ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Missouri State High School Activities Association is out with a yearlong survey of suspected concussions in sports and related events and the agency’s associate executive director Harvey Richards said football led the way.

“653 incidents versus soccer with just 120, followed by wrestling and spirit – or cheerleading – with 48 each,” Richards said.

He said those numbers fall in line with national averages.

The study found 881 boys and 241 girls reported head injuries last school year. The time spent sidelined was an average of more than 10 days for the females and 6 1/2 days for the males, a fact that Richards called the most interesting finding of the study.

Richards said no immediate changes to equipment or rules are anticipated.

“The biggest part is to make sure we’ve educated our students, make sure we get the information out there,” he said. “If we see where one sport is having more issues than another we’re going to look into it and see if there’s more we can do.”