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It’s a steamy late-summer day outside, but inside Seven Bridges Ice Arena in west suburban Woodridge, it’s freezing.

Hockey parents are bundled up in the stands, watching their 8- to 12-year-olds bundled up on the ice in head-to-toe protective gear as they finish their first day of goalie camp.

In two decades of coaching hockey, camp director Stu Gould has seen plenty of concussions. He said the helmet is one part of the sports budget parents shouldn’t skimp on — and not just because he sells $1,400 custom masks of his own.

“It’s your head, for God’s sake,” Gould said.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, children account for 90 percent of hospital emergency room visits for sports-related concussions. Analysts with HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, found this in the agency’s 2008 emergency department database.

Jennifer Crowley of Lombard has twin 8-year-old sons, Aaron and Patrick, who both play hockey. She said she got them to wear mouth guards by giving them a lecture about concussions.

“I said, ‘They don’t care about your teeth. They care about your head, because if your teeth get knocked together, you can get a concussion,’” she said.

She waited outside the locker room with fellow hockey parent Jon Grant, also of Lombard. His son Stone, 9, is a goalie, and Lars, 8, is a forward. Grant sustained a couple of concussions playing football when he was younger.

“That’s why I don’t let my kids play football,” he said.

Concussions — brain injuries from a bump, blow or jolt to the head — can occur in any recreational activity, even sports considered non-contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And complications can occur in both the short-term and long-term, including headaches, dizziness, mood changes and death.

The CDC’s national concussion awareness campaign encourages athletes to report any head injury because all concussions are serious — and not to let themselves, coaches or parents pressure them into returning to the game before they’re ready.

Illinois and Indiana are among 21 states that set stringent concussion rules for student athletes. Signed in July, Illinois’ concussion law says:

School boards must work with the Illinois High School Association to develop guidelines to educate coaches, student athletes and parents of the nature and risk of concussions.

Students and parents must sign a concussion information sheet and return it prior to practice or competition.

School boards must adopt a policy requiring a student athlete with a suspected concussion or head injury to be removed from the practice or game at that time.

Student athletes removed from play cannot return until after evaluation and written clearance by a health care provider.

Tim McManus, a licensed clinical psychologist with the Ingalls Concussion Program in south suburban Harvey, said the law is a good start. He recommends that all student athletes get a baseline neurological test along with their annual sports physical. It offers an accurate picture of normal brain function so the student can be better evaluated in case of a concussion.

Dr. Michael Terry, orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and team physician for Northwestern University athletics, said the law’s education part is key.

“I love high school football and what it has to offer and what it teaches our kids,” he said. “I don’t want people avoiding sports, but I hope that they get actively involved in their kid’s athletic career. I hope they focus on educating themselves and keeping their kids safe.”