On July 1st, 2019, Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), came into effect. The Ontario Hockey Federation was informed by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport that the Rowan’s Law Act and Regulations must be implemented for the 2019/20 season.
This new law makes it mandatory for sports organizations to do the following:
- Ensure that athletes, parents of athletes under 18, coaches and officials confirm every year that they have reviewed Ontario's concussion awareness resources.
- Establish a removal-from-sport (RFS) and return-to-sport (RTS) protocol.
- Establish a concussion code of conduct that sets out rules of behaviour to support concussion prevention.
- In order to participate, every Player, Team Official and On-Ice Official (parent as well if individual under 18) must review the OHF Concussion Code of Conduct and the appropriate Concussion Awareness Resources. The age appropriate awareness documents are below.
- As teams are assigned, your child's coach will provide you with a copy of the acknowledgement form. These will need to be signed off on and returned to the coaches by September 30th. If not returned by the end of September, playing privileges may be suspended.
Rowan's Law Resources: