AthletiCo Partners to Support Mission of Chicago Concussion Coalition
To further reinforce its commitment to concussion awareness and education in youth sports, AthletiCo has joined the Chicago Concussion Coalition as a founding member. Throughout the partnership, AthletiCo will support the coalition’s mission to provide student-athletes in the greater Chicago area with the best resources available to protect them from traumatic brain injuries in sports.
The Chicago Concussion Coalition was formed in August 2011 under the leadership of the Boston-based Sports Legacy Institute to offer more localized resources to Chicago-area coaches, athletic directors, athletic trainers, student-athletes, parents, and citizens. The Chicago-based Brain Research Foundation is the lead sponsor of the coalition and recently provided a $50,000 grant to support concussion training for coaches and athletic directors in Chicago Public Schools. Former Harvard football player and WWE professional wrestler, Chris Nowinski, is the chair of the Chicago Concussion Coalition, which is comprised of nearly fifty organizations that support the coalition’s mission. Nowinski co-founded the Sports Legacy Institute with Dr. Robert Cantu in 2007 to advance the study, treatment, and prevention of the effects of brain trauma in athletes and other at-risk groups.
As part of the partnership, AthletiCo’s Mike Palm, MS, MBA, AT, will be presenting at Chicagoland Concussion Symposiums throughout Chicagoland, Milwaukee, and Northwest Indiana. Palm, who serves as AthletiCo’s Concussion Special Interest Group Chair, developed a passion for understanding concussions from renowned concussion clinicians at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center while working on his master’s in sports medicine. The symposiums, which are Advanced Concussion Training (ACT) developed by the Sports Legacy Institute, contain the most up-to-date information on research, education, prevention, and identification available for sports-related head injuries.
The resources and education that AthletiCo and Palm provide through Chicago Concussion Coalition complement initiatives AthletiCo already has in place to bring awareness to concussions in youth sports. In 2010, AthletiCo launched a Head Injury and Concussion Management Program to benefit individuals suffering from prolonged or persistent concussion symptoms. In November 2011, AthletiCo partnered with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Amateur Hockey Associated of Illinois, and the Midwest Center for Concussion Care to implement the A Step aHead concussion program, offering complimentary baseline concussion testing to all AHAI members ages 13-18. Over 1,100 players have been tested since November 1.
