The four high school football programs in South Bend, Ind., saw a 40-percent decrease in concussions among its players during the 2015 season compared to the year before, according to a release from the South Bend Community School Corporation.

SBCSC Athletic Director Kirby Whitacre credits USA Football’s Heads Up Football program as a major piece of the improvement.

“While it may not be possible to quantify with data just how important Heads Up Football has been to our programs, it would be safe to say that it is the single biggest component of our multi­point approach,” Whitacre said in the release. “The coaches’ education, the safety coach instruction and, of course, the Heads Up techniques protocol for tackling and blocking have given us a consistent approach to reducing injuries. I think it is fair to say that USA Football’s Heads Up Football program has been invaluable to us, and we are so happy to have had the opportunity to become a part of the program.”

The number of concussions sustained by football­playing student-athletes across all SBCSC high schools declined from 53 in 2014 to 32 last fall. Also, the number of concussions sustained by student-athletes across all SBCSC high school sports practices and games declined from 69 in fall 2014 to 50 in fall 2015.

Student­athlete health data is gathered by SBCSC high school athletic trainers.

Endorsed by leading experts and organizations spanning medicine and sports, Heads Up Football establishes standards rooted in the best available science through coaching education. USA Football is the sport’s national governing body and recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

More than 1,100 U.S. high schools registered for Heads Up Football in 2015. The program is a comprehensive approach to teach and play the No. 1 participatory sport of U.S. high school boys and is endorsed by 12 state high school athletic associations, including the Indiana High School Athletic Association.

Supported by the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, Heads Up Football teaches tackling and blocking techniques designed to reduce helmet contact while addressing all­sport­relevant topics with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concussion recognition and response; sudden cardiac arrest protocols; hydration and heat preparedness; and instruction on proper helmet and shoulder pad fitting.