Port District Junior Football Club backs nationwide concussion policy recommended by AIS
A radical new concussion policy is set to hit fields and courts across SA as soon as this year – and a leading junior footy club believes it could be a major step forward.
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A leading SA junior footy club says it would be all for a new concussion policy put forward by the Australian Institute of Sport in an attempt to protect kids from long-term damage.
The AIS has recommended a three-week break from play for any participant in community and youth sport across Australia who is concussed, one week longer than current nationwide regulations.
If a participant suffers more than two concussions in a year, they may need to sit out an entire season.
The guidelines, which have been endorsed by various medical boards and major sporting bodies across the nation, come after a Senate hearing into head trauma in Australian sport.
The changes are not mandatory however, and some major sporting bodies are yet to endorse them.
Port District Junior Football Club president Andrew Marks, whose club last year created a revolutionary strategy involving an online concussion register and information system for its kids and parents, said he would be for the changes if footballing bodies were to implement them.
“If those are the rules which end up being implemented, then we’d follow them as best we could,” Marks said.
“I think traditionally in football we probably haven’t been as good as we can be at listening to the professionals but I think that is starting to change.
“Footballing bodies do an incredible job at communicating the importance of concussion procedure and I’m sure they’re doing their homework.”
Concussion, head damage and the long-term physical and mental health issues it can cause including headaches, dementia, depression and thoughts or acts of suicide, has become a prevalent issue in Australian sport.
Marks said a potential extra week on the sidelines for athletes would pale in comparison to a lifetime of issues.
“I don’t think another week of rest and recovery really matters when we’re talking about what could be a lifelong injury,” he said.
“There are so many connections between concussion and mental health and one week in someone’s entire career is a lot better than experiencing major problems like depression into the long-term future.
While not all sports are guaranteed to implement the AIS recommendations this year, Marks believed it was important for clubs and organisations across SA and the country to promote proper procedure.
He said Port District was set to host community concussion forums this year to further educate its members and the public.
“I think it’s incredibly important that this issue is being talked about on a national level because we continue to see a lot of head injuries in sport and it’s important to get on top of how to approach that.
“It’s not always about sport though, you can get a concussion just during life off the field too so we don’t want to get too far into that stigma, but we also want to be able to say as sporting bodies that we’ve got the best practices in place.
“We’re going to make sure we take a proper approach at Port District to protect our players and their future on and off the field.”
Sporting bodies which have endorsed the proposed changes:
ACT Academy of Sport
Australian Olympic Committee
Athletics Australia
Australian Psychological Society
Aus Cycling
Badminton Australia
Baseball Australia
Combat Australia
Connectivity and Traumatic Brain Injury Australia
Disability Sports Australia
Golf Australia
Gymnastics Australia
Hockey Australia
NSW Institute of Sport
Northern Territory Sports Academy
Paddle Australia
Paralympics Australia
Queensland Academy of Sport
Rowing Australia
Skate Australia
Squash Australia
Surfing Australia
Swimming Australia
Tasmanian Institute of Sport
Touch Football Australia
Western Australia Institute of Sport
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