Atlanta high school juniors Brendan Rosenberg and Jacob Schlanger took top honors in Brock International's Safety MVP national video contest to showcase why safety is as important as winning to their sports team. As incidents of concussions and brain injuries in youth sports continues to escalate nationwide, Brock launched the effort to recognize US schools that place a high value on student-athlete safety.

Atlanta High School Students Win Brock International’s Safety MVP Contest

In light of the growing youth sports concussion crisis, winning video creatively showcases


why safety is as important as winning to their sports team


Atlanta high school juniors Brendan Rosenberg and Jacob Schlanger took top honors in Brock International’s Safety MVP national video contest to showcase why safety is as important as winning to their sports team. As incidents of concussions and brain injuries in youth sports continues to escalate nationwide, Brock launched the effort to recognize U.S. schools that place a high value on student-athlete safety.


Rosenberg, a student at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School and Schlanger, who attends North Springs High School, took a humorous “Sports Center” approach to the topic. Their video features interviews with a student-athlete and safety tips from Holy Innocents Football Coach and Junior Boys Dean Ryan Livzey. Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School will receive the competition’s grand prize of $5,000 worth of sports equipment for their team.  View the winning entry at http://www.saferyouthsports.org/.  


“Our coaches’ start every season talking about safety and making it a priority,” explained Rosenberg. “The school’s philosophy is not ‘to win at all costs’ because each coach wants his or her players to be healthy, safe and have longevity so they can continue to build a winning team season after season.”


The Brock Safety MVP Contest is part of the company’s Safer Sports from the Ground Up community outreach effort ( www.saferyouthsports.org).  Brock International’s PowerBase YSR safety and drainage layer used underneath synthetic turf fields is the only product of its kind scaled to the ideal footing requirements and safety of high school and middle school athletes. The company’s PowerBase technology has been proven to decrease G-max, which may reduce the risk and severity of concussions, and injuries to hips, elbows and knees caused by high body to surface impact.  Brock PowerBase is currently being used by hundreds of high schools and middle schools, the University of Maryland, Boston College, Boise State, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Stanford University, and in practice fields used by NFL teams such as the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals. 


 “We were deeply moved by the terrific entries received,” said Dan Sawyer, CEO of Brock International.  “Our team hopes this contest brings more attention to the proactive efforts taken by coaches, schools, parents and America’s youth to reduce the quantity and severity of injuries on the playing field.”


About Brock International


Brock International is the leader in performance base systems for synthetic turf.  With over 25 million square feet of Brock Performance Base in play underneath athletic fields worldwide, the company engineers the best, safest and most sustainable playing surfaces in the world for athletes at all levels. Brock is an Official Education Partner of The Sports Legacy Institute, a Boston-based non-profit organization founded to advance the study, treatment, and prevention of brain trauma in athletes and other at-risk groups.  In October 2011, Brock became the first company in the industry to have a Cradle to Cradle Certification CM for its combined drainage and shock pad product. Visit www.brock-international.com to learn more.