RJFC continues to raise injury awareness and education

Earlier in the season, we highlighted a trend of head & neck injuries, particularly amongst older junior girls’ teams. While football is a contact sport and injuries will always happen, our approach is to raise awareness and educate on strategies in an attempt to reduce some injuries.

Since then, as a club we have made significant further progress which we would like to share with the RJFC community.

• as you know, RJFC was proactive in funding the provision of Colbrow medics at all of our home games in 2017, and again in 2018. We consider this initiative to be a high priority and of great value to our players and, as such, we continue to request that the YJFL extend this to be mandatory for all clubs,
• on 18th July, we conducted the first of our specialist coaching sessions, with Trent Bekis leading the Youth & U16 girls’ teams through a clinic focused on tackling and contact skills. There are further targeted sessions planned and we will work directly with coaches across all teams to schedule these,
• we have shared with all our team trainers, the AFL’s new HeadCheck Concussion app, along with a laminated guide added to every trainer’s kit with practical tips on how to respond in the event of a concussion injury, and
• we have drawn on AFL and YJFL backed best practice to implement a Concussion Policy and Injury Management Guidelines (follow the links or head to our Policies page). These documents provide clarity on the role all of us play – Trainers, Team Managers and Parents / Guardians – in ensuring the safety and injury management of all players

We remain committed to this ongoing focus and we believe we are leading the way amongst YJFL clubs in the care of our players.

We welcome any additional suggestions and positive ideas on action that might be considered. If you have any, please let us know by emailing president@richmondjfc.com.au.