GEORGIA RUSH POLICY ON CONCUSSION AWARENESS AND RETURN TO PLAY GUIDELINES

GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT AND SAFE APPLICATION

It shall be the policy of Georgia Rush to require that all parents/legal guardians of youth players, along with all registered youth coaches be informed and educated on the subject of concussive injuries to players, and to be informed on the best practices available for diagnosis and treatment for this potentially serious medical condition. Georgia Rush asks parents, coaches, volunteer and paid staff, game officials, and club administrators to be vigilant in the area of player safety for all potentially serious types of injuries, including head, neck, and spine areas. Concussions, also referred to as traumatic brain injuries (TBI), are particularly dangerous to the youth athlete as the brain is still undergoing significant growth up to and during the teenage years.

This policy shall require all Georgia Rush members to follow all Federal, State, and local requirements based on the new House Bill 284 which will take effect on January 1^st, 2014. This House Bill, as known as “The Return to Play Act 2013” will be applied at the Georgia Rush organization and will require the following procedures to take place annually:

1-    Coaches education: All coaches shall be informed and educated in the material of recognizing and understanding concussive injury and the procedure to follow should a suspected concussion occur. Education shall be in the form of a video from the CDC (Heads Up) that each coach shall individually watch once a year. The coach shall then receive a certificate of completion which will be filed in their personal records.

2-    Training: New training components shall be designed and implemented to teach proper heading techniques and strengthen neck muscles of the youth players to minimize the likelihood of a concussion during their regular course of play.

3-    Baseline testing: all Georgia Rush players 12 years and up will be given the opportunity and strongly encouraged to take the computerized neurocognitive assessment test which will establish a baseline for each youth player. Baseline testing will be available for 10-12 year old athletes if interested.

4-    Parents: It shall be the policy of Georgia Rush to require that, at the time of registration, all member affiliates and administrators inform the parents or guardians of each youth player of the general signs and symptoms of potential concussive injury. Parents will receive an informational handout which will be signed (to acknowledge receipt) and returned along with the required medical release form and birth certificate for each player. A duplicate informational sheet will remain with the parent/guardian.

5-    Removal from play and Notification: When any coach suspects any player of having received a possible concussion injury, the coach will safely remove the player from the course of play and they will formally report this possibility to the player’s parent or legal guardian using the Notification of Possible Concussion form. This form must, along with an Authorization “to return to play” form, be signed by the parent, in order to notify the coach that the player has been cleared by a healthcare professional, before the player is allowed back in play.

Georgia Rush members and administration are united in their dedication to the safety of all players involved in the sport of soccer.

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

Parent Athlete Info

Padre Atlete Informacion Espanol

Goal Post Safety Guidelines

References

House Bill 284 – by: Representatives Pruett of the 149^th, Kaiser of the 59^th, Mitchell of the 88^th, Cooper of the 43^rd, Coleman of the 97^th, and others.

Georgia Soccer – Risk Management – Policies and procedures.