For the first time, technology has captured in real time the impact that caused a high school football player to break his neck in a head-down tackle. It is rare for a high school or college student to suffer a broken neck. The bigger, more common problem in youth athletics is concussion. However, most of the media attention and research focuses on professional sports, says Steven Broglio, assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Michigan. “To us, the larger public health issue is with the 1.5 million high school kids that play football each year. Not the 1,500 that play in the NFL.”
