By Rocky Hulne and Associated Press

In light of a report that showed 3,000 high school athletes were concussed last year, Austin Public Schools officials are calling for parents and student athletes to be on the lookout for concussions.

“We like parents to be good advocates,” Austin High School Activities Director Lisa Quednow said. “If they notice their kids got hit, we’d like them to point it out. Our coaches and trainers don’t see everything.”

The report released Thursday is based on data the Minnesota Department of Health collected from 36 Twin Cities-area schools during the last academic year. The report shows hockey and football players have the highest concussion rates in Minnesota high school sports.

Quednow said that concussions are a major concern and the best thing athletes or parents can do is look out for them at all times.

Concussion awareness and treatment has been on the rise in the last five years. Things are no different at AHS, where athletes are closely monitored if they display any symptoms of concussions.

“I think concussions are bad for any student athlete,” Quednow said. “We want them to be healthy people, and we monitor them on the field. Our helmets have come a long way, and we have them reconditioned every year.”

Concussions were once considered part of the game, but schools and sports leagues have begun taking steps to protect players. Minnesota lawmakers passed a bill in 2011 requiring coaches to remove young athletes from the game if they show symptoms — headaches, confusion, nausea or vomiting — and mandated training for concussion awareness.

State officials said their report shouldn’t dissuade parents from signing up their kids for hockey or football, nor does it scream a quick fix to cut down on concussions in high school sports. Instead, it should be a signal to parents and coaches that concussions need to be taken just as seriously as broken bones or sprained ankles, Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger said.

“Be attentive to this. Don’t take it lightly,” said Lori Glover, director of rehabilitation at the Institute of Athletic Medicine.

Glover, who helped author the study, said their research makes it clear coaches are taking concussions more seriously. In a bright spot, the study found just 5 percent of athletes who took a blow to the head suffered concussion-like symptoms for two weeks or more.

But the concussion numbers also raised plenty of questions: Why are girls more likely to get concussions than boys playing the same sport? Why did concussions peak with high school sophomores, then taper off for 11th and 12th graders?

The state plans to expand its data collection statewide this year to try to answer those questions and others, including whether there’s a difference in concussion frequency at urban and rural Minnesota schools.

Ultimately, the state hopes to use concussion data to target specific on-field or training changes that will prevent concussions, said Jon Roesler, an epidemiologist supervisor at the health department. One year of data from 36 schools isn’t enough to find a silver bullet, but it’s a start, Ehlinger said.

“The data may not say how we change the practice on the field in different sports, but it will change the practice of schools and parents and the community making concussions a bigger issue,” Ehlinger said.