For the third year, Mira Costa has implemented California state and CIF regulations that mandate baseline concussion testing for high risk contact sports, such as football and soccer. With the numbers of concussion victims doubling within that last ten years, schools have been running these baseline tests in order to have a basic record of an athlete’s brain functioning when he or she is healthy.
Baseline tests ask students a series of questions that test their memory skills and reaction time. For example, an athlete may be asked to say the months of the year backwards or to repeat a random series of words in a specific order. From this, the school’s athletic trainer is able to record and identify the athlete’s specific characteristics, that may be altered if he or she is concussed.
Reporter: Omar Ahmed
Photographer: Aili David
