The following portrays a common soccer incident

• What rules/procedure does the league have in place for handling a potential concussion situation? What does the referee do? What does the coach do? What does the parent do?
• Have coaches been shown information that will enable them to protect the safety of their players, by being able to better identify a concussion and take action on it?
• Is there a form available for coaches to place concussion information on a player, which is easily accessible to a coach, and the coach has been informed about it? Is there an established league mechanism to receive this form and ensure tracking/handling of a player’s concussion? Are parents aware of this process and know who to return the medical form from a doctor, authorizing the player to play? Are guidelines/procedures in place so that the coach/referee is aware of when a previously concussed player is eligible to play again, through the return of the doctor’s authorization to play form?
• With concussions, it is paramount that all parties concerned, coaches, parents, and players, are made aware of the signs of a concussion. What has been done to insure that this has happened?
• With safety for the player in mind, has consideration of mandating that a coach take a concussion program, through the league, or some other mechanism, before they are allowed to coach a team. This same item would apply to any team staff (assistant coach/team manager, etc.).
• Does the league maintain a library of concussion related information for presentation at registrations, for curious parents/coaches?
• Is a league mechanism established to receive/process a medical clearance from a doctor, authorizing a player to return to play?
• What is being done to educate all players on concussion awareness?
• What has been done to establish a bridge between referees and the league, for the reporting/handling of concussion incidents involving players?  Is there an established league ‘point’ person, for directing such information?  What is the mechanism for this party to operate under, for the reporting and handling of the information?

League Developed Concussion Program

• A program needs to be researched and documented by a person, or league committee with progress checks established, to report to the league board. ‘Concussions awareness forms’ would have to be created for coaches/players/parents. At the same time, the board will need to pinpoint the party that will be responsible for the enforcement of the league program. This would include the receiving and review of all required signed Concussion Awareness forms from coaches, players, and parents. This program has to have a ‘Return To Play’ policy for players that had been diagnosed/treated for a concussion.
• League board needs to review proposed program and vote on it.
• The handling of the forms would require additional pressure to the league’s system, as these forms should be signed and handed in before play starts. For parents and players to sign the forms, some thought would have to be given to how/when this might be accomplished.
• New league policy will need to be dispersed to the personnel working with recreational and competitive teams. Pre-season meetings, well in advance of coaches getting teams would need to be held.

All of the above will require a good degree of new documentation to be prepared, or incorporation of existing documentation from the CDC into a league coherent program. The program/policy cannot exist merely on paper, with no support structure behind it, actively working concussions. A paper policy, which is merely a public window-washing statement, serves no purpose.

If leagues are going to require that all of their coaches and assistants be trained, there would be work to do. All coaches and assistant coaches would be notified that this meeting would be required, for them to receive coaching credentials.

Both the coach and assistant coach need to be fully aware of concussions and the league policy, as one of them might be handling the team on their own during season play. Practically speaking, any party that has a team pass, which enables them to replace a missing coach, should be required to take concussion training.  This person would assume the role of the coach, and this includes all of the responsibilities associated with being in charge of the team.

The above is just a quick review of a potential policy creation strategy. Overall, it will take time, and will be labor intensive. There are potential ways to make it a lot less of an impact, for all leagues, but this is for the leagues to think out.

Possible Stumbling Blocks

• Resistance from competitive thinking parties (a coach/parent/league official that may be inclined to tell a player to ‘tough it out’, to get the player back on the field quickly. May also take the form of a coach that comments to a player sitting out that ‘we sure could use you’, as an indirect statement to a young player. Young players are very susceptible to comments from their coach. Neither the coach, or the parent can ‘see’ a concussion, unless the signs/symptoms are highly visible. This results in a concussion being an ‘invisible’ injury to them, which they have a hard time relating to (which is why all parties must be educated). A player feeling some concussion related issues may not also speak freely about them, either because they don’t know the severity of the situation, or because they do know.
• Lack of volunteer(s) to initially spear head project
• Lack of league consensus on concussions
• Lack of volunteers to monitor/enforce project
• Lack of volunteer to document project
• Poor committee operation
• Lack of league administrative leadership to push the project
• A general feeling that there is no need to do something, unless an issue has happened. In other words, they are waiting for a child to get seriously injured, before determining that there is a real problem. They would rather avoid the pro-active approach, to prevent such an occurrence, to avoid raising flags on the issue. They hear/see the warning information/concussion injury reports in the media, but do not digest the meaning/reality of the situation. They essentially are ‘reactive’, rather than ‘pro-active’. This does not properly protect players. Protection of youth sports players should always have a top priority in a youth sports organization and parents should question what safeguards exist in a sports group for the protection of their children, in playing the sport that they love.
• It is especially problematic if the top leadership of the sports organization does not recognize concussions as an issue. The personnel working in the organization may be ‘pack’ conditioned, not wanting to ‘rock the boat’. Organizational politics may be that an elected official may find it easier to ‘go along, to get along’, rather than attempting to push/bring up, an unfavorable subject matter.

Consequences Of Having No Defined Procedures, or Procedures Not Followed

Mother Of Glastonbury Cheerleader Who Suffered Concussion Sues School System

Lawsuit: High school student’s second concussion should have been prevented

Lawsuit charges school district, others ignored concussion of now-paralyzed teen

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