Sports Medicine introduces new Sway app for baseline concussion testing for Club Sports, Intramural programs
8/14/2025 8:29:00 PM | General, Women's D2 Hockey
The smart phone-based computerized testing will streamline the procedure for staff members to add student-athletes to their databases for follow-up.
Baseline testing for concussions — a standard procedure for athletic programs before their student-athletes begin competition — has been simplified by the use of smart phone apps such as the Sway Medical Concussion Test, adopted by more than 700 athletic trainers nationwide.
Liberty University Club Sports Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Angie Witt and Senior Associate Athletic Trainer Tiffany Campbell attended the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) convention in Orlando, Fla., in June and determined through conversations there that the app would be an excellent resource for assessing Liberty's student-athletes as well as its Intramural Sports program participants.
Witt, Campbell, and the other five Club Sports athletic trainers are introducing the app this semester, replacing the Vital Signs Computerized Neurocognitive Assessment Software as the protocol for testing approximately 500 Club Sports student-athletes. Sophia Gustafson ('23, '24), a new associate athletic trainer for Liberty's Intramural Sports, will administer the test to more than 1,500 of that program's expected 4,000 participants.
"It gets rid of a lot of paperwork because it's all enclosed in the app," said Witt, who tested her staff and that of the Intramural Sports department this week in the new Club Sports Athletic Training Center to gain familiarity with the app. "It allows (baseline testing) to be done a lot faster, and more consistently. Everyone's doing the same thing on their phones, and you are getting consistent results. That's the key. It is a program we can customize to what we need, and the cool part about it is we can test everyone together in the same room."
Student-athletes can access the FDA-cleared concussion tests from their own iPhone or Android devices and see results in 20 minutes with a full report of four cognitive tests and another to assess balance, all of which can be impaired by concussions.
"We're testing all of it now through the app — balance, reaction time, impulse control, and memory at the same time," Witt said, noting that baseline data is invaluable in the event of a potential brain injury. "We can test some of that physically, but if you have the results right in front of you, it's so much easier to know what they are normally."
Witt noted that while concussions are not as prevalent as other injuries, the brain is one part of the body she and her athletic trainers can't assess visually.
"We can't see the swelling; we can only see the outward symptoms and results," she said. "Looking at a knee, I can see where it hurts, and I can see what it is swollen, and I can see the bruising, but I can't see that on a brain. So for this injury, it helps to have extra information to help us make our decision."
Additionally, athletic trainers can conduct sideline evaluations using the app, pulling out their own phones to test a student-athlete for a suspected concussion in less than five minutes. Then, in the return-to-play protocol, trainers can track symptoms, compare results over time, and collaborate with physicians using clear, objective data, according to the Sway Medical website.
After completing the baseline test, student-athletes can go through their own symptom checklist from the comfort of their own dorm rooms.
"They don't have to necessarily come in if they're not really feeling up to it," Witt said.
Concussion testing will be required this year for all Club Sports student-athletes participating in high-impact sports including hockey, wrestling, men's lacrosse, taekwondo, ski & snowboard, equestrian, women's figure skating, women's synchronized skating, triathlon, cycling, men's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and beach volleyball.
"It will be super helpful for teams like taekwondo that we don't see on a regular basis, as we do with our hockey teams," Witt said. "We don't know their personalities as well, so when we have a baseline on them, at least we will have information if they do get a concussion about whether they're back to normal or if they're faking it."
Within Intramural Sports, participants of broomball, indoor and outdoor soccer, basketball, and possibly flag football will have baseline testing administered, under supervision from Gustafson, who previously worked as an associate athletic trainer at Longwood University and an athletic trainer for OrthoVirginia, providing concussion care with the doctors there.
"Sophia has a lot of experience with concussion rehab, so she is going to help us take better care of all of our Intramural Sports athletes and do a lot of the in-house stuff that we haven't done in the past," Witt said, noting Gustafson will also serve as an extra Club Sports athletic trainer when her staff is shorthanded over a busy weekend such as Homecoming.
"For the most part, we try to keep consistent athletic trainers with teams, but when you have to fill in, you have to fill in, and (the Sway app) gives everybody the same information … on our phones, so we can easily access it," Witt said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Liberty University Club Sports Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Angie Witt and Senior Associate Athletic Trainer Tiffany Campbell attended the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) convention in Orlando, Fla., in June and determined through conversations there that the app would be an excellent resource for assessing Liberty's student-athletes as well as its Intramural Sports program participants.
Witt, Campbell, and the other five Club Sports athletic trainers are introducing the app this semester, replacing the Vital Signs Computerized Neurocognitive Assessment Software as the protocol for testing approximately 500 Club Sports student-athletes. Sophia Gustafson ('23, '24), a new associate athletic trainer for Liberty's Intramural Sports, will administer the test to more than 1,500 of that program's expected 4,000 participants.
"It gets rid of a lot of paperwork because it's all enclosed in the app," said Witt, who tested her staff and that of the Intramural Sports department this week in the new Club Sports Athletic Training Center to gain familiarity with the app. "It allows (baseline testing) to be done a lot faster, and more consistently. Everyone's doing the same thing on their phones, and you are getting consistent results. That's the key. It is a program we can customize to what we need, and the cool part about it is we can test everyone together in the same room."
Student-athletes can access the FDA-cleared concussion tests from their own iPhone or Android devices and see results in 20 minutes with a full report of four cognitive tests and another to assess balance, all of which can be impaired by concussions.
"We're testing all of it now through the app — balance, reaction time, impulse control, and memory at the same time," Witt said, noting that baseline data is invaluable in the event of a potential brain injury. "We can test some of that physically, but if you have the results right in front of you, it's so much easier to know what they are normally."
Witt noted that while concussions are not as prevalent as other injuries, the brain is one part of the body she and her athletic trainers can't assess visually.
"We can't see the swelling; we can only see the outward symptoms and results," she said. "Looking at a knee, I can see where it hurts, and I can see what it is swollen, and I can see the bruising, but I can't see that on a brain. So for this injury, it helps to have extra information to help us make our decision."
Additionally, athletic trainers can conduct sideline evaluations using the app, pulling out their own phones to test a student-athlete for a suspected concussion in less than five minutes. Then, in the return-to-play protocol, trainers can track symptoms, compare results over time, and collaborate with physicians using clear, objective data, according to the Sway Medical website.
After completing the baseline test, student-athletes can go through their own symptom checklist from the comfort of their own dorm rooms.
"They don't have to necessarily come in if they're not really feeling up to it," Witt said.
Concussion testing will be required this year for all Club Sports student-athletes participating in high-impact sports including hockey, wrestling, men's lacrosse, taekwondo, ski & snowboard, equestrian, women's figure skating, women's synchronized skating, triathlon, cycling, men's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and beach volleyball.
"It will be super helpful for teams like taekwondo that we don't see on a regular basis, as we do with our hockey teams," Witt said. "We don't know their personalities as well, so when we have a baseline on them, at least we will have information if they do get a concussion about whether they're back to normal or if they're faking it."
Within Intramural Sports, participants of broomball, indoor and outdoor soccer, basketball, and possibly flag football will have baseline testing administered, under supervision from Gustafson, who previously worked as an associate athletic trainer at Longwood University and an athletic trainer for OrthoVirginia, providing concussion care with the doctors there.
"Sophia has a lot of experience with concussion rehab, so she is going to help us take better care of all of our Intramural Sports athletes and do a lot of the in-house stuff that we haven't done in the past," Witt said, noting Gustafson will also serve as an extra Club Sports athletic trainer when her staff is shorthanded over a busy weekend such as Homecoming.
"For the most part, we try to keep consistent athletic trainers with teams, but when you have to fill in, you have to fill in, and (the Sway app) gives everybody the same information … on our phones, so we can easily access it," Witt said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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