSW, founder PinkConcussions/SportsCAPP 

"The danger from contact sports, including youth football, is more than concussion. It is the cumulation of repetitive blows to the head, subconcussive hits. For this reason, the Ivy League has banned tackling in practice. If the brains of consenting Ivy League adults are too valuable to risk unnecessary blows to the head, then all tackling in youth football should be stopped. In today's world, tackling in youth football should be viewed as an ultrahazardous activity." -Gordon Johnson
Brain Injury Law Group, S.C.
Attorney for the Plaintiff in Pyka v. Pop Warner

"As a former NFL player who has been dedicated to the development of youth, athletics and education, as well as knowing first hand the health affects of repetitive brain trauma from football it's natural to support the Save Your Brain campaign." -Larry Mallory, retired NFL player and advocate 

To take the pledge go to https://www.change.org/p/child-athlete-advocates-save-your-brain-campaign?recruiter=10963802&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink, to support the campaign or become a partner call 800-596-7860.

SOURCE Child Athlete Advocates