Regional Victorian Sporting League Adopts New Concussion Management Platform

A regional Victorian sporting league is adopting a new safety initiative aimed at improving communication and accountability around concussion management in grassroots sport.

Sunraysia Football Netball League (SFNL), based at Mildura in Victoria's north-west, is now implementing the online platform My Concussion Passport which it says should boost concussion transparency.

My Concussion Passport co-founder, and concussion practitioner Dr David Munro said the platform would provide athletes with their own concussion record that travelled with them between sports.

"One of the big gaps, particularly in community and amateur sport, is with our athletes that play across multiple sports, that data doesn't go with them," Dr Munro said.

"So, now with My Concussion Passport, an athlete creates their own passport identity that's linked to their concussion history.

"And then that moves with them across from football to netball to cricket to hockey or whatever sport they're playing."

Dr Munro said the passport worked like a simple traffic light system.

"If an athlete is green, that means that they've been cleared to play, they don't currently have a concussion, and they can share that with the leagues and the clubs they're involved with," he said.

"If there's a suspected incident, that athlete moves to amber, and we're not saying they have a concussion, it's just that they've been removed [from playing] as a suspected concussion, which aligns with international protocols, and that athlete won't be able to return to play until they've been cleared."

Once the full assessment is done, a healthcare practitioner can decide whether the athlete has been concussed, and if that's the case then the player moves to red and can no longer be selected to play.

Dr Munro said currently there was no overarching regulatory framework.

"If we think about athletes who are at school, they might have a concussion during the week, for example, maybe playing school football, netball or hockey," Dr Munro said.

"That gets reported within the school system, but when they then turn up to play for their club on the weekend, the school and the club don't necessarily talk to each other in terms of the concussion status of their athletes.

"So, we're putting at risk the athlete because we're potentially allowing them to play when they shouldn't be playing."

Tracking concussions

Merbein Football Club junior Eamon Breewel, 14, has been concussed three times over the past four years.

"[I have] to be cautious, to just use my body to not like get hit in the head as much and just make sure I'm not running to the ball as hard in every scenario," he said.

He said the new passport system was "pretty smart".

"Every time I get [a concussion] I have to tell everyone and everyone asks me so if I could just chuck it in that app then everyone will know," he said.

The last concussion Eamon had he was knocked out.

"It was quite scary, Eamon was quiet emotional… he thought he'd be ruled out of footy forever," his mum Hayley Breewel said.

"He was quite upset, visibly upset when we went into the rooms to see him."

His family said they were fearful about what it meant for Eamon, who had been selected for the Sunraysia under 15s representative side.

His parents said having the passport system meant parents and clubs didn't need to make the decision.

"I think it also helps in his other sports because [he's having] to tell people that he's got a history of concussion, but they can now see this … and you got better tracking of it," his dad Michael Breewel said.

Former Wentworth Football Netball Club coach and current player Wade Hancock has had a number of concussions over nearly two decades of senior football.

"It's definitely been a concern for me in the last few months. I had a couple last year and one earlier this year, so it's sort of been on my mind a lot lately," he said.

Mr Hancock said it was a great to have a system in place to track concussions and help educate and support players through the process and the potential long-term effects.

"I think it's something really important that we continue to educate our players on. As you get a little bit older, it puts everything into perspective that we play the game we love, but our health is really important," Mr Hancock said.

"But I think as we continue to learn, we do know that we only have one brain and we want to look after it as long as we can."

He said he could see it being frustrating for some people, but it removes the grey areas for coaches and clubs.

"What players and families need to understand is that this is for the betterment and the longevity of people and their health in a holistic view, not just playing footy for a couple of hours on a Saturday," Mr Hancock said.

Clear communication

So far this year the SFNL's doctor has diagnosed 21 concussions across junior and senior competitions.

SFNL executive officer Jason Torney said the clear information provided on the passport system would allow clubs and the league to act in the best interests of players as incidents would not be missed or forgotten.

"I haven't had great access to who is in concussion protocols in the past," he said.

"[Now] I'll be privy to a dashboard and those people that sign up for it, I'll have access to knowing which ones are in the concussion protocols or know their traffic light status, and we'll be able to do some back-end stuff that ensures that they don't go and play when they are actually still in the red phase."

He said at times, there could be pressure within clubs for teams to play talented players who might be at risk of further injury.

"This process really takes the pressure off the trainers or the parents or the coach, or whoever has that final say in that, when there's a real aspect to it that's defined," he said.

"There is a way to make sure that they don't play."

While the service is optional, Mr Torney said SFNL's team doctor would encourage players and families to sign up.