New high school sports concussion rules

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - There are new concussion rules for high school athletes across Michigan.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association protocols say a team must remove any athlete who shows signs, symptoms or behaviors of a concussion, and that player cannot come back until a doctor clears the athlete.

The rules apply to all athletes in all sports.

A Rockford High School parent told 24 Hour News 8 the school is testing athletes with cognitive tests. He said the school's medical staff tested his daughter, who plays volleyball, to establish her cognitive baseline level.

The rules are more strict than last year. Officials, not the team, needed to remove athletes who were unconscious or appeared unconscious. University of Michigan doctors say signs that obvious only happen in about 10 percent of concussions.

Some other symptoms are headaches, dizziness, confusion and loss of balance.

Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, of the University of Michigan Health System, says if a concussion is not reported, it can catch up to the player's health. "Somebody who gets a concussion and stays in the game will do worse," he said in a news release. "They'll have more symptoms and their symptoms will last longer."