Sec. 3. Findings; purposes

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The Congress finds as follows: There is currently no comprehensive system for acquiring accurate data on the incidence of sports- and recreation-related concussions across youth age groups and sports. Overall, according to a report entitled Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture , issued by the National Academies in 2013, each year in the United States, there are approximately 1.6 to 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries, including concussions and other head injuries.

These figures are based on conservative estimates. Between 2001 and 2009, the reported number of our youth ages 21 and under treated in an emergency department for concussion and other non-fatal sports and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries increased from 150,000 to 250,000. Over the same time period between 2001 and 2009, the rate of emergency room visits for concussive injuries increased by 57 percent. Yet, according to the National Academies there currently is— a lack of data to accurately estimate the incidence of sports-related concussions across a variety of sports and for youth across the pediatric age spectrum; and no comprehensive system for acquiring accurate data on the incidence of sports- and recreation-related concussions across all youth age groups and sports.

Currently, there are significant information gaps in the proper protocol for diagnosis and treatment of sports-related concussions and more research desperately is needed. The purposes of this Act are— to increase awareness and knowledge about concussions through development of, implementation of, and evaluation of the effectiveness of, large-scale collaborative efforts and research by entities including, but not limited to, national sports associations, State high school associations, trainers’ associations, appropriate Federal entities, and other stakeholders such as parents, coaches, and students; and to change the culture (including social norms, attitudes, and behaviors) surrounding concussions among elementary school youth and their parents, coaches, sports officials, educators, trainers, and health care professionals, taking into account demographic variations across population groups, where appropriate.