This is the untold story of concussion. A teenage kid cops a head knock on a sporting field around Canberra, struggles to his feet and tries to play on.
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He feels unwell and can't see properly out of his left eye, but he wants to play on.
After battling on, he finally concedes and tells his coach he can't see. Player numbers are thin, though, and he has to stay on the field.
By the time the game is finished he's already forgotten the score, the tries and the tackles. By the time he gets out of the car at home, he's sick.
We hear about the high-profile concussions of professional sport, the treatment they get and the dangers they face.
We don't often hear about the weekend warriors who play for the love of their sport, but face the same concussion realities.
The story of the Canberra kid is a few years old. He recovered after a few head knocks, although he only dabbles every now and then in weekend sport because of work commitments.
There are many others like him, including Gungahlin Bulls player Jason Brown who has had four head knocks in eight weeks.
He's been ruled out for the rest of the Canberra Raiders Cup season and will be assessed at the end of the year.
Amateur-level sports have improved their concussion protocols massively over the past decade to protect players.
Head knocks will be a reality of collision sports forever, so managing them and protecting players from the long-term impacts has become the focus.
The Canberra rugby union competitions have introduced a blue-card system, where referees can identify players affected by concussion.
If they are shown a blue card, they must seek medical treatment before they are cleared to play again.
The referee's involvement takes the concussion decision out of the coach or player's hands. The aim is to have an independent person making the decision, but it also puts pressure on referees.
AFL Canberra puts the onus on clubs to report concussion and protect players. Officials are confident the system is working.
Canberra Raiders Cup officials organised a concussion conference to help team trainers and staff identify the dangers of head knocks.
The lead, however, has to come from the top. The ACT Brumbies showed their willingness to prioritise athlete wellbeing in round one this year.
One of the world's best players, David Pocock, was knocked out just five minutes into the season-opener.
Teams in the past may have rushed Pocock back for round two given his standing in the game. The Brumbies withdrew him from the next game.
MORE CANBERRA SPORT
The North Queensland Cowboys will be without Michael Morgan this weekend after he was knocked out in the State of Origin decider, while Luke Keary missed six games after being concussed twice in five weeks.
The heightened sensitivity stems from a researchers discovering evidence of a degenerative brain condition in two former NRL players last month.
Sport Australia and the AIS launched an updated concussion document earlier this year to give guidelines to grassroots and professional sports to protect players of all levels from brain injuries.
The NRL news was the wake-up call all teams needed at every level of sport to prioritise concussion treatment of sport and hopefully everyone was listening.
IS GALLOP'S DEPARTURE GOOD FOR ACT A-LEAGUE BID?
Will David Gallop's departure from Football Federation Australia help pave the way for Canberra to secure an A-League licence?
Many think it will help the Canberra bid take a step forward, but the creation of the independent New Leagues Working Group meant Gallop would have had little say anyway.
Gallop will leave the FFA at the end of the year after seven years in the top job.
Gallop was previously opposed to expanding to the A-League into the capital because the city's population was lower than one million.
He seemed more receptive to the idea after Michael Caggiano and his team tabled a strong proposal at the end of last year, but Canberra was still left out in cold when the FFA awarded expansion licences to Sydney and Melbourne.
Gallop, FFA chairman Chris Nikou and A-League boss Greg O'Rourke met with angry Canberra soccer fans earlier this year to discuss their decision and the sport's future in the capital.
They all seemed positive about Canberra's A-League future. The only problem is that all three knew they would have little say given the looming independent move.
"The sooner we can get through that and know what that [the independent model] looks like, we can move the dialogue back to expansion," Nikou said.
Caggiano countered: "Knowing what's coming with the New League's Working Group and the club's being the masters of the new destiny, how can you sit there and guarantee the FFA will play a part in future expansion?"
It was a fair question. There's no guarantee the FFA will back a Canberra bid next time after overlooking the capital twice in the past decade.
"How do we know the FFA will be involved," O'Rourke said.
"The same way the English FA has rights of veto over the EPL. Any deal we're currently working through will have the ability for the FFA to say yes or no to expansion. We have to do what's in the best interests of football."
Caggiano and his team are still working behind the scenes to keep their bid alive. Who controls their fate is yet to be determined.