As reporters we set out to find answers on the topic of concussions because all three of us have a close relationship to sports. Either we play a collegiate sport or our significant other does. Concussions are a big grey area in the sports world. Most of the time all the research that is conducted is after someone has had a fatal accident and from there the brain is scanned and researched. We, as students, wanted to dive deeper into the research that is being done to prevent these fatal accidents from occurring. The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab is the countries leading concussion and helmet lab. We are grateful enough to have them located on Virginia Tech’s campus for all current athletes and athletes to come.
We used a variety of sources to ensure that our storytelling was accurate. We were in close communication with Dr. Barry Miller and Taylor Langon who both work in the Virginia Tech Helmet lab. They were incredibly helpful as sources of information for us. They also provided amazing content for us to use in our projects. Because of COVID and construction going on in the lab we were not able to actually tour it ourselves, and they provided us with 360 photos and a Zoom virtual tour. Other primary sources we were able to discuss with and utilize were athletes on Virginia Tech’s campus, like Tre Turner and Tucker Harris. Their interviews and insights were an incredible way for us to hear about how concussions can really affect someone’s life. Other websites and sources that we used for our research include the CDC, the Concussion Foundation, the National Football League, and The NFL Players Association. All of these sources were beneficial in our accumulation of research and content. When it came to creating an interactive and informative timeline all of the outside sources and links used in that project are linked to the timeline itself.
We hope that this project and all resources included help to create more knowledge and support for this issue. It is important that we all keep learning about our brain and how best to protect it.