'Head in the game provides illuminating insights that could come only from a diverse group of experts. Each chapter offers a nuanced analysis of oft-overlooked dimensions of sports concussion. Timely and important, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the cultural and social dynamics contributing to a health issue that is increasingly framed as a crisis in sport.'
Kathryn Henne, The Australian National University

'This essential collection harnesses expert insights to tackle one of sport’s most pressing challenges. Each chapter reveals far-reaching impacts of concussion, extending beyond sport itself, emphasising the need for collaborative engagement and cross-disciplinary collaboration among stakeholders. The editors have delivered a compelling collection that advances our understanding of this critical issue.'
Annette Greenhow, Faculty of Law, Bond University

'Head in the game' is a must for anyone truly invested in the bigger picture of brain injuries in sport. Sports concussion is more than just a medical concern, but rather a concern that is of an interdisciplinary nature involving social, historical, and cultural aspects across all sports at all levels. This book demonstrates the need for professionals across medical, humanities and social sciences to work together on solving the current "concussion crisis".'
Alan Pearce, Swinburne University of Technology

'Townsend et al. do a good job in the introduction of positioning the issue [of brain trauma] as a ‘public concern’... This framing encourages readers to exercise a sociological imagination, showing that this issue is not a benign personal trouble of sport but impacts significant numbers of the public. The study of sport has long been marginalised in social science as non-serious business. Yet, sport is a hugely popular cultural practice, and the fact that many of the world's most popular sports entail brain trauma by the very rules of play, and people, particularly children, continue to be encouraged into participating in such sports is very serious business indeed.'
Sociology of Health and Illness

Stephen Townsend is a Research Fellow in Sport Sociocultural Studies at The University of Queensland
Murray G. Phillips is a Professor of Sport History at The University of Queensland
Gary Osmond is an Associate Professor of Sport History at The University of Queensland
Rebecca Olive is a Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow at RMIT University

Introduction: (Re)Setting the field: Understanding brain trauma in sport - Stephen Townsend, Gary Osmond, Murray G. Phillips & Rebecca Olive

Part I Cultivating brain trauma in sport
1 Chronic Traumatic Masculinity: A disorder in Canadian men’s hockey - Andrew Ivan Brown and Aryn Martin
2 “I guess that’s why you wear a helmet”: A social understanding of concussions in competitive women’s road cycling - Suzanne Ryder
3 Concussion in action sports - Nikolaus A. Dean
4 Indigenous sport concussion: Death, morality and Maori masculinity - Brendan Hokowhitu
5 Concussion and East Asian sporting culture - Tao Yi-Che

Part II Knowing brain trauma in sport
6 The social construction of sport-related concussion as a social issue- Dominic Malcolm
7 Mixed feelings: Understanding emotion in media coverage of sport-related traumatic brain injuries - Matt Ventresca
8 Sports-related concussion and gender: Preliminary thoughts - Matthew Nesbitt, Katie Liston & Conor Heffernan
9 The animal within: The ethics and epistemics of bio-inspired solutions to sport’s concussion crisis - Greg Hollin, Nicole L. Ackermans & James Smoliga
10 Reading the silences: History, concussion and Australian sport - Murray G. Phillips & Stephen Townsend

Part III Resisting brain trauma in sport
11 Is concussion bad for the social good?: Framing public health problems across two crises in US American football - Emily A. Harrison & Kathleen Bachynski
12 Brain games on trial in American courts: Cold War to present - Stephen T. Casper
13 From league of denial to league of deferment: The NFL’s evolving management of the concussion crisis - Brett Siegel
14 Casting the safety net wider – using systems thinking to guide concussion management in high school level rugby union - Marelise Badenhorst & Simon Walters
Conclusion: Flagging the future: What will brain injury mean for sport? - Stephen Townsend, Murray G. Phillips, Gary Osmond and Rebecca Olive