On a field filled with some of your closest friends, you wouldn't think the sport could get lonely. But Pius junior Nick Esparza says, from the sidelines...it is.
"I really didn't like it to be honest," says Esparza, "but in the long run it really is going to help me."
For 8 days this season, Nick was on the bench.
"We were playing Omaha northwest and I was in kick off," says Nick, "and we were getting hit pretty hard and you get hit in the head and you kind of, you kind of black out for a bit."
The Pius coaches knew not to let Nick back on the field. He would have to sit out until medical professionals deemed it safe.
All summer, and well into the season, coaches have taken online education courses to learn the signs, symptoms and effects of concussions. They were prepared to deal with 15 to 20 percent of players to suffer a concussion this season alone. Precautions they say they've been working on for a few years, but the new law that went into effect in July was the incentive they needed to make it mandatory.
"I think that as a whole, as a coaching staff, we've become a lot more conscious of it," head coach Tim Alyward says. "We know what to watch for and we're more conscious of sending players out there that may have been exhibiting symptoms."
For that, Nick says he's grateful, because he doesn't know what he'd do if he couldn't be back on the field...with his closest friends.
