GameDay fully supports for introduction of concussion guidelines for grassroots sport, which have recently been published by the UK Government and the Sport and Recreation Alliance.

The guidelines deliver on a government commitment to establish a single set of shared, UK-wide concussion guidelines for the immediate management of concussion, followed by the gradual return to activity (education/work) and, ultimately, sport.

Participants in grassroots sports will be better protected from the potentially devastating effects of head injuries and concussion thanks to the recently-announced official guidelines.

The guidelines, developed by an expert panel of domestic and international clinicians and academics in neurology and sports medicine, set out steps to improve understanding and awareness of the prevention and treatment of concussion in grassroots sport where trained medical professionals are less likely to be routinely present.

It is designed to target people of all ages, and players, parents, coaches, teachers and administrators are asked to read the guidance and familiarise themselves with the necessary steps to:

• RECOGNISE the signs of concussion
• REMOVE anyone suspected of being concussed immediately
• RETURN safely to daily activity, education/work and, ultimately, sport.

‘If in doubt, sit them out’ is the tagline, making clear that no-one should return to sport within 24 hours of a suspected concussion. It builds on guidance already introduced in Scotland.

To further support the implementation of these guidelines, GameDay is currently working on a Concussion Management feature to assist with the management of these guidelines in grassroots sport, further supporting the ‘If in doubt, sit them out’ initiative.

This will also support concussion guidance reforms across various countries where GameDay customers operate worldwide.

The Concussion Management feature will support the application of a “concussion suspension” period which will work similar to a disciplinary suspension, restricting the player or participant from being added to a match for a certain period of time.

This will be particularly relevant for tournament competitions where multiple matches are being played in a short period of time, but also supports the tracking and reporting of concussions over a season.

GameDay’s Director of Product Mark Pititto, said: “We’re constantly looking at ways to tailor our solutions based on the updated rules and guidelines set by governing bodies or industry-wide reforms such as these. Not only does this new feature support organisations to implement these guidelines, more importantly we’re supporting the safety of participation in sport.”

Further to this, GameDay’s Direct of Strategy EMEA, Greg Sturge, commented: “Concussion management is such a major topic within sport at the moment, ensuring that we protect and support our players, particularly young people, to be accessing and engaging sport directly. To have already been working on our new Concussion Management feature shows our awareness of this need for our customers, and we are excited to release the functionality to support grassroots administrators to deliver their sports in a safe and inclusive environment.”

This feature will be released in the coming weeks on GameDay Passport, so keep an eye out for it in upcoming Passport Release Notes available here.

For more information about concussion guidance for Grassroots sport, click here.