A TBI retired his football dreams at 15. Inside youth sports' pervasive problem

Clayton Liebman was a budding star on the Notre Dame Prep JV team in 2024

At just 16, the sophomore running back from Scottsdale, Arizona, was building a reputation for being tough to bring down

He quickly became the centerpiece of his team's offense. I was just hoping to, you know, have a decent role in the team

And then my coach found out how good I was. and next thing you know, I was getting 30 carries a game, 250 yards, a couple touchdowns

But that success on the football field turned into a family's worst nightmare in an instant

Last October 24th, one week after this performance against Higley High School

Clayton was tackled during a third quarter play. He couldn't get up

He lay on the field unresponsive and started convulsing. An ER doctor came out of the stands to help team trainers, and Clayton was rushed to the hospital

I went down, but I had to stay, kind of stay back, yeah

So he, they did not want me to see what condition he was in

Clayton suffered a brain bleed. Doctors performed a craniotomy, removing part of his skull to relieve pressure

He spent nearly two weeks in intensive care, much of it on a ventilator

He doesn't remember what happened on the field. There's one memory I can think of

I was in the hospital. I don't think I was talking. I was throwing the football with my uncle

and I was doing it left-handed because the right side of my body was shut down

Clayton's injury is a severe example of a sports-related traumatic brain injury

80% of TBIs are categorized as concussions, which can affect up to 1.9 million U.S. kids each year

The CDC estimates seven out of ten emergency room visits for sports related concussions are among children ages 17 and under Dr Carissa Niehoff of the National Federation of State High School Associations

says it's the number one medical issue in high school sports. So the issue's always there. Sports come with inherent risks

And it's not just football. It's soccer. It's baseball. It's any sport, really

I mean, our bodies are active and there's a risk that we're going to hurt our head

All 50 states have laws in place to help protect kids playing organized sports from head injuries

Several states, along with the NFHS, specifically track concussions. And Dr. Niedhoff notes that nationwide, numbers have remained steady or are declining

Yet despite the fact that youth sports have tackled the concussion protocol head-on for more than a decade

traumatic brain injuries still occur. A lot. Concussions account for roughly 15% of all high school sports injuries, according to the CDC

It's essential for athletes, coaches, and parents to be vigilant and speak up if something doesn't look or feel right

When the kids don't self-report and somebody may not have seen a play or a situation happen

we may never know until later. And then they go home and they have these symptoms and then the parents don't know

and so it can quickly slip through your fingers. Concussions are like snowflake injuries

Every person that sustains a concussion might experience it a little differently

In the past, doctors diagnosed concussions on a grading scale using indicators

like the type of impact suffered and whether or not someone lost consciousness

But that approach is now outdated. While symptoms and recovery time may vary from patient to patient

concussions are now diagnosed and treated on an all-or-nothing model. Either you've experienced enough force

to trigger a concussion, or you haven't. Dr Ginger Yang is a principal investigator at the Center for Injury Research at Nationwide Children Hospital in Columbus Ohio She specializes in youth concussion diagnosis and recovery and said the most important thing a coach or parent can do if they suspect a concussion is keep the player on the sidelines

Athletes who have suffered a concussion are four to six times more likely to suffer a second one

When you have a concussion, seeking care right away so you can recover sooner and also get enough rest before you go back and waiting until you're fully recovered going back so you will not have additional concussion

Dr. Yang also mentioned one of the factors that could lead to injury or concussions is when kids specialize in one sport and the pressure to perform that comes with that

Athletes are supposedly tough. You never say like you're tired or whatever because you're tough

So sometimes they push too hard. That could be impact on the athletes, not only physically

but mentally. Dr. Niehoff agrees that's often the toughest part. Kids and coaches want to push

through to reach a goal or win a game. That's where education about the symptoms and signs of

concussions becomes so important. Especially with the student athletes themselves. to say, hey, if you get dinged, it's okay to say timeout for me

My head got banged and I'm not feeling right. NFHS guidelines stress minimizing the risk of head injuries by using protocols and protections before kids even play a game

We got rid of the bull in the ring drill. We got rid of some of the named drills that used to be central to football

not hitting the ball so much in soccer, wearing helmets in baseball and softball

lacrosse for boys, just looking at better protective ways to approach practice and play Even with those precautions an injury like Clayton can happen without warning and change everything They think his potentially had been happening in the whole

game. So he was tired, but he still felt like he could still play. So there wasn't really any other

symptoms. Clayton completed over six months of intensive rehab to restore his speech and many

of his motor skills. He had to strengthen the right side of his body and learn to walk again

His recovery continues, and he's currently repeating the 10th grade. Before my injury, I was a straight-A student, taking honors and AP classes

and I had to get rid of some of those classes, but I'm still doing pretty good

Yeah, I'm getting better and better, getting more used to it, yeah. He has, yeah, resilience, grit, all of it

He was the same way with his ACL when he was recovering from that. He never, why me? Why? Just, all right, now what do I do to get back

And he was the same way with us. So it's just kind of his mentality

Like many kids, Clayton was all in on his sport. He began suiting up and winning trophies in tackle football in fifth grade

He still loves the game and became wistful when asked what he'll miss most

Just playing on a team, you know, supporting my teammates, scoring touchdowns

It was just a good camaraderie we had. The family is thankful the entire community rallied behind them

Clayton heard from professional athletes Larry Fitzgerald, Trey McBride, Cam Scadaboo, and Steve Nash

Teammates visited every day of his recovery, and they still wear Clayton's strong bracelets

This football season, he returned the favor by coaching them up from the sidelines

Clayton will never play football on this field again, but he does have some big goals coming up

His 17th birthday is in December. And he wants to relearn how to drive a car

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis