FOOTBALL BC SUPPORTS ‘CONCUSSIONS IN YOUTH SPORT SAFETY ACT’ BILL

BURNABY, B.C. – Football BC would like to acknowledge its support of the bill introduced to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia by Vancouver-Langara MLA Dr. Moira Stilwell intituled Concussions in Youth Sports Safety Act on Thursday, November 17, 2011.

The bill introduces return-to-play guidelines for sports organizations to follow when youth athletes experience a concussion during play.

“We are very encouraged to see our local political leaders build on the work that many sports organizations, including us at Football BC, have already done in making concussion education and player safety a priority,” said Football BC Executive Director Patrick Waslen. “We are fully in support of the bill introduced today and our organization would like to publicly offer our support in any way possible to assisting our fellow provincial sport organizations and leagues in implementing these guidelines.

“We are also extremely encouraged with the timing of this introduction, particularly for our organization, in light of the fact that our province is set to host the two largest football events in Canada in the Vanier Cup and the Grey Cup in just over a week. While we are celebrating the great game of football in our province next week with the Grey Cup Festival, it is always important to remind players and supporters of the dangers of playing a contact sport and the best practices when dealing with an injury especially when the brain is involved.”

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; and

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