KINGSTON, N.Y. — The Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS) and the New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association (NYSATA) will host a concussion outreach prevention education (COPE) seminar on Monday, Nov. 10 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Wendell Scherer Auditorium at Kingston High.
COPE provides valuable information for educators, nurses, coaches, athletic trainers, students and parent/guardians on how to create a plan for a successful return for a concussed student back to youth and higher education, sports and the classroom as well as many ways to prevent concussions.
Presenters at the seminar include Kingston High’s certified athletic trainer Rachel Lyons, Nicolas D. Belasco of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network and Michelle Kellen of the Brain Injury Association of New York State.
Every year, nearly 2 million children and teens experience concussions.
Jordan Perry, a 2024 Kingston High graduate, sustained two separate concussions while playing basketball and flag football.
Jordan, who is now a sophomore at the University of South Carolina, said her road to recovery was long and she experienced extreme sensitivity to lights and loud noises.
Luckily, she did not suffer a long, lasting impact and she credits that to listening to her doctors and her athletic trainer as well as giving herself grace.
“The brain is one of the most important parts of the human body and I’m thankful that my doctors, coaches and athletic trainer let me know it is okay to rest and heal,” Perry said.
Perry added that sometimes people think that because they can’t see an injury that it isn’t real or it’s not a big deal.
“Concussion education is necessary for people to realize how a concussion can impact them and to take care to try and avoid them,” Perry said.
Perry said she suffered a concussion during her junior year at a practice for the New York Basketball Academy travel team. It came after she had finished a practice for the flag football team.
“I was playing there and I got an elbow pretty bad to the head,” Perry said in an interview with the Freeman from college. “So I was obviously pretty upset because I was doing a lot of stuff athletically that I could no longer do. It was very frustrating having to let my brain rest. I couldn’t even touch a basketball or a football for a week or two.”
Jordan said her recovery included staying inside dark rooms and avoiding television. When using her cellphone, she had to adjust the settings so the brightness was down to the lowest level.
“My eyes suffered a lot and I was very sensitive to light,” she said. “I had to wear sunglasses for a while and couldn’t be in loud environments.”
Perry said during the flag football season she missed one or two games.
“I recovered well because I let my body rest,” Perry said.
Even though there’s not supposed to be any contact in flag football, Perry said collisions happen all the time.
“Players are running at 100 percent for the ball and things like that happen,” she said. “That’s why wearing mouthguards and all that is very important from preventing injuries.”
Mike Dittus, who is the offensive coordinator and former head coach of the girls flag football program, said all the coaches at Kingston High follow strict procedures if an athlete experiences a head injury.
“We take it very seriously,” Dittus said. “We are so fortunate to have certified athletic trainer Rachel Lyons with us for our athletic practices and events. Players must go through a thorough multiple step process (concussion protocol) in order to be medically cleared to return to any athletic activity. Every coach I have ever worked with here at Kingston has always made player safety the priority, especially with head injuries.”
