Sports Medicine

Mission Statement

  • Advise on Sports Medicine issues as they relate to rules writing, programs, and services
  • Monitor and disseminate information relating to Sports Medicine
  • Work with the MIAA to educate our constituency on Sports Medicine issues
  • Proactively address health and safety issues of concern to the MIAA membership
  • Concussion education and prevention

National High School Sports-Related Injury Study

Please consider participating in the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, where you can help move toward the goal of reducing the rate and severity of sports-related injuries among high school athletes.
CLICK HERE to learn more.

Hot Topics

Position Papers

Sports Medicine Committee Information

Committee Members

Committee Liaison – Richard Pearson, MIAA, Associate Director
Committee Chair – Dr. Alan Ashare, Physician

District 1:
Mr. Sean Mackin, Athletic Director, Chicopee PS
Mr. David Stratton, Athletic Director, Agawam HS

District 2:
Mr. Michael Rubin, Principal, Uxbridge HS
Mr. Kevin May, Athletic Director, Oxford HS

District 3: 
Mr. Jason Gilmartin, Assistant Principal, Quabbin RHS
Mr. James Scanlon, Athletic Director, Shepherd Hill RHS

District 4:
Mr. Zack Blaszak, Athletic Director, Central Catholic HS
VACANCY

District 5:
Ms. Terri Pillsbury, Athletic Director, Saugus HS
VACANCY

District 6: 
Mr. Jahmeela Bai-Gradson, Principal, Neighborhood Charter
Mr. Christian Schatz, Athletic Director, Bishop Feehan HS

District 7: 
Ms. Nicole Bottomley, Principal, Holliston HS
Mr. Thomas Giusti, Athletic Director, Newton North HS

District 8: 
Mr. Ross Thibault, Principal, Dartmouth HS
Mr. Bill Tilden, Athletic Director, Old Rochester RHS

District 9: 
Mr. John Harrison, Principal, Rockland HS
Mr. Justin Domingos, Athletic Director, Pembroke HS

Dr. Kathryn Ackerman, Physician
Dr. Stephen Beaudoin, Physician
Mr. Michael BelangerPhysical Therapist/Athletic Trainer
Dr. Warren A. Bodine, Physician
Dr. Robert Colandreo, Athletic Trainer
Dr. Jorge Fleisher, Physician
Dr. Michael H. Goldstein, Physician
Dr. David Grams, Physical Therapist
Dr. David Greenboltt, Physician
Dr. Mary Jane Hanton, Physician
Ms. Tonya Hautala, Athletic Trainer
Dr. John F. Jardine, Physician
Mr. Chad R. Kelley, Athletic Trainer
Ms. Michelle Kelly, Athletic Trainer
Mr. Robert McQuaid, Physician Assistant
Ms. Nairi Melkonian, Athletic Trainer
Dr. Erin Menard, Physical Therapist
Ms. Kierstin Merlino, Athletic Trainer
Mr. Steve Mirasolo, Athletic Trainer
Mr. Eric Otterson, Physician Assistant
Dr. Gary Peters, Physician
Dr. Drew Rogers, Physician
Dr. Joel Saperstein, Physician
Mrs. Diane Sartanowicz, Clinical Athletic Trainer
Mr. James Scanlon, Athletic Trainer
Mr. Jeff Stone, Athletic Trainer
Ms. Jennifer Sturtevant, Athletic Trainer
Ms. Jennifer Gaudet, MASS
Ms. Katherine Hennessy, MASC
Mr. Ryan Conway, At-Large
VACANCY, Official
VACANCY, Official
VACANCY, Coach
VACANCY, Coach

Committee Dates

October 17, 2022 4:00pm(in person)
February 13, 2023 4:00pm(virtual)
May 8, 2023 4:00pm(in person)

Minutes & Agendas

Resources

Concussion Corner
Hydration / Food / Dietary Supplements

Dietary Supplements: 

DANGEROUS: Food and Drug Administration Says Dietary Supplements containing BD, GBL, and GHB can kill you!

Dangerous products sold as dietary supplements for bodybuilding, weight loss, and sleep aids have been linked to deaths and severe sickness requiring hospitalization. These products are made from chemicals named:

  • gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB),
  • gamma butyrolactone (GBL),
  • and 1,4 butanediol (BD).

Swallowing any of these ingredients may make you extremely sick and may even kill you.

BD, GBL, and GHB are used to make floor stripper, paint thinner, and other industrial products. FDA determined that dietary supplements containing these chemicals are really unapproved drugs because of the effect they have on the body. It is illegal to sell anything for human consumption that contains GHB, GBL and BD. They can cause breathing problems, coma, vomiting, seizures and sometimes death. GHB, GBL and BD also increase the effects of alcohol and are even more dangerous when taken along with other drugs.

Items that contain BD include Revitalize Plus, Serenity, Enliven, GHRE, SomatoPro, NRG3, Thunder Nectar and Weight Belt Cleaner. GBL product names include: Longevity, Revivarant, G.H. Revitalizer, Gamma G, Blue Nitro, Insom-X, Remforce, Firewater and Invigorate. Previously, FDA warned consumers not to drink the products named Cherry fX Bombs, Lemon fX Drops and Orange fX Rush.

The dangerous products may list 1,4 butanediol, tetramethylene glycol, gamma butyrolactone or 2(3H)-Furanone di hydro on the label – but some products have no label at all.

GBL-related products are listed as “party drugs” on internet sites, advertised in muscle-building magazines, and sold in health food stores as dietary supplements. Some of these products have been used as “date rape” drugs.

In 1990, FDA banned the use of GHB, but some companies switched ingredients to GBL and after warnings about GBL, switched to BD. These are all very similar chemicals which the body converst to GHB with the same dangerous effects. GBL-related products have been linked to at least 122 serious illnesses reported to FDA — including three deaths.

For more information contact the Food and Drug Administration at 1-888-INFO-FDA or visit their website.

Lightning Safety

LIGHTNING SAFETY

Reprinted with permission from NCAA and NSSL, for informational purposed only.

Lightning is the most consistent and significant weather hazard that may affect interscholastic athletics. Within the United States, the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) estimates that 100 fatalities and 400-500 injuries requiring medical treatment occur from lightning strikes every year. While the probability of being struck by lightning is extremely low, the odds are significantly greater when a storm is in the area and the proper safety precautions are not followed.

Prevention and education are the keys to lightning safety. Education begins with background information on lightning. The references associated with this guideline are an appropriate resource. Prevention should begin long before any interscholastic athletic event or practice. The following steps are recommended by the NSSL to mitigate the lightning hazard:

  1. Designate a chain of command as to who monitors threatening weather and who makes the decision to remove teams or individuals from an athletic site or event. An emergency plan should include planned instructions for participants as well as spectators.
  2. Obtain a weather report each day before a practice or event. Be aware of potential thunderstorms that may form during scheduled interscholastic athletic events or practices.
  3. Be aware of National Weather Service-issued (NWS) thunderstorm watches and warnings as well as the signs of thunderstorms developing nearby. A watch means conditions are favorable for severe weather to develop in an area; a warning means that severe weather has been reported in an area and for everyone to take proper precautions.
  4. Know where the closest safe structure or location is to the field or playing area, and know how long it takes to get to that safe structure or location.

    Safe structure or location is defined as:

    • Any building normally occupied or frequently used by people, i.e. a building with plumbing and/or electrical wiring that acts to electrically ground the structure. Avoid using shower facilities for safe shelter and do not use the showers or plumbing facilities during a thunderstorm.
    • In the absence of a sturdy, frequently inhabited building, any vehicle with a hard metal roof (not a convertible or golf cart) and rolled-up windows can provide a measure of safety. A vehicle is certainly better than remaining outdoors. It is not the rubber tires that make a vehicle a safe shelter, but the hard metal roof which dissipates the lightning strike around the vehicle. DO NOT TOUCH THE SIDES OF THE VEHICLE!
  5. Be aware of how close lightning is occurring. The flash-to-bang method is the easiest and most convenient way to estimate how far away lightning is occurring. Thunder always accompanies lightning, even though its audible range can be diminished due to background noise in the immediate environment, and its distance from the observer. To use the flash-to-bang method, count the seconds from the time the lightning is sighted to when the clap of thunder is heard. Divide this number by five to obtain how far away (in miles) the lightning is occurring. For example, if an individual counts 15 seconds between seeing the flash and hearing the bang, 15 divided by five equals three; therefore, the lightning flash is approximately 3 miles away.

LIGHTNING AWARENESS

Lightning awareness should be increased with the first flash of lightning or the first clap of thunder, no matter how far away. This activity must be treated as a wake-up call to interscholastic athletic personnel. The most important aspect to monitor is how far away the lightning is occurring, and how fast the storm is approaching, relative to the distance of a safe shelter.

Specific lightning-safety guidelines have been developed for the NCAA with the assistance of the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL). 

  • As a minimum, NSSL staff strongly recommend that by the time the monitor obtains a flash-to-bang count of 30 seconds, all individuals should have left the athletic site and reached a safe structure or location. Athletic events may need to be terminated. 
  • The existence of blue sky and the absence of rain are not protection from lightning. Lightning can, and does strike as far as 10 miles away from the rain shaft. It does not have to be raining for lightning to strike. 
  • If no safe structure or location is within a reasonable distance, find a thick grove of small trees surrounded by taller trees or a dry ditch. Assume a crouched position on the ground with only the balls of the feet touching the ground, wrap your arms around your knees and lower your head. Minimize contact with the ground, because lightning current often enters a victim through the ground rather than by a direct overhead strike. MINIMIZE YOUR BODY’S SURFACE AREA, AND MINIMIZE CONTACT WITH THE GROUND! DO NOT LIE FLAT! If unable to reach safe shelter, stay away from the tallest trees or objects (such as light poles or flag poles), metal objects (such as fences or bleachers), individual trees, standing pools or water, and open fields. Avoid being the highest object in a field. Do not take shelter under a single, tall tree. 
  • A person who feels his or her hair stand on end, or skin tingle, should immediately crouch, as described above. 
  • Avoid using the telephone, except in emergency situations. People have been struck by lightning while using a land-line telephone. A cellular phone or portable remote phone is a safe alternative to land-line phones, if the person and the antenna are located within a safe structure or location, and if all other precautions are followed. 
  • When considering resumption of an athletic activity, NSSL staff recommends that everyone should ideally wait at least 30 minutes after the last flash of lightning or sound of thunder before returning to the field or activity. 
  • People who have been struck by lightning do not carry an electrical charge. Therefore, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is safe for the responder. If possible, an injured person should be moved to a safer location before starting CPR. Lightning-strike victims who show signs of cardiac or respiratory arrest need emergency help quickly. Prompt, aggressive CPR has been highly effective for the survival of victims of lightning strikes. 

Note: Commercial weather warning services with sophisticated cloud-to-ground lightning detection devices are available. They may offer a cost effective, efficient method of making accurate, timely decisions on location and movement of lightning storms. Such devices are helpful in making decisions regarding stoppage of play, practice, evacuation, and return to activity.

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