Aug. 20--Polk County coach Derrick Davis does not have the luxury of being able to hire a doctor to roam the sideline at Friday night football games this season.
With the TSSAA passing a new concussion rule, whether that will become a problem remains to be seen.
The rule states that if a player has any concussion-like symptoms, a referee has the authority to send the player out of the game. The player cannot return until medically cleared by a doctor.
Schools in Gwinnett County, Ga., have free access to ImPACT testing, a computer program that measures the baseline of a student's cognitive level. If a player shows any concussion symptoms, he will be tested again to see if he falls within the normal level.
Barring that, programs that can put doctors on the sidelines will do so this season. Polk County isn't one of them.
"It's just out of the question here," Davis said. "If we had the ability to have one, that would be fine by me, but they're all in Cleveland or Athens and that puts more pressure on us to get one.
"If we have a guy that has symptoms, we'll just have to hold them out and get them checked as soon as possible."
Davis said his team does have an athletic trainer who is at most games.
The fact that ruling whether someone is unfit to play after a traumatic hit is now up to the referees is one less headache for coaches. Still, those coaches would rather take every precaution possible. Rhea County coach Jason Fitzgerald said his team not only has a trainer but will have a doctor on the sideline this season for the first time ever.
"With the new rules on the heat and the concussion, it's a good idea," Fitzgerald said. "There's not as much pressure that falls on the coaches. We don't have to make a decision concerning a kid's health. We're educated on these things up to a point, but not like trainers and doctors.
"I know that referees are going to err on the side of caution."
Davis noted that while he would love the option of having a doctor available, the option of having experienced coaches on the sidelines who can try to diagnose the extent of an injury will have to do for the time being.
"There are a lot of small schools who are able to have one," Davis noted. "A lot of the bigger schools have one -- some have more than one.
"In my 11 years, we've been fortunate enough to not have had a kid get hurt that bad. If it were to happen, we've got guys who have been around enough to be able to tell signs, and they've got a pretty good handle on it."
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