New guidelines around managing concussion in community sport welcomed in Northland

The new National Concussion Guidelines for community sport will come into effect for the winter sport season.

New national guidelines around managing concussions at a grass-roots level have been welcomed by Northland sporting authorities as sports-related concussion claims in the region soar.

ACC, in partnership with seven national sporting organisations, announced the National Concussion Guidelines for community sport last week.

The Guidelines – which come into effect for the 2024 winter sports season – are designed to improve the health outcomes and wellbeing of people who play community sport by introducing a standardised approach to managing concussion.

They provide principles and general advice for the sporting community and health professionals to recognise and treat concussion in a consistent way.

The key changes are:

• When a player suffers a concussion, they must have a minimum period of 21 days away from full competition.
• Medical clearance must be obtained prior to return to play.

Sport Northland chief operating officer Brent Markwick said it was “all about safeguarding future generations from injury”.

“The intention to safeguard injury, particularly for young people, has got to be a good thing.

“It certainly all makes sense to ensure the person’s fit before going back to play.

“There’s been previous head injuries that have got worse because people have returned to play too soon.”

Northland Rugby chief executive Cameron Bell said Northland Rugby “absolutely supports anything that looks after the care and protection of our athletes”.

“The return to play protocol to ensure the care and wellbeing of athletes is beyond question.

“It’s something we need to do in terms of the growth of the game.”

Dr Stephen Kara says it’s everyone’s responsibility in community sport to ensure concussions are being managed properly.

ACC accepted 339 sports-related concussion claims in Northland last year, which came at a cost of $2.3 million to help people recover.

During the past five years, ACC has accepted 1558 sports-related injury claims in Northland, costing $10.8m to help people recover.

Some of the leading sports for sports-related concussions in Northland were rugby union (128), football (36), horse riding (17), rugby league (16), basketball (11) and netball (seven).

Last June, ACC convened an expert panel and held a workshop with the medical directors from the larger and higher-risk sports codes.

The panel agreed on the return to play changes for a player who has suffered a concussion, an approach consistent with community sport in Australia and the UK.

It is hoped the guidelines will lead to greater awareness of concussion and a decrease in risk of longer-term negative effects of concussion.

Coincidently, the panel convened one month before former All Black Carl Hayman published a book on his on and off-field trials: Head On: An All Black’s memoir of rugby, dementia, and the hidden cost of success.

The book details his professional rugby career, his dementia diagnosis in 2021, aged 41, and a degenerative brain condition called CTE.

Hayman is among a group of former players trying to sue rugby authorities over head-related issues.

The expert panel included concussion specialist Dr Stephen Kara, NZ Football medical director Dr Mark Fulcher, NZ Rugby League medical director Dr John Mayhew, ACC principal clinical adviser Dr Ian Murphy, and Netball NZ injury prevention consultant Sharon Kearney.

Dr Kara said the guidelines were an “important step” to putting player’s welfare first.

“This is a game changer for community sport in this country,” he said.

“We know it can be confusing for coaches, players, family and health practitioners if concussion management advice from each sport is different and this will change that with clear guidelines and processes for all sports.”

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.