High School Soccer Must Use Headgear to Decrease Concussions

By Kevin Agostinelli, staff reporter

* This is an article written by Kevin Agostinelli that was sent to the Cape Cod Times for the local newspaper’s Classroom Times writing contest. 

Simple soccer headgear can reduce concussion rates.

   Can you imagine high school soccer players wearing padded headgear during games? This idea might seem far-fetched, but as concussions in high school soccer have become more frequent – the concussion rate has increased 15% each year since 2005 – mandatory headgear is something that the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) must seriously consider. According to the Center for Injury Research and Policy, high school soccer players had more concussions in 2010 than basketball, wrestling, and softball players combined. In order to diminish the epidemic of concussions in high school soccer, the MIAA should institute mandatory headgear.  

       In soccer, concussions can occur from head-to-head contact, head-to-ground contact, and head-to-body contact. The soccer headgear currently being developed is different from the headgear in football or hockey in that it resembles an enlarged, foam-padded headband, covering the forehead, temples, and occipital bone in back of the head.
       

Video: Upcoming Spanish Trips

Reported by Katie Curran and Khidra Weisman, staff reporters
Videography by Patrick Wanco-Keigans, staff reporter

Girls' Basketball Weekly Recap

By Jacob Tobey, staff reporter

The Sturgis girls' varsity basketball team underwent a decent week of basketball as they won one game but lost two others.  

Their first game of the week was Wednesday, January 23 at Cape Cod Tech, in which they got the win 32-26.  It was a tight game until the fourth quarter, when the Storm broke the stalemate and went on a run to notch the win.  The girls played great defensively, holding their opponents to 26 points, and their offense was key in the win as well.  

The Storm then went on to play at Falmouth Academy and lost a disappointing but hard fought game with the final score of 34-17.  Scoring and offense was a big issue for the Sturgis girls as they couldn’t get anything to drop. Their leading scorer was junior Captain Brittany Gayton, who had 6 points, and they played mostly man-to-man defense versus Falmouth Academy.  In the first half, Sturgis struggled defensively but turned on their defensive pressure during the second half, moving their feet and playing great helpside defense. However, a lack of offense killed any chances of a comeback in the second half. “We played much better defense in the second half but overall we couldn’t finish our shots,” said captain Brittany Gayton. The inconsistent offense or defense, depending on the day, has been the main problem for the Storm so far this season.          

Sturgis’s next opponent was Cape Cod Academy.  The girls were looking for their third win of the season to put them at 3-7 but they lost a close game 46-37.  Meaghan Fitzgerald was the leading scorer for the Storm as she netted twenty-two points in a fantastic offensive effort.  The Storm only lost by nine, getting punished by a lot of missed free throws that may have changed the final outcome. Both teams, Sturgis East and Cape Cod Academy were in the double bonus for fouls in the first half, and the physical play continued in the second half as well.

When asked about how the game went in her opinion, Fitzgerald commented on the effort given by the girls, “ We had high energy throughout the whole game, never gave up, and our defense and offense were really good except for some mistakes.”  The Storm take their 2-8 record and will try to earn their third win of the season when they play Upper Cape Tech today.  There are about two weeks left in their season, and the girls would like to finish the season on a good note and try and get some more wins.  The surely have the talent to do so, but it remains to be season whether talent can translate to success on the court.