Injury assessments
Referees and sport officials play an important role in improving concussion safety by calling for injury assessments. Researchers have found that when referees and officials feel confident in their concussion knowledge and supported by sport stakeholders, they are more likely to call for an injury assessment. These findings highlight the importance of improving concussion education…
Process of change
The Safe Sport journey involves a cultural change in sport. Such a change can challenge traditionally accepted assumptions and practices, such as having coaches share hotel rooms with athletes to save costs or using exercise as punishment. For sport leaders, understanding the process of change and associated emotions (i.e., denial, resistance, exploration, commitment) is important…
Removal from play
Female athletes are around 1.5 times less likely to be removed from play immediately following a concussion compared to male athletes. This inconsistency in immediate care may contribute to the increased number of symptoms and symptom severity seen in female athletes who sustain a concussion. The takeaway? Be sure to remove an athlete from play…
Activating Safe Sport communities
Earlier this year, SIRC launched Community Activation Grants to help communities across Canada recover from COVID-19 through Safe Sport opportunities. Discover how sport organizations from coast to coast are using the grants to activate Safe Sport and concussion awareness initiatives in their communities in the SIRCuit.
Advancing Safe Sport
“Often we say, ‘Don’t do this’ or ‘Don’t do that’ but we rarely say, ‘What does that Safe Sport environment look like?’ and ‘How do we make it safe?” says Kristin Noonan, Manager, Coaching and Safe Sport at Softball Canada. Learn more about the creative and engaging strategies that national sport organizations are using to…
Rowan’s Law Day
Today is Rowan’s Law Day! Commemorated annually on the last Wednesday of September, Rowan’s Law Day raises awareness about concussion safety. Take some time to explore and share what your sport is doing to improve concussion safety, for example, through concussion protocols and policies. Remember, everyone contributes to making sport safer!
Concussion recovery
Returning to play too soon following a concussion may increase the athlete’s risk of sustaining another concussion. Use Parachute Canada’s sport-specific return-to-sport strategy adaptation tool to plan activities that will help athletes safely return to play after a concussion.
How Volleyball Canada is taking an evidence-based approach to concussion prevention
Highlights Along with current educational and technological initiatives, sport organizations have the opportunity to introduce specific strategies to protect against the risks of concussion within their respective sports. To develop effective prevention strategies, it’s necessary to understand the extent of the concussion problem and research the factors and mechanisms that contribute to concussion risk. Interventions, such as rule changes for reducing concussion risks, should be both…
You-CAN: Peers help youth athletes with concussions through education and social support
Highlights The number of concussions reported among Canadian youth has increased annually by 10.3% between 2004 and 2015. Many concussions go unreported by youth due to their lack of knowledge, thinking it won’t make a difference, believing their friends will treat them differently and a lack of self-efficacy. Improved concussion reporting and health outcomes may happen by understanding that social networks strongly influenced youth, exploring new ways of enabling youth to help each other learn about concussion and supporting recovery after…
How biological sex and gender affect concussion risk and management
Highlights Concussion recovery depends on many factors, including biological factors (for example, anatomy) and gender-based factors (for example, societal norms in sport). Research shows that female athletes have a higher risk of concussion than male athletes, male and female athletes experience concussions in different ways, and female athletes may take longer than male athletes to…