Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber is out indefinitely after a deflected shot from Dallas Stars forward Sam Steel struck him near his left ear, an area the helmet doesn’t protect, on September 25, 2026. He had surgery two days later. The NHL team hasn’t said what kind of fracture it is, but a skull fracture is likely. According to the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus, a skull fracture can damage brain tissue directly, or cause bleeding beneath the skull that compresses the brain. In a depressed skull fracture, broken bone is pushed inward toward the brain.
NHL history shows he can come back to play after his injury. Boston’s Ted Green suffered a life-threatening compound skull fracture in a 1969 stick fight. He needed three brain surgeries and a year of recovery. He then helped Boston win the 1972 Stanley Cup and played eight seasons of professional hockey.
Research indexed in NLM’s PubMed supports cautious optimism. A neurosurgery review found that after brain surgery for a sports injury, 40% to 50% of experts would advise those with such fractures to consider a return to play, but only after 6 to 12 months recuperation. However, about 80% opposed a return to collision sports if bleeding persisted.
The U.S. Senate unanimously consented to a resolution supporting the designation of September 18, 2026, as National Concussion Awareness Day, on September 23.
Cosponsored by Sen. Maggie Hassan (NH) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (WV), S.Res. 892 encourages federal, state, and local policymakers to raise awareness and improve understanding of diagnosis and management of this most common form of mild traumatic brain injury and calls for further research and prevention efforts. To support this, the resolution cites a number of statistics, including CDC data noting “between 2001 and 2018, an estimated 3,800,000 children under age 17 visited an emergency department because of a traumatic brain injury sustained during sports- or recreation-related activities.”
“Recognizing the signs of a concussion early helps people get the treatment they need to prevent lasting neurological damage from these injuries,” Hassan said. Capito concurred: “Improving concussion prevention, raising awareness, and strengthening diagnosis and treatment are critical to keeping athletes, coaches, parents, and others safe and informed on the field and in the workplace.
Badminton is one of the safest recreational sports, but as with all sports, it isn’t risk-free. The 2024 death of six-year-old Lucy Morgan of Stockholm, New Jersey, shows how a freak accident can turn devastating, even for spectators. On June 1, 2024, Lucy was sitting on the sideline when the aluminum shaft of a badminton racquet dislodged from its wooden handle and struck her in the head, piercing her skull. Surgeons operated to reduce brain swelling, but she died from her injuries on June 5, 2024. In August 2026, her parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the sports center, alleging the racket was defective.
The federal government has long been aware that, as with all sports, badminton can cause injury. In 1990, the National Library of Medicine published a report that found for those who suffered a badminton injury, 1.8 percent had a head injury. Decades later, the government examined the benefits of badminton: in 2022, an NLM-published review of 27 studies that related to “’badminton AND health’ and ‘badminton AND benefits’” The analysis was that “compared with other types of physical sporting activities, badminton offers, for the most part, better outcomes pertaining to the three types of health (physical, mental and social), with benefits also seen for disabled individuals and even in visual health.”
Guidance is consistent about when and to what level a brain-injured individual should begin playing sports again, including badminton, advising that you should only start a sport or exercise once you’ve had medical clearance by a doctor. After that, the recommendation is that you progress slowly, while you enjoy its benefits.
A New York Times article published yesterday, August 25, 2026, focuses on a study published this week in BMJ: at least one in four former N.F.L. players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. While The Times’ headline, Study’s Alarming Finding: At Least 1 in 4 N.F.L. Players Gets Brain Disease, captures the reader, it and the study itself omit an even grimmer finding: it appears that only about approximately a quarter of the 878 players who died had their brains examined. The real risk for CTE could be almost one hundred percent.
CTE comes from the cumulative force of repeated head impacts. (No tackle football position is safe, but low-contact positions like punters and kickers are the safest, while linemen absorb thousands of blows.) Roughly 60% of the players found with CTE had dementia and severe impairment, including an inability to feed or groom themselves.
This isn’t a call to ban tackle football. But public universities, however lucrative their football programs may be, are taxpayer-supported government institutions. Perhaps lawmakers should at least weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the sport on college campuses before federal funds are provided.
On June 24, 2026, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released new data on child drowning. An average of 376 children under 15 died in pool and spa incidents each year from 2021 to 2023. Of these fatalities, nearly 80% of the victims are under age five, and more than 70% of incidents at residential homes.
Less visible are the roughly 8,000 nonfatal drownings annually, as both adult and youth survivors of such incidents can sustain lasting brain damage. Diving adds a second summer hazard, particularly head-first impact in shallow water drives force straight through the neck.
While these numbers may cause worry, time in the water can safely stay one of the best parts of the summer by following some rules, including:
Assign a sober “water watcher”
Install four-sided fencing with self-latching gates
Enroll children in swimming lessons
Learn CPR
Enter unfamiliar water feet-first
On the other side of the spectrum, for those in recovery from a brain injury, aquatic therapy (AT) is a highly recognized form of treatment. A 2020 PubMed-available study found that “the use of AT during post-acute phase to improve motor functions and quality of life in patients with s[evere]TBI.” In March 2026, a new in-depth review of this subject was published on PubMed: Aquatic Therapy as a Programmable Multisensory Environment for Arousal and Postural Control After Severe Acquired Brain Injury.
On June 2, the Protect College Sports Act, S.4668, was introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (TX) alongside Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (WA), Senator Eric Schmitt (MO) and Senator Chris Coons (DE). Chiefly an overhaul of name, image and likeness rules, “It [also] establishes strong health and safety protections,” stated Cruz on June 3, a day that was headlined by a hearing with the former Alabama coach Nick Saban. The legislation would require concussion and brain-injury safety standards enforced by independent officers and create a $60 million annual trust fund for long-term conditions such as CTE.
The committee voted 19-9 on June 18 to advance it, and it now sits on the Senate calendar awaiting a floor vote. Last week, on July 13, 2026, the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act picked up two new backers, as Senators Shelley Moore Capito (WV) and Peter Welch (VT) signed on as cosponsors. Days later, Senator Eric Schmitt told the Associated Press Sports Editors that they “probably have 60 votes,” meeting the threshold the measure needs to clear the full Senate.
The bill is backed by the NCAA but is opposed by the SEC and Big Ten. However, this opposition appears to be against financial aspects of the bill and about over government overreach, and not about new safety standards. Additionally, a House companion bill, H.R. 9137, remains in committee. President Trump has urged passage “this summer”.
This past weekend’s Major League Rugby Championship underscored rugby’s arrival in Illinois. With over 50,000 youth registrations in 2024 and more than 370,000 children introduced to the sport through outreach programs in 21 states, the game is one of the fastest-growing youth sports in the country.
For those who have already sustained a brain injury, structured aerobic activity, like the non-contact formats of tag and flag rugby, offer genuine therapeutic benefit. The sport’s emphasis on teamwork and communication also supports psychosocial recovery, reducing isolation among those navigating long-term concussion symptoms.
Yet the neuroscience demands caution. A 2023 study in Acta Neuropathologica found CTE in 68% of donated former-rugby brains, with risk rising 14% per additional year of play. A 2023 NIH-backed study in JAMA Neurology found CTE in 41% of contact-sport athletes under 30. The CDC estimates up to 3.8 million sports concussions annually. Sen. Maggie Hassan (NH) has called for action, stating that “the full scope of these injuries often goes unrecognized.”
A student athlete from Eastlake North High School in Ohio is recovering after sustaining a brain injury during a pole vault event at a track meet at Mayfield High School. According to reports and community updates, the student athlete’s pole broke while he was vaulting at maximum height. He fell straight down and struck his head on the vault box, a metal plant box that holds the pole.
Outdoor track and field is the most popular sport for girls at the high school level, with 513,808 participants in 2024–25, and participation on the boys’ side surged to 644,235 athletes during that time period. Recently, social media and sports streaming platforms have also enhanced pole vaulting’s visibility, which has attracted new entrants and expanding its base.
Despite its appeal, pole vaulting carries serious risks. A 2001 NIH-indexed study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine reviewed 32 catastrophic pole vault injuries reported between 1982 and 1998, finding that all occurred at an average age of 17.5 years, with 31 being catastrophic head injuries. Three means of injury dominated: athletes landing with their body on the pad but their head striking surrounding hard ground, missing the pad entirely, and prematurely releasing the pole. A 2012 follow-up study, also indexed on PubMed, found that from 2003 to 2011, 19 catastrophic injuries occurred. Averaging 2.1 per year, it was reported that 74% of these injuries involved athletes landing in or around the vault box, with 58% resulting in major head injuries.
Rule changes in 2003 by the NCAA, NFHS [National Federation of State High School Associations], and USA Track and Field – including enlarged landing pad dimensions – led to an 88% reduction in catastrophic injuries, with no fatalities reported since. Still, risks remain. Athletes can reduce injury risk by using properly rated poles, training under certified coaches, and considering ASTM [American Society for Testing and Materials]-certified helmets. Recent 2026 NFHS rule changes also clarified that padding requirements now apply to raised concrete or platform extensions above ground level that pose injury risks during falls.
The Eastlake North case is a reminder that even with two decades of safety improvements, more must be done to protect young athletes who soar.
The 2026 PGA Championship is now underway in Charlotte, North Carolina. This annual event is, “known for having one of the strongest fields in golf,” according to an AI Overview. It also brings attention to the connection between golf and brain injury, as golf can be used for therapeutic means of recovery. Much like every other sport, though, playing golf can also be perilous, increasingly so in recent years, as golf becomes more physically demanding.
On the therapeutic side, golf provides exercise that can be beneficial for hand-eye coordination: bilateral coordination, fine motor grip retraining, postural balance, and visuospatial focus. The option of golf carts as an ambulation asset also provides exercise that can aid with balance deficits. Physical therapists call it, “a great training tool for the brain and the body to rehabilitate.” Programs such as Saving Strokes – launched in Sacramento more than a decade ago and now running at more than twenty sites across the western United States – use the golf swing as a neuroplasticity workout, recruiting both sides of the brain and body to rebuild balance, timing, and grip. Additionally, and just as importantly, it also allows for social engagement, which can reduce depression.
However, as with every other physical sport, golf can also be dangerous. In October 2025, the New York State Golf Association reported that approximately 5 million rounds of golf were recorded between 2020 and 2023. While the same report found that only “8 patients presented with golf-related neurological injuries to our level 1 trauma center during that same time,” even one is too many. Another study, from 2024 and available to view on PubMed, is titled, and concluded, Golf cart injuries have similar severity to all-terrain vehicle injuries in children. U.S. emergency departments treat roughly 30,000 golf-related injuries each year, with the head and neck the most commonly injured regions. A separate study reports that 156,000-plus golf cart injuries were reported between 2007 and 2017, many involving skull fractures and intracranial bleeds. In early May 2026, for example, a Utah CrossFit gym owner suffered a subdural hematoma and was placed in a medically induced coma after the golf cart she was riding in tipped over. (This accident is now driving a $500,000 GoFundMe, as the woman will face a long road of neurorehabilitation.)
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama tumbled face-first on the court in the second quarter of Game 2, on Tuesday, April 21, at the NBA Playoffs against Portland. The accident was both a serious blow to the player and the team, as Wembanyama averages 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game. Fortunately, he returned for Game 4 of the game series, which San Antonio ultimately won. However, it is a sobering reminder both that nobody is concussion-proof and of the immense importance of NBA’s Concussion Protocol.
Through the years, incidents like Wembanyama’s head trauma have become more common and with greater consequences, as today’s NBA players are stronger and more athletic than those from the past. Due to this situation, the NBA finally had the wherewithal to institute a Concussion Protocol in the 2011–12 season. Before it, reportedly just 5.7 concussions were recorded per season in the League. Afterward, that number nearly tripled, not because the game suddenly got much more dangerous, but because of more “accurate reporting secondary to advances in player education, medical knowledge, national media coverage, and standardized testing protocols,” states a 2019 study, Concussions in the National Basketball Association: An Analysis from 1999-2018, available on PubMed.gov.
“A player diagnosed with a concussion should be regularly monitored for 24 hours … the player may not begin the return-to-participation exertion process until 24 hours after the time of injury,” read the original Protocol. In 2026, the Protocol is more rigorous: a player cannot return to full participation for at least 48 hours and must successfully complete cognitive tests before clearance.
Beyond the pros, college players are at risk, as are basketball players still in high school and younger. In the 2023 – 2024 season, approximately 250,000 students sustained concussions across nine high school sports, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. Accordingly, Senator Dick Durbin (IL) introduced Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act on September 18, 2025. At that time, S.2889 was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. On February 17, 2026, Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act was introduced to the House by Representative Mark DeSaulnier (CA). H.R.7590 was then referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. No action has been taken on either bill since their introductions. (While no federal sports concussion law yet exists, all 50 states have adopted youth sports concussion laws.)
Although injuries do happen, most notably in the NBA, ultimately a player is responsible for their own safety. In August 2024, the government published a systematic review, Sure Steps: Key Strategies for Protecting Basketball Players from Injuries, available on PubMed. Five of the six strategies highlight neuromuscular training, which includes strength work, stabilization or core, mobility, and agility.
