The National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the importance of

injury prevention Injury prevention is an effort to prevent or reduce the severity of bodily injuries caused by external mechanisms, such as accidents, before they occur. Injury prevention is a component of safety and public health, and its goal is to improve the ...

and safety in youth

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

s. It was founded in 2001 by Lawrence J. Lemak, M.D. It focuses on decreasing the number and/or severity of injuries by educating trainers, coaches and the general public on sports safety, and by collecting, analyzing and researching injury data. In 2004, the NCSS in conjunction with the

National Athletic Trainers' Association The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) is the professional membership association for certified athletic trainers and others who support the athletic training profession. Founded in 1950, the NATA has grown to more than 43,000 member ...

(NATA), launched a comprehensive sports safety course called PREPARE. The course, which is available online, is targeted at volunteer coaches and parents. One of the goals of the course is to reduce the risk of brain-damage that occurs when a player that has suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

is sent back to the game too early, putting the athlete at risk for a second, more serious concussion

The NCSS serves as a source of sports safety information to many organizations including the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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and

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Basebal ...

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References

* Jane E. Brody, Winning Is Good, but Playing Safely Is Better, New York Times, October 19, 2004

* https://web.archive.org/web/20080304124611/http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/toolbox/sports/outdoor/default.htm * http://www.mlb.com/usa_baseball/article.jsp?story=medsafety17 * http://www.sportssafety.org * Fred Bowen, What You Don't Know Might Hurt You, The Washington Post, Friday, March 7, 2008; Page C12

* Kelly McClurg, HealthSouth's Lemak heads sports safety push, Birmingham Business Journal, 21 December 2001

* New online safety course for coaches launched by National Center for Sports Safety and the National Athletic Trainers' Association, The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, August, 2004

Non-profit organizations based in the United States {{US-sport-org-stub

See also

References