Facing lawsuit, Illinois rolls out concussion education campaign

Facing one of the largest concussion-related lawsuits to date, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) released a concussion and head injury education campaign on Tuesday.

The campaign is being referred to as "Play Hard. Play Smart." It's hard to tell, though, what the new programs will really do to protect athletes beyond what was already in place.

The campaign is meant to educate players, coaches, and parents on reducing the risk of concussions and how to treat them once they occur. The website links to existing resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizations, but it doesn't appear to offer new information or protocols.

Filed in November 2014, the class-action lawsuit claims that the IHSA and its 800 member schools are not doing enough to protect their 50,000 student athletes. It calls for medical professionals to be on the sidelines of game, as other states require.

"Play Hard. Play Smart" falls short of this requirement. IHSA director Marty Hickman has said it would be too costly for some schools, and would lead to football programs shutting down.

As reported by the Associated Press, the one new element of "Play Hard. Play Smart" is the creation of an eight-member concussion advisory panel that will review current head-injury policies. It could be a step in the right direction, but instead seems to be another missed opportunity, based on the composition of the group.

The group includes two high school students, a senator who used to play in the NFL, an associate athletic director at Northwestern University, two certified athletic trainers, a high school football coach, and the son of another former NFL player. There is no mention of a neurologist or other physician, which would seem pertinent for any group tasked with protecting the brains of young athletes.

In an email to Yahoo Sports, Hickman said that there are three medical doctors on the IHSA's sports medicine advisory committee. "The new advisory committee will work closely with the sports medicine advisory committee (SMAC) which we have had in place for many years," he wrote. 

Hickman told the AP that the lawsuit did not spark the new campaign, though it did help the IHSA realize it needs to do more to advertise its efforts to keep its athletes safe.

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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact her at delliot@yahoo-inc.com or find her on Twitter and Facebook.