#HeadoffHeadInjuries

Update : I have revamped my campaign, from #CombatConcussion, after a few talks with some very knowledgeable and influential people in this field, and I feel like the title was slightly misleading and not conveying what I feel is the message. I have done my research, I didn't jump into this blindly, but I'm happy to admit we can all learn new things, and with the same purpose to prevent head injuries and concussion in Rugby, I still feel it is so important to push for headguards to be mandatory in Youth and Mini Rugby. 

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Head injuries and concussion are the most serious injury you can sustain playing rugby whether you are a child, teen or adult.

I have read some statistics recently that I think you might find interesting :

• An 18/19 study on Youth teams by England Rugby shows overall, the most common injury location was the head and neck, accounting for 39% of all injuries. 

• A number of studies show the tackler is more likely to sustain a head injury than the ball carrier.

• In December 2020, it was reported that pre-pandemic concussion in Rugby Union was at an all time high

With that being said I think its more important now than ever, post-pandemic after a hard season trying to get children back to rugby, to try and #HeadoffHeadInjuries and 22/23 season is our next big goal. Within the hustle and bustle of rugby life, especially dealing with Youth and Minis I think I can speak for everyone when I say our children's safety is at the forefront of our mind.

As our children grow, and move in to U9s, most of you will be aware that they start to introduce full contact rules into matches. With that being said, this obviously poses greater risks of injury than tag rugby.

Without boring you too much I’ll share a little about myself and what pushed me to start this. My sons rugby team missed out on moving into U9s, and starting contact rugby at 8 because of the pandemic, so when they came back as U10s it was a big leap. A big leap for players, and for parents knowing their children will be tackling, rucking and scrumming with each other. I was ‘that mum’, I bought my son a headguard and he had one rule, you don’t wear it you don’t play, simple. Being the first aider for his rugby team, I was there week in week out to make sure he was wearing it, but it also meant I was there a few weeks back dealing with our teams first ever case of concussion, which I have to say was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had, although I am now aware it could have been alot worse. It is also not something I want to have to experience again, although with regret I am aware I more than likely will have to at some point.

I am now determined as a mother of a rugby player, as a first aider for a young rugby team and as someone that really believes this is so important. I believe to try and prevent as many head injuries as possible, any child playing contact rugby from U9s until they leave Youth at U16 should be wearing a headguard. I think we need to get to a point where this is mandatory, within teams, clubs, even stretching out further if we can. Hear me out, I do not in anyway think that this will stop any and every head injury, I do not think headguards create miracles, but I do believe that they can save a lot of children and teens from horrible experiences of head injuries and long lasting health problems caused from these.

I believe this is something that should be encouraged by coaches, parents, clubs and the RFU to keep our children safe. We are a rugby family. We live, breathe & love rugby, and I feel like this can make a big difference to our children’s lives as they grow, continuing to play rugby. Prevention is key.

Kelly Curtis