Major League Lacrosse and US Lacrosse Team up for Head Injury Awareness
July 9, 2015 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release
BOSTON (July 9, 2015) - The 2015 MLL season is well underway and with it marks another successful partnership between Major League Lacrosse and US Lacrosse to raise awareness within the lacrosse community. Currently, the two organizations have teamed up to raise awareness about the growing matter that is concussions in sports.
"Player safety is of the utmost importance to us here at MLL," said Commissioner David Gross. "We're proud to be partnering up with US Lacrosse to help further educate the community on the growing issue of concussions."
Major League Lacrosse and US Lacrosse have had a longstanding relationship that reflects their mutual love for the game. The partnership has historically been focused on bringing awareness to a particular initiative throughout the lacrosse community. Past initiatives have included a monthly sportsmanship award within the MLL, which ran alongside the communicated "Compete With Class" tagline and education resources. The goal behind the initiative was to inspire youth lacrosse players to honor the game by playing it properly and with class. The partnership has also existed at the young adult level and within the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft, as collegiate players prepare to enter into the professional lacrosse landscape.
The current partnership resolve is to bring concussion awareness, and the overall protocol of handling concussions, to those at all levels of the lacrosse community. The mission statement of "When in Doubt, Sit It Out" encourages both player and coach to understand the dangers of playing through a potential concussion. Throughout the season, Major League Lacrosse has aired public service style announcements where MLL players like Jesse Schwartzman, Tucker Durkin and Justin Ward, discuss the importance of playing smart and not playing injured. The communications stress the importance of players leaving the field for an evaluation if their health is ever in doubt.
The topic of concussions is familiar grounds for Major League Lacrosse as earlier in the season MLL announced a partnership with Triax Technologies to outfit players for the 2015 season with the Smart Impact Monitors (SIM) to track and assess head impacts during select practices and games. Use of the Triax SIM made Major League Lacrosse the first professional sports league in the United States to provide their athletes and trainers with this head impact monitoring technology.
As the season winds down and the annual awards buzz begins, we are also happy to announce the return of two awards that were introduced last season; the USL/MLL Sportsmanship Player of the Year Award and the USL/MLL Team Sportsmanship Award. Last year's recipients were Chesapeake Bayhawks midfielder, Matt Abbott and the Rochester Rattlers, respectively.
The standings are tight as we enter the 13th week of play. New York stands strong with a record of 9-2, while Boston has sole possession of second place at 7-4. Ohio and Rochester are holding on to the final two playoff positions but Chesapeake and Denver are both knocking on the door at 5-6 with just three games to go. The 2015 MLL Championship Game will return to Kennesaw, Georgia for a second year where the top two teams will battle it out for the chance to hoist the Steinfeld Cup. Last year, Denver made history in winning the Championship Game for the first time in team history in front of a nearly sold-out crowd.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Lacrosse message board...
Major League Lacrosse Stories from July 9, 2015
- Outlaws Fall to New York Lizards 18-15 Following 45-Minute Rain Delay - Denver Outlaws
- Lizards Top Outlaws Behind Pannell's 7-Point Performance - New York Lizards
- Major League Lacrosse and US Lacrosse Team up for Head Injury Awareness - MLL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
