Study: Ban bodychecking in youth hockey

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 18 (UPI) -- Bodychecking in youth hockey should be banned to prevent serious injuries such as concussions, researchers in Canada conclude.

Dr. Syd Johnson of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, says approximately 500,000 young people in Canada play hockey in organized leagues and concussions in junior hockey are quite prevalent, with as many as 25 percent of all players in a given season sustaining these injuries.

"The fact is that the vast majority of concussions, and hockey injuries overall, at all levels of play, are caused by legal bodychecking," Johnson says in a statement. "It's safe to say that as long as bodychecking is a part of ice hockey, a high rate of concussions will also be a part of hockey."

Hockey played by the professionals is imitated in junior hockey, Johnson says.

"This creates a vicious cycle in which young athletes learn to play in a way that inevitably causes injury and in turn influence the next generation of players," Johnson says in a statement. "It's time to break that cycle and teach youths to play in a way that emphasizes skill and protects their brains, so they'll be prepared to do the same when they grow up."

The damaging effects of concussion are cumulative, so the fewer concussions a youth player has sustained, the better off he or she will be in the short and long term, Johnson says.

The analysis is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.