Dave Duerson MCS Athletic Safety Fund will provide ImPACT for student athletes

MUNCIE -- Beginning next month, local student athletes will receive free testing that could have a big impact on their long-term health.

Muncie Community Schools is offering a new concussion safety program, thanks to the Dave Duerson Muncie Community Schools Athletic Safety Fund. The fund, established in honor of the late NFL football player, will pay to initiate and maintain the program.

The Muncie Community School Board gave the OK to move forward with the program during its last regular meeting.

Superintendent Tim Heller said the program "is great for our athletes" and commended the friends and family of Dave Duerson for putting together the fund.

MCS has approved use of the ImPACT tests for all student athletes, male and female, in grades 5-12. Central and Southside are scheduled to begin testing in May.

Concussions have become an increasing concern at high schools nationwide.

A 2011 study of U.S. high schools found that concussions accounted for nearly 15 percent of all sports-related injuries reported. Football players top the list of athletes who are affected, but soccer, cheerleading, volleyball and basketball players have also sustained head injuries.

For the first year of the MCS program, all student athletes at the high schools will be given an ImPACT baseline test, according to Lori Gilchrist, a member of the Duerson group. That way, if any of those athletes have a head injury later, they will have an initial test for comparison. Post-injury testing and return-to-play evaluations for students will also be provided.

After the first year, the group expects to expand the program to Northside and Wilson middle schools.

ImPACT testing, which has been used by medical doctors, psychologists and athletic trainers since the 1990s, is the most widely used computerized concussion evaluation system, according to Bill O'Neil, a member of the group and friend of Duerson's brother, Michael.

Michael Duerson leads the group and says he's "very passionate about it."

Mike, who said he was disabled after a concussion he suffered as a basketball player during college, said he doesn't want other young players and their families, to "suffer the way his did."

Concussions have no doubt taken a toll on the Duerson family.

Dave Duerson was a star athlete at Northside High School who went on to a celebrated football career at the University of Notre Dame and in the NFL. Later in life, he developed CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a progressive degenerative disease found in individuals who have sustained multiple concussions. The extent of the damage was discovered after Dave Duerson took his own life last year, having made previous arrangements to donate his brain to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University's School of Medicine.

The study found that damage to the brain like Dave Duerson's can affect judgment, inhibition, impulse control, mood and memory.

Mike Duerson's concussion as a basketball player at IUPUI in the 1970s left him paralyzed on the left side for 6 months; since them, he has suffered from neurological and psychological issues that have become more pronounced over the years.

The Dave Duerson MCS Athletic Safety Fund (www.DDMuncieYouth.org) officially launched at an event in March that raised more than $1,500, which will be used to pay for ImPACT tests. More events, O'Neil said, are planned for the coming year.

The fund is also working with others to maintain the program, specifically physician Todd Arnold, who is a co-founder of the Athlete Concussion Alliance (ACA). ACA has already implemented the ImPACT program in more than 170 schools, clubs and organizations throughout Indiana, O'Neil said.

"Throughout his life, my brother consistently worked to help other people," Michael Duerson said in a provided statement. "He did many charitable things over the years here in Muncie, including hosting football camps for local kids. This program to help Muncie-area student athletes is just a continuation of the work Dave started, and a great way to honor him. I know he is smiling down from heaven knowing we're still helping the community."

Contact education reporter Michelle Kinsey at 213-5822.

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