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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MomsTEAM Institute's Executive Director, Brooke de Lench, announced today the election of Ben Utecht to the Institute's Board of Directors.
Mr. Utecht is a former NFL tight end and Super Bowl champion with the Indianapolis Colts. In 2009, his career was cut short by a fifth diagnosed concussion suffered during a pre-season practice with the Cincinnati Bengals. The concussion rendered him unconscious for 10 minutes and left Utecht with lingering concussion symptoms, including memory loss.
Since retiring from the NFL, Utecht has become a passionate and tireless advocate for raising awareness about sports-related concussions, and for supporting research about concussion and traumatic brain injury. In April 2014, the American Academy of Neurology and the American Brain Foundation honored him with their Public Leadership in Neurology Award. In testimony before a U.S. Senate committee in June 2014, Utecht made an impassioned plea for increased funding of brain injury research. He now serves as a national spokesperson for the AAN, while pursuing a post-football career as a recording artist and motivational speaker.
"I am excited that Ben has agreed to join our Board," said de Lench, "and I look forward to working with him, both as a Board member and as member of the MomsTEAM Board of Advisors, as the Institute develops the comprehensive set of best youth sports health and safety practices and standards that will be the centerpiece of our innovative SmartTeams ™ program.” "His is a cautionary tale showing what can happen if concussion management protocols are not followed."
"I am honored to join the MomsTeam Institute Board of Directors," said Utecht. “My life has been impacted by traumatic brain injury and brain disease, and I appreciate MomsTEAM and Brooke's longtime commitment to making contact and collision sports safer. MomsTeam is one of the most important players in the field of youth sport and concussion safety. It is a great privilege to help this organization advance that cause."
Utecht lives in Minnesota with his wife, Karyn, and their three daughters.
About MomsTEAM and MomsTEAM Institute
Launched in August 2000, MomsTeam.com has grown over the years, both in terms of content and reputation, to more than 10,000 + pages of information for youth sports parents and has become the most trusted source of sports parenting information, widely recognized as one of, if not the, top websites of its kind.
MomsTeam Institute, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization launched in November 2013 to continue and expand on MomsTEAM's fifteen-year mission of providing comprehensive, well-researched information to youth sports parents, coaches, athletic trainers, and other health care professionals about all aspects of the youth sports experience.
About Brooke de Lench
Ms. de Lench is Executive Director of MomsTEAM Institute, and Founder and Publisher of MomsTEAM.com. Recognized as a visionary thought leader in youth sports safety and a pioneer in concussion education for the past fifteen years, Ms. de Lench is Producer/Director/Creator of the critically acclaimed documentary "The Smartest Team: Making High School Football Safer" (PBS). An active journalist and blogger for MomsTEAM, Ms. de Lench is the author of "Home Team Advantage: The Critical Role of Mothers in Youth Sports" (Harper Collins 2006), and a sought-after lecturer, keynote speaker, and symposium panelist on a wide range of youth sport topics. For Brooke's full biography, click here.