Concussions

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This chapter examines the role of sports administrators in the regulation and governance of promoting athlete health and safety and mitigating the risks associated with sport-related concussion. Commentators suggest that ‘[F]or years, the entire sports world has been flicking off the periodic warnings from scientists as if their dire-sounding concussion studies were just pesky flies.’ Today, sport-related concussion is a prominent public health issue and the number one injury concern for many contact and collision sports. Players have died or suffered serious long-term neurological harm arising from concussion-related complications. Concussion policies, protocols, guidelines, and rule changes are now included as part of the modern injury prevention and risk management frameworks adopted in many sports. Governments in several jurisdictions have also responded to the high-profile status of sport-related concussion concerns by implementing a range of measures, including youth sport concussion laws, position statements, and government inquiries and recommendations to manage and mitigate the risk of harm.