Contact:  John Johnson or Geoff Kimmerly
517.332.5046 or [email protected]

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Aug. 1 – The story of concussions in high school sports – from their symptoms to their treatment to a young person’s safe return to the classroom and the playing field – will be on display in the coming week in a State Champs! Sports Network Summer Series special on FOX Sports Detroit. 

Concussions & The Modern Athlete will debut on FOX Sports Detroit on Sunday (Aug. 6) at 9 a.m., with daily reairs throughout the week.  The 30-minute special, hosted by Kiara Hay, details what concussions are and what they are not; and presents what steps are being taken in at the high school level in Michigan to make all sports as safe as possible. 

The results of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s concussion survey for the 2016-17 school year will be presented at the end of the show.  For the past two years, the Association has required that all member schools report all potential concussions in all sports at all levels, and for two straight years, 99 percent of member high schools have provided their numbers. 

Among those interviewed on the program are: MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts; Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, an Assistant Director at the Association who oversees the efforts to collect concussion data from schools and its Coaches Advancement Program (CAP), which includes a module on concussions; Dr. Dallas Lintner, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Owosso High School, who surveyed athletic administrators, coaches, game officials and parents for a dissertation called “Measuring the Perceived Effectiveness of Michigan Concussion Legislation;” Birmingham Brother Rice Head Football Coach Adam Korzeniewski; and Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher from the Sports Neurology Clinic at The CORE Institute in Brighton. 

Here is the complete airing schedule for Concussions & The Modern Athlete on FOX Sports Detroit:  Aug. 6 – 9 a.m.; Aug. 7 – 5 p.m.; Aug. 8 – 11:30.; Aug. 9 – 11 p.m.; Aug. 10 – 6:30 p.m.; Aug. 11 – 5 p.m.; and Aug. 12 – 10:30 p.m.  The program will also be archived for on demand viewing on the State Champs! Sports Network Facebook page and YouTube channel.

For over 13 years, the State Champs! Sports Network has been producing high quality, award winning sports and feature TV shows, series, programming, and radio shows, including the STATE CHAMPS! High School Sports Show, a weekly, half hour TV program providing a comprehensive look at the athletic events, lives and accomplishments of Michigan’s high school athletes.  The State Champs! Sports Network has been the recipient of 5 Emmy Awards in the last 7 years for Outstanding Youth Television. 

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.

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