LOCAL footballers will be forced to sit out for three weeks after a concussion under new guidelines adopted by the AFL for local leagues.
From the VFL through to junior football, there is now a mandatory minimum 21-day protocol before footballers can return to play.
The changes bring football into line with the Concussion and Brain Health Position Statement, released by the Australian Institute of Sport earlier this year.
Central Murray and Golden Rivers leagues’ manager Jessie Chester said the health and wellbeing of all players remained a priority.
“Concussion in contact sport remains a serious issue,” she said.
“We will be leaning on our governing body and associated medical experts for further education and resources.
“Such as the updated concussion guidelines and return-to-play flowchart to provide to our clubs and participants with further education once made available.
“The soonest a player will be able to return to the field after sustaining a concussion is now 21 days from the day after the concussion occurred.”
The gradual reintroduction of players is broken into three stages: Rest, recovery and a graded return to training and play with at least 24 hours for each stage.
If concussion symptoms re-occur at any stage, the player must return to the previous stage before returning symptom-free.
The guidelines also emphasise the importance of an individualised approach, where factors such as age and mood disturbance may necessitate a more cautious approach.
AFL general counsel Stephen Meade said the AFL’s concussion guidelines were the most stringent concussion protocols in Australian sport, both at a community and elite level.
“We are committed to continuing to take action to protect the safety of players at all levels of the game,” he said.
“The updated community guidelines represent a significant step in the AFL’s existing record of ongoing improvements to its concussion management strategy that reflect medical research and other learnings over time.
“We play a contact sport and there is always going to be risk, however over recent years we have continued to take action to strengthen match-day protocols and amend the Laws of the Game to discourage high contact, and we will continue to do so.
“We continue to listen and learn from the medical and scientific professionals and take action to deal with the important topic of concussion and player safety.”
AFL and AFLW players will only need to sit out for a minimum of 12 days, with the level of medical resources at the elite level not available to those players in levels below.
The AFL is set to release full details around the community football guidelines in coming weeks, before community football kicks off around the country.
