Heart of a Champion Day registration begins April 29

Event provides free sports and heart screening tests for student-athletes

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 28, 2016 — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools student-athletes can register to receive free sports screenings during Heart of a Champion Day. Registration opens Friday, April 29, and the event will take place Saturday, June 4, at Building K in the Airport Center. Rising 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders may complete the necessary forms, including a medical history, by visiting www.carolinashealthcare.org/heart-of-a-champion and clicking on the “Student Registration” tab on the left. Registration will close at midnight on May 29 or when enrollment reaches 2,000 students, whichever comes first.

Heart of a Champion Day is a partnership between CMS and Levine Children’s Hospital, Carolinas Medical Center (CMC), Carolinas HealthCare System’s Sports Medicine & Injury Care, Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute and OrthoCarolina. Those providing material support this year include the Carolinas HealthCare Foundation, General Electric, Phillips, Coca-Cola and Gatorade.

At Heart of a Champion Day, students will receive a free general sports screening, musculoskeletal check and a vision examination. The screenings also include an electrocardiogram and, if needed, an echocardiogram to check for heart conditions that could potentially cause sudden death during athletic competition. Neither heart test is part of a routine athletic screening.

In 2015, 1,646 CMS students were screened. The event was staffed by 322 volunteer doctors, clinicians, nurses and other community members.  A total of 82 students had conditions that required follow-up, including 36 general medical issues, 29 orthopedic issues and 17 heart issues. Conditions discovered through the initiative included a number of heart irregularities, elevated blood pressure, post-concussion syndrome, uncontrolled asthma, overuse injuries and vision problems.