New research highlights benefits of playing sport

I ALWAYS love this time of year with the start of the rugby season, something that as a player I have always looked forward to and couldn’t wait to get started. The stress of working throughout the summer months without that weekend game transporting you from your daily routine built until that moment when putting the boots back on.

The pleasure of meeting up with team-mates a couple of weeks before at pre-season training created an empathy with all players keen to get back on the park.

Obviously in those days it wasn’t about the money, it was solely about the team and whether or not we could do better this season.

The first few games of the season were defining moments, with everyone trying to get up to speed with the game again and with any new players trying to show their worth and what they could bring to the team.

I always remember the first few scrums of the season when the pressure would blur your vision and make you feel slightly unstable. Fortunately, it would only last for a few scrums until you readjusted back to handling the unique pressure that is only generated in a scrum.

However, this season we are entering probably the most important season the game has faced since its inception, with the court case regarding potential head injuries presently being heard.

With all the previous research that looked into finding a link between our sport and its possible causes for brain injury, there could be a doubt. I am surprised to discover that the most recent research carried out by UNSW University in Sydney, Oxford University and Harvard University, have an alternative view.

“We are entering probably the most important season the game has faced since its inception”

The researchers have found that those taking part in amateur sports who have unfortunately suffered concussion, often have better cognitive function than those who have never been concussed.

They also state that there is something about playing a sport, even though a person may experience concussion, that may be more beneficial for long term cognitive outcomes than those who never engage in sports.

The universities surveyed over 15,000 people as part of an ongoing NHS-backed study into brain ageing and cognitive decline. They found that those that suffered a concussion playing sport had a better processing speed and attention span than those who suffered head injuries elsewhere, as in a fall or car accident.

The study was at pains to emphasise the limits of the study which doesn’t apply to professional sport where it seems head injuries ‘tend’ to be more frequent and severe.

Dr Matt Lennon from New South Wales University said: “We hypothesise that there may be physical, social and long term behavioral effects of amateur sport that may make for healthier adults in later life.”

Meanwhile, Professor Vanessa Raymont of Oxford University said: “This study suggests that there could be long term benefits from taking part in sport that could outweigh any negative effects of concussion, which could have important implications for policy decisions around contact sport and its participation.”

She also states that it may be that non sports related head injuries lead to greater brain damage than sports related concussions.

All in all, this study has shown something that I have written about in previous articles when I wondered if there is something that only the professional clubs are doing that is creating the problems that are affecting the whole game.

With the study not involving the professional game and effectively showing the benefits of playing sport at amateur level – also the fact that it can actually improve brain health in amateur sports players – it could be that the different training and playing style between the amateur and professional game are to blame for the cases of early onset dementia.

Every club is a separate business which employs different training and playing techniques that are decided by the coaching staff of each club and not World Rugby, the WRU or the RFU. The vast majority of professional players spend their entire playing career playing at club level with those lucky enough to reach inter national level playing around just 10 games a season for their country.

Maybe the inter national players that have joined the case are more likely to have suffered their injuries at club level than inter national, so, any action could be taken against their employers and not the governing bodies of the game?