Personal Stakes
The Brain Behind BrainWave
My 'Why'.
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Hi there.
My name is Sally Boyden-Elzey, and I am a student at Thomas Worthington
High School in Worthington, Ohio.
To Preface,
I am in no way trying to paint football in a poor light or advocating for young athletes to cease their participation. Rather, my desire is to make those who do play safer now, so they are healthier down the line. Safety does not mean stoppage, but improving both the livelihoods and lifespans of players.
Why I care:
My exposure to CTE and the realities associated with contact sports started with my family's experience with my dad, who after years of playing
football—including at the collegiate level—is now experiencing the adverse effects of that participation. My dad is an incredibly special person to me, and it is a terribly helpless feeling watching someone you love struggle with something isolated in their own mind, especially when it is often diminished in our football-loving culture. His experience, as well as mine witnessing his neurological change as I have grown up, inspired me to do for my peers what I wish someone would have done for my father when he was a young athlete: work to raise awareness for what the game can lead to, and improve upon safety equipment and practices for those who choose to play.
My intention:
At the end of the day, what really matters is the safety of these young men on the field. While they may feel grown up, these 14-18 year olds have young and developing minds, and they deserved to be protected. My intention with the BrainWave Initiative is to protect my peers—and hopefully classes to come—because the practices their brains undergo now are what shape their futures. I believe that action should not be taken when the destruction is already done, rather it should begin to prevent such carnage from ever taking root. I wish someone had taken these steps to raise awareness and protections when my father was playing football, so I won’t wait now to see these players grow up and be blindsided by the ramifications of both a dangerous sport and their lack of knowledge surrounding it. I very much hope to continue this work and to see where there may be space for improvement so these boys can be safer and healthier both now, and on their unique paths in future.
BrainWave may not change the world and many of you are likely not experts on matters of the brain, but a basic awareness, or even acknowledgement of CTE and brain injury in football is what success looks like; because awareness and acknowledgement mean the world to someone struggling in silence.