Marshfield and Newton South high schools had the highest reported number of head injuries, combining football and soccer, with 27 apiece. Lexington was the second highest with 24, Duxbury had 20, and Wakefield had 18. The numbers combine all levels that a program offers - for example, varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen- for each sport.
In all, the Globe survey found 338 head injuries at 26 of the top athletic programs around the region. Officials at several of the schools said the numbers reflect the work they’ve been doing to raise awareness of concussions.
“We’ve been really out in front on this,’’ said Naomi Martin, athletic director in Lexington, which has given cognitive testing to all students in contact sports for four years. “The numbers don’t concern me. They are just indicative of having a good communication system in place with the students, the coaches, parents, nurses, training staff, athletic director, and counseling department staff.’’
Marshfield football’s head injury rate last fall was about double what it was the year before, said Lou Silva, Marshfield’s athletic director and head football coach. He attributed the increase to players overusing their heads because high-tech helmets give them a false sense of confidence, and in a few instances, to overreaction by players who had received a blow and wrongly “self-diagnose’’ a concussion.
“You’re better off trying to report it and go through with it, but I still think there’s a small fraction out there that are a little too overcautious, just a smidgen,’’ said Silva. Still, he said he supports the law.
“If you’re going to enact something like this, you have to jump in with both feet,’’ said Silva. “You’ve got to protect the kids.’’
