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Sports

Concussion Awareness Seminar

On Sunday, September 16, 2012, Vertex Fitness Personal Training Studio will be hosting a seminar aimed at increasing awareness of sports-related concussions. Anyone involved in sports can attest, with more athletes being identified as suffering concussions and the more we are learning about the injury, steps must be made to make sure fewer athletes suffer from this brain injury. It is clear, given the numerous reports from professional football players, current and retired, coming out claiming they have not been treated correctly when suffering head trauma and describing the detrimental effects, this injury can no longer be ignored. Serious discussion must take place as to what can change about how athletes condition themselves to not only perform better on the field, but more importantly, protect themselves from the serious symptoms of concussion related injuries. We are working to educate the local community on how concussions occur and offer training techniques on the best ways to help prevent them. 

The seminar is aimed at coaches, referees and administrative personnel, those with the ability to take the knowledge they gain at the seminar and help get the athletes they are responsible for the training and guidance they need to protect themselves. 

We have recruited three speakers who all have expertise on the best ways to prevent, identify, and treat concussions. Leading off the seminar is Alexander R. Vacarro, MD., PhD. who is in his eighth year as the Spine Physician for the Philadelphia Eagles. Dr. Vacarro holds Vice-Chairman status in the Department of Orthopedics at the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, and is a Professor and Attending Surgeon of Orthopedics and Neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. 

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Also speaking are Mark Asanovich and Ralph Cornwell Jr. Each are professional strength coaches and have been working with student athletes ranging from high school to the National Football League. Mr. Asanovich has worked the past fifteen years for several NFL teams including the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings. 

Ralph Cornwell Jr. has more than twenty years' experience with professional athletes in the NFL, MLB, and MLS and is a Ph.D candidate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. It is important, given how much athletes prepare and train prior to sporting events, they are training to protect their heads and necks as much as improving their athletic ability. What Mr. Asanovich and Mr. Cornwell have found is development of the neck and jaw muscles has gone a long way in lessening the effects of a head to head blow that would otherwise cause a concussion. These coaches have experience with athletes of all ages making their knowledge paramount when it comes to the development of growing bodies. Anyone related with sports can learn from their experience and if you attend this seminar, will gain awareness necessary to improve the safety of all people in sports. 

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Changing the way athletes condition themselves is a start to preventing symptoms of concussions from ever occurring, symptoms such as memory loss and depression. Our fear is the more people suffer serious concussions, the more activity there will be to abolish sports that involve constant collisions, such as football. Given the numerous positives sports provides young people, we are working not only to help avoid injuries, but also to help preserve sports at the local level.

This event will be held at the non-profit New Leaf Club, parking is available in its adjacent parking lot. Doors open at 8:00am and the first speaker starts at 9:00am.

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