PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Ivy League continued its leadership and exemplary actions to address concussions over the weekend, as each of the six Ivy League hockey-playing institutions joined ECAC Hockey, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) in partnering with the Headway Foundation for its second annual Concussion Awareness Weekend, Feb. 2-4.
 
The goal of Concussion Awareness Weekend is to educate and encourage athletes to handle concussions properly, personally or in support of teammates, by redefining what it means to be tough. The New Tough Pact was developed by Headway to prove mental toughness with a brain-first mindset by reporting concussion symptoms, supporting concussed teammates in recovery and playing the game within its rules.
 
Over 100 teams—professional, college, high school and youth—and more than 3,000 athletes participated in the second annual event from Feb. 2-4.

     

     

“On behalf of Headway, it is important to celebrate the increase in leagues and teams supporting this dialogue. The expansion from 24 teams in 2017 to over 100 this year shows the commitment to take this injury seriously,” said Headway team member Alexandria Bydalek.
 
The Ivy League is a national leader in student-athlete welfare, having instituted a review of concussions in the sport of football in 2010. Since, the League has expanded the review to include eight other sports—men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, rugby and wrestling. As a result of this comprehensive review of concussions, the League began an all-sports concussion data collection and study in 2013.
 
Based on the results of that study, the Ivy League instituted an experimental kickoff rule and eliminated to-the-ground tackling in practice during the 2016 and 2017 regular seasons in football. After averaging six concussions per year during the Ivy League conference slate the previous three seasons, student-athletes suffered zero concussions on kickoff plays in 2016.

     
 
During Concussion Awareness Weekend, Ivy League hockey student-athletes took part in a team pact to treat concussions seriously and wore Headway stickers on their helmets as a symbol of their commitment. Through Headway’s Goal Challenge, fans also pledged a donation in support of the New Tough Concussion Awareness Campaign for every goal their favorite team scored over the weekend.
 
Each of Headway’s three co-founders are Ivy League hockey alumni—Paige Decker of Yale, Josephine Pucci of Harvard and Danny Otto of Yale—who suffered concussions during their collegiate playing careers.