The Government and the Sport and Recreation Alliance has just published the first UK-wide Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport which will help ensure that participants in grassroots sports will be better protected from the potentially devastating effects of head injuries and concussion thanks to new official guidelines advising: ‘if in doubt, sit them out’.

‘If in doubt, sit them out’ was the banner for the concussion campaign originally published in Scotland back in 2018 and the EIHA adopted this as part of the minor update presented last summer. The new UK-wide guidance makes clear that no-one should return to sport within 24 hours of a suspected concussion building on the guidance previously issued, and reinforces to players, coaches, parents, sports clubs, schools, National Governing Bodies and sports administrators how to identify, manage and prevent the issue using current best practice advice and guidance.

The EIHA Concussion Protocols have been in existence for the past eight years. Last April, we started the process updating EIHA specific guidance with the ambition of implementing minimum-standards association-wide. The new guidelines recommend a minimum 21-day period for the return to play but for the EIHA the minimum standard will be maintained at 28 days as best practice within the EIHA playing programmes, due to the new guidance recognising symptoms may take up to 28 days to subside.

Since the formation of the Athlete Wellbeing Advocates back in June 2021, the EIHA has been looking to create best practice guidance and practical tools to help the ice hockey community look after our players and other participants who may find themselves in need of first aid support until emergency services can be mobilised and thereafter through recuperation and return to play. The subject of concussion has proven many times to be controversial, not just in ice hockey, but other contact sports too, and although the EIHA already has a robust protocol in place, there still exists confusion around the application of the principles where player returning to play the game is concerned.

The EIHA Board has welcomed this new Government Guidance and the Director responsible for the EIHA Education Section, Gary Apsley, said:

“We have been waiting for this new guidance to be published for the past twelve months and now that it is here we can push-ahead with the update to our Concussion Protocols document that was originally issued in 2015. We have said previously that we are looking at all measures that will deliver the safety improvements that we set out as an ambition back in 2021.”

“Now we can finalise the content for a new in-house EIHA course for identifying, managing and preventing the effects of concussion as far as we are able using this new best practice and guidance as a basis to inform and educate our coaches and managers to provide the best support possible to our participants.”

The EIHA’s Education Programme has already committed to delivering a summer programme of training and development courses for coaches and managers which is a central element to the Recruit-Train-Retain philosophy. Our volunteer coaches and managers will be required to complete a Concussion Workshop before the start of next season and this will form part of the mandatory re-certification for registration as a Team Coach, Assistant Coach or Team Manager and becomes part of the EIHA minimum standards that continue to evolve in line with our drive towards delivering improvements in performance. Details of the new workshop will be announced in the next few weeks, but participants at the Showcase Tournament which is being held next weekend will receive the first presentation of the new EIHA Concussion Protocol.