User:ZappaOMatic/The Concussion Project/Women's sport

Women's sports have had more injuries than their male counterparts, especially in concussions. The three sports that injures girls include association football, basketball, and lacrosse, due to the lack of helmets in women's lacrosse, as checking is prohibited. Cheerleading is also one of the sports that could lead to concussions, due to the implementation of flips and tumbles.

Possible reasons for girls sustaining more concussions than boys include the greater rate of blood flow in the brain and weaker neck muscles for girls. Younger athletes have apparently reported more concussions than adults, possibly due to their brains being more likely to sustain traumatic brain injuries. According to a report in December 2008, 29,167 female soccer players suffered from concussions in the 2005 high school year, compared to 20,929 male players. In high school basketball, 12,923 girls suffered from concussions, compared to 3,823 boys. Girls have also sustained more concussions when playing softball, compared to boys in baseball.

Association football
Women's association football has one of the highest possibility to sustain a concussion. In the United States, 48 percent of association football players are girls, and girls are also reporting twice as many concussions as boys. A study published by the Journal of Athletic Training revealed that female high school players suffer from concussions 68 percent more than males. Girls have also sustained about 29,000 concussions annually, unlike boys with 21,000. As a result, Bob Cantu made a proposal to ban heading in youth soccer. Cantu claims that girls sustain more concussions than boys because of their anatomy. However, Brandi Chastain disagreed with Cantu, saying that it's an important part of the game, and that girls should learn to protect themselves. In 2005, research from Ohio State University and Nationwide Children's Hospital showed that girls soccer had 36 concussions per 100,000 games/practice, compared to boys soccer, with only 22.

Basketball
In the aforementioned Journal of Athletic Training study, female high school basketball players have concussion rates that are three times higher than male players.

Ice hockey
Despite the fact that checking is prohibited, the game allows contact. As a result, women's ice hockey has been named as one of the most dangerous sports in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since the concussion rate for 1,000 player hours is 2.72, compared to men, which has concussion rates that are 1.25 lower with the same amount of hours. To give it more perspective, college football has also had lower concussion rates than women's hockey, with a rate of 2.34 per 1,000 hours.

Recovery
Female athletes have also been shown to have longer recovery times than their male counterparts, as well as scoring lower in general on visual memory tests. Girls who have sustained concussions have reported lower grades and short-term memory loss.