Over the past few years, attention focused on the impact of concussions and brain injury in the NFL. Attention soon turned to youth sports, and several states have begun to debate the issues. Tennessee enacted a new law that requires coaches to remove any athlete from competition who shows signs of concussion. The law promotes education and understanding of symptoms of head injury and concussion, and establishes policy in regards to return to play. This applies to all public and private schools as well as to any recreational league for children under age 18. Chris Nowinski has been an instrumental public figure working to increase the awareness of the impact of sports related head injury and brain trauma.
Chattanooga Area Brain Injury Association announced that Mr. Nowinski, sports and entertainment figure, author, and activist, will be speaking at our annual fundraiser – The Many Faces of Brain Injury - on March 27, 2014 at The Mill, 1601 Gulf Street, Chattanooga, Tn. 37408, from 6-8 p.m.
Mr. Nowinski is instrumental in bringing national attention to promoting education and policy change about sports concussions and brain injury. Mr. Nowinski can easily be described as an expert and activist in regards to sports-related brain injury. He is a Harvard alumnus who earned a BA in sociology, and was an all Ivy League Conference defensive tackle for the Harvard University football team. Following graduation, he pursued professional wrestling.
Mr. Nowinski’s interests in brain injury stem from personal experience and lead him to learn more about brain injury. He wrote the book Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis in 2006 (updated in 2012) which details his personal story about his career-ending injury, and promotes understanding of the dangers of concussion in contact sports. In 2012, his book was adapted into an award-winning documentary film.
Mr. Nowinski co-founded the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the sports concussion crisis through education, policy and research. He serves as a co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, and as an advisor on the NFL Players Association Mackey-White Traumatic Brain Injury Committee and the Ivy League Multi Sports Concussion Committee. Mr. Nowinski is the narrator for the Center for Disease Control's on-line training for concussions. He has numerous awards and is a frequent speaker and well-known advocate. He also finds time to work towards his Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Boston University School of Medicine. In 2012, Nowinski received the United States Sports Academy Distinguished Service Award, and the Sport at its Best Award as a Player Safety Advocate from Ralph Nader’s League of Fans. Mr. Nowinski, an accomplished sportsman, has dedicated his life to understand and educate about sports concussions and promote safety in sports.
Please refer to his website for more information on the ways he has taken a lead in minimizing head trauma in sports: http://www.chrisnowinski.com.
"It is Nowinski's figure which looms behind the doctors and the headlines and the debate roiling over sports' newfound commitment to minimizing head trauma." -Sports Illustrated, 2010
The Mountain Cove Band from Signal Mountain will perform prior to Mr. Nowinski. The event will include a silent auction including survivor art work.