How does the Healthy TXT™ Football Tips Campaign work?

1. To sign up, text the phrase “footballtips” to 41411, or you can sign up online to register for the email program.
2. Educational concussion messages – along with football injury prevention, performance tips, and motivational messages from leading sports medicine physicians, trainers, and professional athletes – will be delivered once or twice a week.
3. All subscribers will go through a mini concussion-training course, with a text message and an educational link delivered weekly. Upon completion, participants can take a concussion quiz, and be entered for a chance to win an iPad 2. Winners will be announced on Super Bowl Sunday.

So, tackle safety head on this season and Text footballtips to 41411. It’s as easy as that!

About the Campaign

The Be Unstoppable Football Tips Campaign is all about helping young athletes play safe in sports – and stay strong in life. It is a public service venture, there is no cost to parents, players, coaches, or trainers.

Dr. Vishal Mehta, a Chicago sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, launched the sports injury prevention and motivational text message campaign to help youth be unstoppable both on and off the playing field. The campaign is launching with football, followed by hockey, lacrosse, and baseball. A special emphasis will be on educating and raising awarness of concussions, which is making headlines nationwide with new rules and laws for return to play guidelines. The campaign kicked off in Chicago, IL and will expand throughout the Midwest and then nationally.

The Be Unstoppable Football Tips Campaign is a highly collaborative team effort. Numerous Chicago area sports medicine physicians, surgeons, and organizations are contributing expert advice for this innovative and timely text messaging campaign, including the national STOP Sports Injuries campaign spearheaded by the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, in partnership with: Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Athletic Trainers’ Association and National Strength and Conditioning Association, American Medical Society of Sports Medicine, Sports Physical Therapy Section, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North American and SAFE Kids USA

Sports provide important life lessons for youth. But injuries are on the rise, and a concussion is an injury that needs to be taken seriously. To date, twenty-eight states have adopted concussion prevention laws aimed at protecting young athletes from returning to play after suffering an injury.

Text messaging is a highly effective way to reach parents, youth, and coaches where they are today, on their mobile phones. Studies show that 97% of people read a text messsage minutes after it is sent.

It is also changing behavior as seen in several pilot studies from Harvard University and John Hopkins Children’s Center. Healthy behavior can be inspired and sustained by using mobile platforms where people life, work, and play.

Click here for the sweepstakes rules.