CONCUSSION INITIATIVE

I often get asked questions regarding injury to players and how to deal with them.

I recently posted the following article to help parents, players and coaches on this one injury that is keeping young players away from the game.

Enjoy the read!!

Football BC applauds the Canadian Football League (CFL) and Football Canada for their joint announcement made May 3, 2011 regarding the new initiatives they are planning to raise concussion awareness in minor football associations across Canada.

“We are very pleased to have our national governing body and the top professional football league in Canada follow the footsteps that our provincial organization has taken over the past year to educate our members on the effects of concussions and head injuries and on how to deal with them appropriately,” said Football BC Executive Director Patrick Waslen.

“The initiatives announced by Football Canada with regards to amateur football are only the first step towards creating a safer playing environment for all young athletes across this country but it is a very important first step to take.

”In June 2010, Football BC adopted a concussion policy for all its member associations requiring all coaches participate in a yearly education program prior to the season and ensure the following requirements are fulfilled during the season: –         

An informed consent form must be signed annually by parents and youth athletes acknowledging the risk of head injury prior to practice or competition        

An athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury must be removed from play         

An athlete who has been removed from play must receive written clearance from a licensed medical doctor prior to returning to play.

As part of the policy announcement, Football BC also produced over 100,000 concussion information cards in conjunction with

ThinkFirst Canada with 40,000 of those cards distributed to out-of-province sport organizations and the other 60,000 distributed within the province to its member associations, clubs and teams as well as shared with other provincial sport organizations.

For more information visit http://www.playfootball.bc.ca/concussion_resources.html.