The first part of any concussion plan is Pre-Season Education and Training for coaches, parents and players to increase recognition of a concussion.
This is an essential step because if your coaches, parents and players cannot recognize the signs of a concussion they cannot use any of the information they have learned or know when to pull a player from play.
For education resources for parents and kids, see the blog postings (on the right hand menu) where I highlight a number of resources.
For Coaches’ trainings, there are many options available for teams and towns. While it is always best to have a live instructor and a captive audience with a presentation and a Q & A, given today’s busy world it is not possible to train every person this way.
If you would like a live instructor, SportsCAPP staff members are available to set up and provide group or one-on-one training for your players, coaches and parents.
If you would like an outline course, here are web courses that vary from a simple free course to longer length trainings for a fee. We recommend a combination of approaches to be able to train all your staff and volunteers given scheduling and time restraints.
- Official CT Professional Coaches Training for Public School Middle School and High School Coaches – for a fee
- CDC Training – free online course
- CATA Training – free online courses specifically designed for coaches, parents or kids
- National Federation of High School’s Concussion Training – free online course
Along with training, there are many FREE sources of materials on concussions to give to coaches, parents and players. There are flyers, cards, clipboards, posters, magnets and stickers. Many national organizations have sports specific materials such as US Lacrosse and USA Hockey.
CDC Patient Information
CDC Sports
- Heads Up: Concussion in High School Sports
- Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports
- Materials that are sports specific – Football, Lacrosse, Field hockey, Softball, Soccer, etc
