[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16739-16740]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    LET'S KEEP OUR ATHLETES HEALTHY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak to all the 
student athletes, the parents of student athletes, athletic trainers, 
and coaches out there: Sports build character. I want to make sure we 
are using technology, science, data analytics, and best practices to 
keep our student athletes practicing, performing, and competing in a 
safe and responsible manner.
  I recall, as a former high school and college athlete, the pregame 
and prepractice routines that my coaches used to require before we 
could start to play. And while sports provide great enjoyment for 
athletes, fans, and coaches, they also pose health risks; some of them 
are unavoidable, but some are preventable.
  By utilizing data and technology, we can establish best practices so 
our athletes can remain healthy and compete, and our sports teams can 
succeed. We can do that and still make certain injuries more 
preventable in the process.
  In 2015, we have watches that provide real-time data on our heart 
rate, caloric intake, and blood pressure to smartphones that can then 
be shared with coaches, parents, and physicians; and that is just an 
Apple iWatch or a Fitbit.
  Data analytics and sports go hand in hand these days, from 
mathematical algorithms as to what quarterback will be most successful 
on a Sunday afternoon, to the data of building a winning baseball team.
  Today's athletic success is fueled by skills, knowledge, and 
teamwork, both on and off the field. Just as we find ways to 
incorporate technology and data to ensure our next generation of 
athletes can remain healthy and playing well into old age, we must also 
encourage investments in the research, innovation, and technology to 
continue to build upon these already great achievements.
  One aspect of this can be found in using data analytics to better 
understand athletic injuries in our children and student athletes: for 
example, preemptively identifying vulnerabilities and assessing the 
lasting impact of other injuries so we can design equipment and enforce 
rules to most effectively avoid the likelihood of such injuries, but do 
so without compromising the integrity of the competitive sports we all 
enjoy watching or participating in.
  Health professionals, coaches, trainers, and parents can utilize this 
data to bring about greater awareness of sound practices that can keep 
our student athletes healthy and in the game, not on the sidelines.
  Every preseason we read in our local newspaper about a student 
athlete who suffered a concussion during football or soccer practice. 
In 2013 alone, over 1.2 million children visited emergency rooms for 
sports-related injuries, and nearly 8 percent of these emergency room 
visits were concussion-related.
  Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to introduce H. Res. 112, a 
resolution, the Secondary School Student Athletes' Bill of Rights, 
which encourages greater communication, coordination, and teamwork 
among coaches, parents, teachers, and medical professionals to ensure 
that our children receive adequate training, safe equipment and 
facilities, and immediate, on-site injury assessment.
  The very data and tools we use to generate information like RBIs or 
yards per carry can be used to study incidence of injury, the impact of 
certain dietary habits on developing athletes, better training 
practices, and a host of ways to improve the safe and responsible 
athletic experience for our youngest athletes.
  With the support of over 100 diverse organizations dedicated to 
improving the health of our student athletes, including the National 
Athletic Trainers Association, the American Football Coaches 
Association, the American

[[Page 16740]]

Heart Association, the National Association of State Boards of 
Education, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, H. Res. 112 is just 
one step towards encouraging and emphasizing the use, sharing, and 
incorporation of data and innovation in improving the safety of 
athletes and avoiding injury.
  While that effort deals with on-the-field success of our student 
athletes, just as important is making sure we are giving our next 
generation the tools they need in innovation and analytics. In 
Congress, we should enable continued research by making a commitment to 
providing the next generation of innovators with the tools to learn, 
develop, and ultimately succeed.
  Indeed, STEM skills, the foundation of innovation, lies in a dynamic, 
motivated, and a well-educated workforce equipped with science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics. As a member of the 
Congressional STEM Caucus, I will continue to be an advocate for 
continued funding of STEM curriculum in schools so that we can equip 
the next generation of scientists and mathematicians with the tools to 
succeed. STEM classroom lessons can be applied to sports and the data-
collection process. Our STEM students will play a major role in leading 
the way for greater success on the field.
  The bottom line, we must all work together to continue to keep our 
favorite athletes and our children and our teams on the field and in 
the game, prevent injuries, and encourage lifelong habits that will 
allow our children to lead healthier lives. By encouraging the use of 
technology, we can ensure our student athletes, our athletic trainers, 
our parents, and our coaches have the tools needed to keep our athletes 
healthy and on the field instead of on the sidelines.

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