Rowan's Law: Concussion Awareness Resources
Rowan’s Law comes into effect on July 1, 2020. This legislation is named in memory of Rowan Stringer who tragically died in 2013 of Second Impact Syndrome, the result of suffering multiple concussions playing rugby three times in six days. There are new measures being taken by the Ontario Government to ensure that players registered in organized sports are aware of the concussion legislation and protocols, which have been designed to create a safer environment for competitive amateur athletes, children and youth to play sport. Knowing how to recognize the signs and symptoms of a concussion, and what to do if a concussion happens – whether you are an athlete, a student, a parent, a coach, a team trainer, an official or an educator – saves lives.
Rowan’s Law has been passed to ensure that all athletes under 26 years of age; parents of athletes under 18 years of age; and all team coaches/ staff/ officials confirm annually that they have reviewed Ontario’s Concussion Awareness resources.
Under Rowan's Law, before any player can be registered with the Bowmanville United Soccer Club and Darlington Soccer Club, the player (and the parent or legal guardian of the player if the player is under 18 years of age), must review one of the Concussion Education Resources provided by the Province of Ontario.
All Athletes, Parents, Coaches and Team Officials must review the Concussion Awareness Resources at the following link:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/rowans-law-concussion-awareness-resources
Rowan's Law requires all Soccer clubs (House League & Rep) to:
~ Ensure that athletes under 26 years of age*, parents of athletes under 18, coaches, team trainers and officials confirm every year that they have reviewed Ontario's Concussion Awareness Resources.
~ Establish a Concussion Code of Conduct that sets out rules of behaviour to support concussion prevention
~ Establish a Removal-from-Sport and Return-To-Sport protocol
*Special rule: A sport organization that is a university, college of applied arts and technology or other post-secondary institution must not register any athlete regardless of age unless the same requirements are met.
The new rules requiring the review of Concussion Awareness Resources and Concussion Codes of Conduct came into effect on July 1, 2019.
Please Note: You as a parent/player are required to review a Concussion Awareness policy/resource once within each year, if you are registered on several sports organizations you are only required to review the policy once. However, you are required to indicate that you have reviewed the policy at each organization you are registered with.
Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018, Act & Regulation:
Rowan_s_Law_-_Overview_of_requirements_and_FAQs.pdf