You may have heard the field your child or athletes are playing on, “is the safest possible field,” or “passes all safety tests.” What you may not be aware of are the inadequacies of the current testing methods, or rather “method.” Most fields currently rely solely on the G-Max test to determine a field’s safety. This test…
Dave Duerson was a starting safety for the Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl championship team. He played in the NFL for 11 seasons, and was selected to play in four Pro Bowls. In the years after his retirement, Duerson struggled with memory lapses, mood swings, headaches, blurred eyesight, and other cognitive problems. He suspected these…
The Brett Favre produced film, “Shocked: The Hidden Factor in the Sports Concussion Crisis,” sheds light on how hard artificial turf fields become when not maintained or built without shock pads. The concept grew from Brett Favre’s discussions with Brock USA CEO, Dan Sawyer, and developed into a comprehensive documentary short film. Last week three-time…
A Boston University study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found CTE in 110 of 111 ex-NFL players. This alarming discovery was discussed heavily in the news and social media. Less publicized was the diagnosis of CTE in 3 of 18 brains from high school athletes. CTE, brain damage, and concussions tend to be…
The Maryland Soccer Foundation is almost finished replacing its three existing turf fields with AstroTurf and Brock USA. The fields feature Zeofill, an organic infill that will help keep the surface cooler than a traditional sand and rubber infill. Organic infill is not effective at absorbing impacts, and must be paired with a shock pad…
Leading artificial turf design firm, Byrne & Jones, posted a great article recently pertaining to the importance of shock pads in field design and how the HIC Testprovides a much more encompassing look at field safety than using the G-Max test alone. Here is a little snippet, but you can read the full article at byrneandjones.com. As…
Ralph Wenzel played in the NFL for 7 years, and began to show cognitive impairments after retirement. His symptoms were mild at first, he often misplaced checkbooks or lost wallets. Wenzel struggled with memory loss, re-coaching his youth football team the same drills, forgetting they had done them the day before. As his symptoms progressed,…
