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The Shipley School Partners with the Concussion Legacy Foundation on the Concussion Crisis

Shipley and SLI invest in the safety of students, introduce sensor technology to reduce concussions

Shipley is proud to announce its groundbreaking partnership with the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) to solve the sports concussion crisis impacting our youth. SLI is a Boston-based non-profit organization founded in 2007 by Chris Nowinski and Dr. Robert Cantu that is dedicated to solving the sports concussion crisis, and together Shipley and SLI are achieving that mission through education, policy, and research.

This fall, Shipley will introduce the use of Triax sensors for Upper School athletes playing contact sports. All student athletes will wear the monitors, which will help identify significant impacts and will be part of the Hit Count program. Hit Count tracks every impact that exceeds 20g, and provides a count for each player and team.

While hits of 20g are unlikely to cause concussion, research has shown that repetitive smaller hits, or subconcussive impacts, can result in changes in brain structure and function. The data gathered by the sensors will be used to track individual athletes over time. SLI and Shipley personnel will meet weekly to review the Hit Count data and look for opportunities to teach better techniques and modify exposure.

“This is an investment in the safety of our kids. We will be able to track what happens with our student athletes on the field – In practice and in games,” said Dr. Steve Piltch, Head of School at Shipley. “It will also help our coaches to identify ways they can change behavior to reduce the opportunity for concussive or subconcussive events.”

A key goal of implementing the use of the sensors will be to increase the awareness of students, coaches, and families around possible concussions. Shipley has already implemented baseline testing procedures for all Upper School students, and adopted a very stringent return to play and academic work protocol. The use of sensors is seen by the Shipley community as a natural next step.

Shipley's Athletic Director is committed to the safety of all student athletes and has been a key proponent of the SLI partnership and sensor implementation: “We believe the use of the sensors will enable us to work with coaches and parents to ‘connect the dots’ and identify earlier and more often when our players may have experienced a significant impact.”

Shipley has been a leader in the effort to reduce youth concussions, and the decision to ban heading in middle school soccer placed Shipley at the forefront of the movement earlier this year. Shipley worked closely with Nowinski and Cantu to develop the school’s policy on heading, and since the announcement, Shipley has worked closely with Chris Nowinski and SLI to expand the
partnership.
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The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.