Sydney school Queenwood bans AFL over concerns of brain injuries
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School BANS AFL because it’s ‘too risky’ for kids’ developing brains: ‘It was in their best interest’
- Sydney Queenwood School banned AFL
- He said the sport is too risky for brain injuries.
One of Sydney’s most prestigious girls’ schools has banned female students from playing Australian rules football over concerns about brain damage.
Students from Queenwood, on Sydney’s north shore, have a long history in the AFL, with former student-turned-Gians player Nicola Barr selected the No. 1 draft pick in 2016.
The decision to ban school-age girls from playing AFL was made after the school hierarchy heard that teenage girls are more likely to develop traumatic brain injuries from the sport.
‘At Queenwood, we love everything about the AFL except for the risk of brain trauma. We did a thorough review of the investigation, based on expert advice, and what we found concerned us,” Queenwood principal Elizabeth Stone said.
Queenwood (above), an all-girls school in Sydney, has banned the AFL after hearing that teenage girls are the group most at risk of developing brain injuries.
Concussion was the second most common injury suffered in the AFL’s senior women’s league, AFLW, last year (pictured right is Queenwood alumnus Nicola Barr)
‘There were three deciding factors. The first was the growing evidence that adolescents are at greater risk of brain injury than children or adults.
‘The second was data showing that women experience concussions more frequently and more severely than men. This meant that our students, the adolescents, were in the highest risk category.
“The third factor, which is not widely understood, is that damage accumulates over time from any impact to the head, including subconcussive impacts. It’s like recording charges on a credit card with an unknown but catastrophic credit limit.’
“While individuals vary in the number of blows to the head they can take before crossing the threshold of detectable brain injury, we were not comfortable with the idea that our students would get any closer to that limit on our clock. They have a whole life ahead of them.
“We removed the AFL with reluctance but with real certainty on the basis of the evidence that it was in their best interest.”
Queenwood said it was “not comfortable” to put students at risk of serious brain injury by continuing with the AFL as part of their sports program (injured Adelaide Crows player Ailish Considine pictured)
Long-term players of the rough sport have been known to sustain serious brain injuries, with concussion being the second most common injury in the AFL’s senior women’s league, AFLW, last year.
AFL stars Danny Frawley and Shane Tuck have taken their own lives after suffering chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition caused by repeated brain injuries.
Former Giants player Jacinda Barclay also took her own life, and investigators found she had suffered undetected brain damage, which they described as a “time bomb.”
The AFL told The Australian that “the health and safety of everyone who plays Australian rules football is a key priority” and said it provides concussion management guidelines to teams as part of injury management.
Neurologists recommend that children not play tackle sports until they are at least 12 years old.