Varsity girls’ soccer coach Haroot Hakopian will be on The Dr. Oz Show Thursday, Sept. 17, at 1 p.m. to talk about concussions.

When Dr. Oz recently got brain scans back from the doctor that showed the concussions he got as a young child are still affecting his brain today, he decided to dedicate an entire show on discussing concussions.

“It’s become a nationwide epidemic, and people are trying to figure out what to do about it,” Hakopian said.

The producers of the show were looking for someone who had experience as both a youth and high school coach. They found Hakopian through LinkedIn and various Washington Post articles on concussions.

According to Hakopian, his background on concussions is from the training he received from the Bethesda Soccer Club and MCPS, in addition to his 22 years of experience as a coach.

“All coaches in MCPS have to go through a comprehensive concussion training,” Hakopian said.

According to Hakopian, MCPS is more advanced than other counties in concussion training. Many people from other areas had not heard of the Impact Test, the concussion test that all student athletes in MCPS must take.

“It was interesting that I didn’t know how far ahead MCPS is in concussion training,” Hakopian said.

At first, Hakopian believed that the phone call from the Dr. Oz producers asking him to be on the show was a prank, assuming that a friend was behind everything. After calling the number back and connecting with people from the show, he realized that the phone call was real.

Hakopian got a behind-the-scenes look of what happens during a show’s taping. For example, the audience was taught how to react to different statements. Also, although the show was taped in front of a live studio audience, if mistakes were made, then the lines would be re-shot and the audience would have to re-create the same reaction.

The Dr. Oz Show also provided Hakopian with a driver who would take him to wherever he needed to be.

“It was phenomenal,” Hakopian said. “It was interesting to be a celebrity for a 24 hour period.”