More than 3.8 million Concussions and Sports Brain Injuries occur each year.

What do many professional hockey players, professional football players and professional fighters have in common?

During the course of their careers, they all suffered from a concussion or multiple concussions. In some cases, their injuries abruptly ended their playing career.

But professional athletes are not the only players susceptible to concussion.

Fact: 250,000 concussions in high school football each year.

Any athlete - especially those who participate in collision sports like football, hockey and lacrosse - can sustain a concussion. However, collision sport athletes are not the only ones susceptible to Sports Brain Injury. Concussions have been reported in players from many different types of sports including boxing, soccer, BMX, softball, cheerleading, diving, among others.

Concussions don’t just occur in games, either. Anytime an athlete suits up, for practice or performance testing, they’re at risk.

Fact: 300,000 of these Sports Brain Injuries will result in a loss of consciousness.

WebMD.com states that you don’t have to pass out (lose consciousness) to have a concussion. Some people will have obvious symptoms of a concussion, such as passing out or forgetting what happened right before the injury. But other people won’t.

According to this University of Pittsburgh study, concussions can often cause major, long-term brain impairments in information-processing speed, problem solving, planning, and memory. In simpler terms, concussions can destroy your brain’s ability to function normally.

These impairments are worse with multiple concussions.