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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2015)
SPORTS The Battalion I 4.1.15 3 vHe A step toward safer football? By Trey Reeves f I 1 he Texas A&M footbaU team has joined the ptish against brain injuries in foot- JL ball with a new technologi cal initiative to monitor athletes on the field. The Texas A&M football team has entered a preliminary agreement with il Biometrics to test its new Vector Mouthguard technology. The mouthguards, which use “ESP Chip Technology” to record the impacts of collisions to the head and brain, are being worn by 15 players during spring practices, with their data re turns monitored by the football train ing staff. The Aggies join the football pro- gyarps at the University of South Car- j olina, University of Kansas and LSU. * Many high schools' across the country > have also announced a partnership with il to wear the new technology. A recent study conducted by re searchers at Harvard and Boston Uni versity states even though education and awareness of the symptoms and consequences of concussions are on the rise, the number of actual diag nosed injuries remains shockingly low. The report states that there’s an average of about 27 “suspected con cussions” or “dings” for every actual diagnosed concussion across the high school athletes studied, and the num bers are highest among linemen, al A&M adopts mouthguards made to spot concussions though violent collisions are less com mon. New rules to limit contact have been put in place across the country in college and high school, but ac cording to the study, those regula tions might be focusing on the wrong aspect of contact. “Understanding that the seemingly routine contact experienced by line men may be leading to symptoms, it is important that these rales clearly de fine what is meant by contact practic es in order to reduce the brain trauma experienced by a^l athletesi, including linemen,” the report statqd. Jesse Harper, CEO of il Biomet rics, said his company branched off from the parent company, Bite Tech, three years ago for the sole purpose of developing the new technology to better diagnose injuries in sports. Concussions were their first target. “What we’re doing here deals with a huge technological aspect — everything from cloud infrastructure to microchips, an entirely new set of challenges that a standard mouthguard company wasn’t ready to meet,” Harper said. “We’re basically taking a smartphone and putting it in an ath lete’s mouth, in a very crude way of explaining it.” The mouthguard connects to de vices held by sideline personnel, such as smartphones or tablets, and delivers thousands of data points and notifica tions for players of concern over the course of a game or practice. These data points can also be viewed in a cumulative format to study the long term effects on a player. Harper, a former player and coach himself, said the last thing he wants is the game he loves to be turned into a shell of its former self, as many argue new regulations will result in. “This is something that is very near and dear to me,” Harper said. “We don’t want to see the sport watered down to where it’s like flag football, but we’ve got to do a better job of keeping these players safe. David Weir, head athletic trainer for football, said the data produced is much better than what was provided by previous methods, such as sensors inside players’ helmets. “As we continue to identify and treat concussions, it’s important that we look not only at the isolated events, but also the cumulative effects,” Weir said. “This technology allows us to track the amount of contact for the positions that might not suffer a big single hit, but many smaller ones that, over time, might result in some post- concussive type symptoms.” The results of the data aren’t fully conclusive yet, as the Aggies have only worn the devices for a few weeks, but Weir said they will continue to evalu ate the thousands of data points they receive. “We looked at guys that have had a history of concussions, and those that are in vulnerable positions,” Weir said. “The company is still working through cleaning up and tweaking the technology, and being able to pro vide notifications, and we’re working through that to see where it all goes.” While Weir said no official deci sion has been made on whether the team will continue to wear the equip ment in the fall, he cannot argue with the new perspective he has seen from the short time using the technology in the spring. “This technology gives us another set of eyes and another method of tracking these types of blows through out a practice or game,” Weir said. “It notifies us of concerns so we can fol low up with student athletes to see if they are suffering from a concussion.” The Aggie football team will con tinue to wear the Vector Mouthguard for the duration of their spring work outs, and then evaluate the benefits of their continued use prior to the open ing of fall camp in August. •’/ii.MUyM ! . |C r ,;? j ..t rn.q ? j | FOOTBALL | SOFTBALL A&M ‘simple’ choice for OL coach By Alex Scott Dave Christensen, the newly appointed offensive line coach for the Aggies, has already been able to implement his personality and experience into the of fensive scheme. Christensen will also cover the duties of the run-game coordinator, something for which he is very familiar. Over the span of his 30-year career in college foot ball, Christensen has been part of 10 different programs in every role from graduate assistant to head coach. The well-traveled coach spent much of his time in Washington, where he was born and raised and at tended university where he was a student-athlete. At spring practice Tuesday, the Washington native said there wasn’t much to think about when he was offered the job in College Station. “This is an elite job, probably one of the top-five jobs in the country,” Christensen said. “My goal as a coach is to coach at the highest level in college foot ball and have an opportunity to recruit and coach the best players and have an opportunity to be in a place where you have a chance to legitimately compete for a national championship. It was a simple decision to come here.” As he pieces together his offensive line, he has a few qualities in mind. “Mental and physical toughness is the first thing,” he said. “Accountability is a big thing and group unity is huge. We’re trying to get five guys playing togeth er.” Germain Ifedi, a redshirt sophomore tackle, said he particularly likes the way Christensen goes about get ting things done on the field. “He’s going to get it out of you, he wants you to do everything right and we expect him to want us to do everything right,” Ifedi said. “He has 30 years of expe rience, so having a coach out there like that [makes us] appreciate everything he brings to the table.” Ifedi, in addition to getting in shape this offseason, has taken it upon himself to step his game up to an other level and become a leader to his teammates. “This offseason I made it my mission to take young Jena Floyd — THE BATTALION Dave Christensen speaks to media Tuesday. guys under my wing and [take on] that leadership style,” Ifedi said. “Now I am older and more expe rienced and I feel I can handle the responsibility of handling myself while bringing the other guys along.” Along with Ifedi, Mike Matthews is one of the veteran offensive linemen for the Aggies. Due to in jury, Matthews has been unable to participate in all of the spring practice activities. However, Christensen noted said Tuesday he was able to participate in a walk-through portion of practice. He said Matthews’ performance impressed. “Phenomenal, [he] made every call, never missed a beat and was right on every single one, was right on all the new terminology,” Christensen said. “I mean he was spot on, so I am really looking forward to getting him out there.” With the veterans Matthews and Ifedi taking lead ership roles under new management and the A&M offensive line taking shape, Christensen said nothing is set in stone and he is looking forward to what is to come this upcoming season. “We have a lot of competition ahead of us still and a lot of development,” Christensen said. A&M to kick off 11-game homestand against SFA Aggies look to rebound from 2-1 series loss to Alabama By Milkyas Gashaw The Texas A&M softball team will begin a lengthy 11-game home stint with a doublehead er against Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday. The No. 23 Aggies (25-9, 7-5 SEC) come into their meeting with the Lumberjacks with a win against the Alabama Crimson Tide after getting beat in the previous two games. The Aggie offense finally hit well Sunday, scoring 11 runs en route to a convincing win. Freshman Tori Vidales leads the club in homers with eight and RBIs with 27. She is also second on the team in batting average behind sophomore Abby Donnell’s .347. Junior Cali Lanphear had her big gest output of the season with a five-RBI day in the victory over Alabama. “We had seen all of their pitch ers beforehand and that’s huge,” Lanphear said. “We just really had a good plan going in, we had the pitching and hitting and we got a good win.” SFA (9-22, 2-9 Southland) has struggled this season, losing 10 in a row at one point in the season. Its offense is led by Brittany Lewis and Taylor Fraccastoro, who are one- two in both RBIs and homers this season for the Lumbeijacks. Lewis has five homers and 24 RBI while Fraccastoro has six homers and 17 RBI. Freshman Erica Russell began the season on the bench, trying to find any way to get on the field. She began the season as a situational player, coming in the game to play defense in center field in late-game situations or to use her speed as a pinch base runner. Head coach Jo Evans finally began to start Russell in center field in the Kentucky se ries and Russell has maken the most of her opportunity, hitting .278 and providing excellent defense. The Aggies are projected to send senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie Marks to the circle. Fox has been pitching lights out this season with a 13-6 record and a team-high 12 complete games. Marks has been an excellent complement to Fox, post ing a 9-1 record of her own and a 2.67 ERA. Fox said it is important for the pitchers to get a good game under their belts Wednesday. “I want to make sure that I at tack the batters and work on getting ahead,” Fox said. “I had some trou ble with that last weekend. When you have to work from behind, it’s a lot harder.” First pitch is at 4 p.m. Wednes day.
