In 2013, Rowan Stringer, a high school rugby player from Ottawa, tragically died of second impact syndrome, after suffering multiple concussions over a short period of time while playing rugby. In her memory, Rowan’s Law and Rowan’s Law Day were created to raise awareness of concussions and concussion safety.
In 2013, Rowan Stringer, a high school rugby player from Ottawa, tragically died of second impact syndrome, after suffering multiple concussions over a short period of time while playing rugby. In her memory, Rowan’s Law and Rowan’s Law Day were created to raise awareness of concussions and concussion safety.
Rowan Law Day is held on the last Wednesday of every September and is a day dedicated to raising awareness of the work being done around concussion prevention, management and education in sports. Rugby Canada prides itself on being a leader in this field.
With support from Rugby Canada, Rugby Ontario piloted Blue Card Program For the 2022 and 2023 seasons. A “blue card” is a process initiated by a coach, player or match official during a game to determine who needs to be removed from the field of play due to a suspected concussion. From spring 2024, all nine other regional associations will be welcome to apply for an “Application for Use” to begin implementing the Blue Card program in their local club and community competitions.
To prevent a tragedy from happening again, all matches played within the jurisdiction of the Canadian Rugby Union and the country’s provincial unions must comply with Rugby Canada’s concussion guidelines and World Rugby rules. Recognition and removal Protocols.
Rugby Canada also encourages players, coaches, match officials or anyone involved in rugby to learn about resources that provide education on concussion identification and management, such as: Concussion management for the general public.
“Effective concussion education and management is key to ensuring not only that our community can continue to participate in rugby throughout their lives, but that they can live healthy lives outside of sport as well,” said Jackie Tetley, Director of Training and Rehabilitation for the Canadian Rugby Union. education.
The Blue Card program is being implemented in conjunction with research conducted by the SHRed Concussion Team from the University of Calgary School of Kinesiology’s Sports Injury Prevention Research Center (SIPRC), in partnership with Rugby Canada, which focuses on concussion and injury prevention in young women. Football. The research phase is currently continuing after starting in the summer of 2022.
Earlier this year, Rugby Canada launched the new “TackleSmart” resource, a professional development course and online resource that educates both new and experienced community and high school rugby coaches on current tackling laws and techniques and progression as well as assisting coaches who They work with athletes. Who are new to contact. The goal of this training is to prevent injury during tackling by giving coaches the competence and confidence to coach tackling and progress effectively in contact.
Rugby Canada, TackleSmart Coach Reference Guide
“We are very proud to be able to create this resource and share it with our community and see the positive impact it is already having with the coaches who participate in the training.”
The TackleSmart Guide was created to be a part of it Canadian Rugby PlaySmart Resources, a player welfare program aimed at educating players, parents, coaches, match officials and administrators about safety in rugby across Canada. The PlaySmart program was implemented in 2016 and recommends that all participants at all levels of the game complete the online learning modules ‘World Rugby RugbyReady’ and ‘World Rugby Concussion Management for the General Public’.
Rugby Canada has also developed the “Age Group Code Differences” documentation, a resource developed to ensure a safe, fun and age-appropriate environment is created at all levels of the community game.
Rowan’s Law Day will be held on Wednesday, September 27, with Rugby Canada’s social media channels dedicated to raising awareness of Rowan’s Law and the ongoing work around concussion prevention, management and education in the sport. If you would like to celebrate Rowan’s Law Day, we encourage you to wear purple this Wednesday.
