Dangerous Games | The Seaford Experiment

In the last twenty years, elite sports players around the globe have increasingly revealed brain damage diagnoses resulting from participation in the games they love.

Through the persistent work of leading scientists around the world research has uncovered a disease unique to collision sports: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

A disease that can only be diagnosed post-mortem, many athletes continue to report troubling symptoms, including memory loss, behavioural issues, anger management, addiction and suicidality. Symptoms that significantly affect not only their quality of life, but their prospect of a healthy future.

Although up until recently thought to only affect players at an elite level, research has revealed a post mortem diagnosis of CTE in semi-pro and amateur athletes, hinting at the possibility of an undiscovered epidemic that could have an unprecedented global impact.

Led by Australia’s foremost concussion & brain injury researcher Professor Alan Pearce, the club will have access to the same world-class technology used internationally to track and monitor brain trauma in elite level sports.

A world-first in community football, the data collected will directly impact how we view and manage head impacts at all levels of sport, aiming to reduce the prevalence of brain disease and ensuring the longevity of community sports into the future.

In the short term we’d love to see an immediate take up of the story and the research findings, sparking an informed, solution-driven conversation nationally and overseas.

From there, to see people at all levels of sport make informed decisions about their participation and health management, supported by clearer and more direct action by clubs, coaches and medical staff at all levels.

In the long term, to aid in changing the culture around sport to see head impacts taken seriously and games made safer at levels. Ultimately it is our hope that this story and the research undertaken can ensure the longevity of sports participation, and celebrate the positive power of sport to unify and uplift communities world over.

We have direct access to the three team leaders – Professor Alan Pearce, Annitta Siliato and Donny O’Neil, as well as the full acceptance of and access the Seaford Football Club, and those participants who are required to participate in the program due to a brain injury incurred during the season.

– Organise a film screening and education night with the Concussion Legacy Foundation
– Donate toward Professor Pearce’s research at the community level
– Advocate for more efficient diagnostic tools to be used in identifying brain injuries and monitoring recovery periods
– Use those tools to accurately determine when it is safest to return to play – beyond the 12-day rule
– Utilise mouthguards to monitor rates of impact and help players determine when they’re at risk