Junior lacrosse captain Grace Lynch said she believes Park has invested more into athletic programs this year, especially with the new captains training and concussion testing.

“It feels like our school is trying a lot harder this year to be aware of what is going on in sports, with the captains training that is going on before school and the concussion testing,” Lynch said.

According to girls lacrosse coach Katie Gliske, the girls lacrosse team took a computerized baseline concussion test April 7. She said in the event of a head injury an athlete would retake the test to assess the severity of the injury and determine if the player has a concussion.

“It is a test to see where their function is before any injury, and then, if they get injured during the season, the trainer will have them retake the test to see if they do worse on it, which would be a sign they could have a concussion,” Gliske said.

Sophomore Anna Nicholls said because of athlete concussions in past seasons, more attention is being brought to the severity of head injuries in sports such as lacrosse.

“I think because a lot of people got concussions last year and they are more aware how it would affect you in the future and we don’t want a ton of concussions on our team,” Nicholls said.

Gliske said the concussion testing is an effective way to keep athletes participating safely in contact sports by making sure they are not playing with a concussion throughout the season.

“In any sport that has any contact there is always a risk of concussions and even though it is less in lacrosse than in other sports, it happens every year,” Gliske said. “This is another tool to help us ensure that we are not putting athletes back out on the field before they are ready.”