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From the professional ranks down to the peewee level in such contact sports as football and soccer, concussions are much on the minds of medical professionals, coaches, athletic administrators, parents and the athletes themselves.

On Sept. 12, during the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles, viewers saw Eagles’ linebacker Stewart Bradley collapse on the field. He had suffered a concussion and already has been ruled out for the following weekend’s game. In the same game, Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb had a concussion and was also benched for the following Sunday.

On Sept. 11, University of Wisconsin-Madison receiver David Gilreath was knocked unconscious and lay motionless in the school’s game against San Jose State. Gilreath was taken off the field on a stretcher and did not play on Saturday when the Badgers met Arizona State University.

And earlier this month, Evan Coubal, a sixth-grader from Muskego, Wis., suffered a concussion during a youth football game. Days later, he was playing near a football sled when he hit his head on it. He was taken to a hospital, where he died of head trauma.

The three cases are all different, with one ending tragically. But while expert medical care is at the ready at the professional and collegiate levels, there is growing concern and awareness about the impact concussions have on young people. On Sept. 23, the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee discussed legislation to reduce and more safely manage concussions in young people.

Nationwide, the tally of concussions is going up because of increasing numbers of young people playing sports, better reporting and a greater awareness of the dangers of a head injury.

This month, the National Federation of State High School Associations estimated that 7.6 million young adults participated in high school sports nationwide, a record. But more kids mean more opportunity for injury.

Last month, a report in the journal Pediatrics found that the number of children in the nation seeking emergency medical care for concussions while playing sports more than doubled from 2000 to 2005. The study found that 40 percent of the pediatric concussion patients were between the ages of 8 and 13.

And one out of five will have symptoms lasting two weeks or more.

Altogether, anywhere from 1.8 million to 3.6 million athletes of all ages report symptoms of concussion each year, with the majority of concussions occurring among younger people.

At the professional and college level, doctors and medical professionals who have been trained to evaluate concussions are seconds away from a player on the field.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body for high school sports in that state, has rules governing concussions, and encouraged coaches, trainers, assistants and others to take a free online course offered by the National Federation of State High School Associations that provides more information about concussions.