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.
Since Rowan’s Law comes into effect during the 2020 baseball season, ALL registrations will be subject to the requirements of the new legislation. 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 Grimsby Baseball League, 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
Age Specific Concussion Awareness Resources:
- Rowan's Law - Ages 10 & Under
- Rowan's Law - Ages 11 - 14
- Rowan's Law - Ages 15 & Up
Requirements for Sports Organizations
Ontario is a national leader in concussion management and prevention. Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018 makes it mandatory for sports organizations to:
1. 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.
2. establish a Concussion Code of Conduct that sets out rules of behavior to support concussion prevention
3. 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.
The rules for removal-from-sport and return-to-sport are expected to be in place by July 1, 2020.
If players are involved in more than one sport
No matter how many sport organizations you register with in a given year, you are only required to review a Concussion Awareness Resource once within that year. You are however required to confirm your review of a Concussion Awareness Resource with each sport organization with which you register.
You are also required to both review and confirm your review of the Concussion Code of Conduct for each sport organization with which you register.
Additional rules will come into effect on July 1, 2020 that require sport organizations to put into place Removal-from-Sport and Return-to-Sport protocols, to improve concussion safety. You may wish to follow-up with your sport organization about their plans for implementing their protocols.
Adult players
While the legislation is only applicable to players under the age of 26, in the interests of player safety and best practices, the Grimsby Baseball League will require ALL players (or their parent/guardian if they are under 18 years of age) to review and sign off on the requirements of the legislation.