SPORTS
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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.
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| 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.