Concussions becoming more prevalent

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on December 4, 2015 1:48 PM

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Gym lights shined down on Spring Creek junior Ashley Marriner as she walked with her basketball coach to the trainer's table -- at the other end of the gym.

Marriner didn't remember the walk.

She suffered a concussion during the Gators' season-opening game against Jones Senior on Nov. 23. SC head coach Charlie Cotten said his point guard collided with a Jones Senior player, which caused Marriner to land on her back and slam her head against the floor.

"I just went up, and I remember hitting my head -- that's really all," Marriner recalled. "I didn't feel that bad until the next day. That's when it really started hurting -- my neck was really sore.

"The headaches are worse now."

Lester Boltinhouse, an eight-year sports medicine/first responder at Spring Creek, assists student-athletes with preventative measures concerning head injuries and the recovery practices after a concussion.

"The Gfeller-Waller Concussion Law requires that every parent, every student and every coach be briefed annually on concussions," Boltinhouse said. "We have a program (at Spring Creek) that we monitor and make sure that these are our coaches' compliance, that every coach has been briefed.

"Each student and each parent get an information sheet."

The "Student-Athlete & Parent/Legal Custodian Concussion Statement" is a form student athletes initial if they agree to inform parents and coaches of a head injury, and commit to not return to sports until they have received clearance from a medical professional. The form also requires students to alert parents and coaches of the symptoms of concussions.

Boltinhouse takes academics seriously after a student is diagnosed with a concussion. He says class time is decreased along with leave from employment.

Junior Dayquell Dawson, a second-string quarterback for Goldsboro's football team, experienced concussion-like symptons in the fourth quarter against conference rival Ayden-Grifton on Oct. 30.

"He (Dawson) got in late in the fourth quarter -- the last possession of the game, actually, and got his bell rung" Goldsboro head coach Bennett Johnson said. "We were kicking a play, (and he) scrambled out and got hit.

"He had concussion-like symptons, and we had a strict protocol in place where our trainer checked him. Obviously he didn't get cleared that game. And next week, Dayquell went to the doctor and sent him to a neurologist, and three weeks after that game, he was cleared to play."

Johnson said Dawson is doing well since he was cleared, and is participating the same activies as he did before the injury.

"Concussions are a serious thing," Johnson said. "It's kinda been a trickle-down effect from the NFL to college to high school. I think everyone's taking the right measures, (but) unfortunately, when you play not just football but sports in general, you're always susceptible to some sort of injury -- concussion being one of them."