Concussion – Match Days At Little Tigers Football Academy, we take a child’s health very seriously, whether that be training on the pitch, in the gym and during matches. A concussion can be one of those injuries that occurs in the uncontrollable environment of a football match.
What is a concussion? A concussion is a disturbance to the normal working of the brain. It normally occurs when a blow directly or indirectly to the head is felt. The brain is made of soft tissue. It is cushioned by spinal fluid and encased in the protective shell of the skull. When you sustain a concussion, the impact can jolt your brain.
The result? Your brain doesn’t function normally. If you’ve suffered a concussion, your vision may be disturbed, you may lose your equilibrium, or you may fall unconscious. In short, your brain is confused. Any player with the Little Tigers Football Academy, who suffers a concussion will be stood down by our coaching staff, to allow for recovery.
Why do we use Stand Down Protocol’s? Another blow to the head before complete recovery can result in further and more significant damage to a growing child’s brain and a brain still under development. Successive blows before recovery can result in future situations. Where less impact causes further concussions, it has been noted this can interfere with academic performance. Potential for neurological impairment and shortening of a sporting career.
We therefore utilise the protocols to ensure the recovery window is adhered to. Any ongoing issues are directed to a medical professional for further assessment.
Headway website is a good source of information for parents on what to do if their child has suffered a concussion and what to look out for with ongoing symptoms.
Although, rugby is not our sport we believe the English Rugby Football Union are leading the way on concussion protocols and how they should be handled with children through their Headcase website.
An injury to the head in football whether it be a clash of heads going for a ball, an accidental kick to the head, or landing awkwardly or any other impact on the head. It will produce the same result as an impact concussion in rugby. All be it probably occurring in a different way. That is why we have incorporated their protocols in to our program, all head injury should and are to be taken very seriously.
Although many kids may say they feel fine and want to train within the stand down period, we are strict on this and adhere to our protocols on return to play. We hope parents and players understand, why we do this. Players can attend, watch trainings, matches and we encourage they do so as they are still a part of our team, but they will not be able to participate in physical activities. We believe a young person’s brain health is not something to take a chance on and will not put our players in this position.
Return to Play: As we have mentioned, Little Tigers Football Academy use the English Rugby Football Union protocol for return to play, as we believe if follows a complete guide for concussion and reintroduction back to sport that has a child’s health as its priority.
The Graduated Return to Play (GRTP) approach gives us guidelines to follow that have your child and our players health, first and foremost as the highest priority. The standards set below are the minimum time frames accepted, ongoing symptoms increase the time of return to play.
2 weeks rest and symptom free
Clearance by Doctor
GRTP 48hrs per activity stage
Clearance by a doctor
Earliest Return to Play = 23 days
Rest = Avoidance of, Reading, TV and Computer games.
Possibly 1-2 days off school depending on symptoms but this will be confirmed by your Doctor. A player will begin starting their return to play once all symptoms have resolved and have been cleared by a Doctor. Consultation with teachers or tutors to ensure Academic performance has returned to normal will also be carried out to ensure a child is not struggling at school as a result of the injury.
Stage: Sport Specific exercise and Running drills with no head impact.
Stage 4: Non -contact training drills – More complex drills, reintroduction of resistance training if they are old enough.
Stage 5: Full contact practice.
Stage 6: Return to play.
To move from Stage 1 to Stage 2, a player must be symptom free for 48hours.
Each stage can be successively introduced as long as they are symptom free. For our players due to their age, we adhere to the recommended 2 days for each stage as a minimum.
Once the player is fully integrated back in to play, we make sure they stay healthy and monitor any future incidences.
