During the past few years, the seriousness of concussions has become better known.

Doctors and trainers across the United States have noted the long-term effects of concussions if a player returns to the playing field too quickly or a team ignores the symptoms completely.

While we often think of concussions affecting professional athletes, we forget that youth athletes are not immune to suffering this type of head trauma.

Locally, Maine Rep. Don Pilon, D-Saco, should be supported and applauded for his efforts in proposing a new law that would regulate how to deal with concussions during youth athletic games and practices.

LD 98, if passed, proposes added levels of protection for young athletes by requiring coaches to receive training on how to evaluate the symptoms of concussions. It would also require students who receive injuries on the playing fields to be evaluated for concussions or head injuries before returning, and would set in place guidelines to help students who have concussions transition back into school.

The guidelines would be developed by an advisory board and all public schools would be required to adopt and implement a head injury policy, per Pilon’s bill.

This effort is certainly a step in the right direction. The National Football League is working with Pilon to promote the bill. That league has changed its concussion policies in the last two years after doctors discovered that head trauma might be linked to Lou Gehrig’s Disease, a debilitating condition that results in the eventual inability to control muscles and always leads to death.

There was a time, and perhaps there still is, when this country judged its athletes by their ability to play through pain. If a player ”“ especially a football player ”“ got hurt, a team physician or trainer would quickly examine the player, and more often than not, that player would return to the same game. He or she had to help the team win. To not return showed weakness and the lack of a                team-first mentality.

Now we know that’s old-fashioned and dangerous thinking, and it’s refreshing to see that the national awareness and attitude toward head injuries is changing.

That was evident last year when the Pittsburgh Penguins star player Sidney Crosby missed almost all of the National Hockey League season and the first part of this year after sustaining a concussion during a game. The team did not allow him to return until he was completely healed and qualified medical professionals gave the green light. That is a great change. There was a time when the team would’ve allowed Crosby to return immediately because he is the star player for the Penguins and one of the greatest players in today’s NHL. The league would’ve considered it too costly to not have one of its main marketing tools on the ice. It’s nice to see that the athletes’ health is now taking precedence over winning games.

Unfortunately ”“ and this is the reason Pilon got involved with LD 98 ”“ that was not the case a few years ago for a 13-year-old Washington boy. According to a story that appeared in Legislatures magazine, Zackery Lysted returned to the playing field after receiving a concussion in a football game. He is now disabled and in a wheelchair. If he were properly examined and not allowed to return until he fully recovered, doctors believe he would be fine today.

According to Portland neurologist John Boothby, in 2008, 68,000 high school football players received concussions nationwide, and 16 percent went back into games.

That is a startling statistic. Concussions won’t fully be prevented, since they are, sadly, a part of athletic competition. What we do after the injury, however, can always be modified. The health of the athlete must come first.

The NFL is learning this and has adopted policies where qualified health professionals approve a player’s return, not coaches or the athlete themselves. We urge the Maine Legislature to pass Pilon’s bill so Maine’s young athletes are afforded the same protections.

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Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.