The Concussion Blog would like to introduce to the public Project Brain Wave, a movement of contributions committed towards the protection and preservation of athletes’ careers through the sharing of knowledge and personal stories. Project Brain Wave originated at the community level in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and has since expanded to become adopted by The Concussion Blog, for the goals of all contributors at this site target one thing—addressing the sports concussion crisis. Through this effort, we hope to give a platform for the voices of those who were once rejected by the stigma concussions are associated with. The sharing of stories of those who have suffered from mild traumatic brain injury, as well as the thorough distribution of facts regarding the brain and concussions specifically, will be essential to the fight to gain universal attention and acknowledgement of concussions in sports. As Christopher Nowinski once said in an interview with John Gonoude, “We need to take a step back and start taking care of ourselves.”
Project Brain Wave is, by no means, a movement whose structure is set in stone—it is rather a tool for all to use as an outlet to voice their ideas, stories, and opinions. The Concussion Blog contributors will produce the sharing of such information in an effort to represent the unheard. In addition, this project—this movement—targets widespread concussion education while working towards altering the stigma of the injury. We are not advocates of repudiating contact sports. Mild traumatic brain injuries are an inherent risk of contact sports, but the ways in which we manage them are essential to the safety of our athletes, at all levels.
Dating back to the conception of The Concussion Blog, there has been a desire to find a platform of assistance. With the introduction of Project Brain Wave, this will, in a sense, become an “arm” or projection of the overall cause focused on real-life stories and educational awareness. Ultimately, the goal for Project Brain Wave is to someday create a nationally recognized cause (or foundation) for the betterment of all athletes as they relate to concussions. An analogy to further explain this movement we have set in place is thinking of The Concussion Blog as a news source, with Project Brain Wave serving as a life-section. In a more general sense, The Concussion Blog is, say, “Disney” for example, and Project Brain Wave is the cause entitled “Make A Wish.”
There needs to be a widespread consideration of the safety of athletes. Project Brain Wave intends to distribute the necessary information to those involved in contact sports programs, so that everyone may “catch the wave” and “ride it out” till a common ground is found. Involvement at the community level is also on our radar.
The Concussion Blog will continue to be your source for related news stories, unique statistics, listings, and blog-type posts on concussions, while continuing to offer a unique perspective from those who face this issue at the ground level. We are proud to present Project Brain Wave, and are open to the assistance of anyone interested in contributing, for it is essential for those involved or were once involved in the subject at hand, or athletics for that matter, come together to address this issue. Concussions are no joke. Let us all together take on the concussion crisis to ensure the safety of our past, present, and future athletes, and to collectively work towards protecting the integrity of contact sports simultaneously.
If you get the chance, “Like” Project Brain Wave on Facebook, “follow” it on Twitter, and come visit Project Brain Wave at www.projbrainwave.com! Read a story, share a story, join a movement! You can email Project Brain Wave at projbrainwave@yahoo.com. We are hopeful that with both The Concussion Blog and Project Brain Wave you will get all the necessary information about concussions, become educated, empowered and help change the stigma of this injury.
Dustin Fink & John Gonoude
Excellent! Looking forward to seeing what you achieve.