Wagga Netball Association has welcomed Netball Australia's adoption of a 21 day concussion protocol.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The local association elected to implement a 21-day stand down period prior to the announcement, but president Tanya Bertoldi said she welcomes the increase in consistency across sports.
While netball is not frequently included in the conversation on concussion but Bertoldi said it is not unheard of on the court.
In fact, she has already dealt with one in the representative program this year.
"The reaction for a lot of people is 'oh, you wouldn't necessarily have a lot of that in netball', but you'd be very surprised," Bertoldi said.
"Netball is not a non-contact sport anymore, and a lot of people are still realising that.
"It's more and more down to allowing contact, provided it doesn't restrict the other player from participating in the game, so that gives the umpire of fair bit of leeway to interpret what's happening, and it is most definitely a much more physical game that it used to be, so things like protocols around injury and this one with concussion are becoming more important for netball than it has been in the past."
In Bertoldi's experience most concussions on court come during play in the shooting circle, with players congested under the ring, and often jumping together in a pack.
That is not to say that players contesting or falling down court have not also experienced concussion.
With the game constantly getting harder and faster, Bertoldi said it's a good thing protocols are being established.
Responsibility sits with everyone, not just coaches
Dealing already with the concussion of one of the association's junior players this year, Bertoldi said that open communication was key when it comes to player safety.
While she has ensured her association members are up to date on the most recent guidelines, clubs also need to ensure they are up to date on the guidelines.
"If you read through the protocol from Netball Australia and Netball NSW, the duty of care is actually on everybody that is around at the time of the incident," she said.
"It is up to coaches, spectators, umpires, to recognise and help implement, if they can, that protocol, so it has highlighted that responsibility on everybody to understand what concussion might look like, so it's a really good idea and I strongly encourage parents, coaches, and officials to read through the information that has been sent out."
She said that clubs involved in netball in any way should be updating their members on protocols.
Cooperation from parents is also essential, with Bertoldi sympathetic that young athletes especially may be disappointed to be told they cannot play.
Her experience so far this year has been positive, with parents looking to the association for guidance on their daughters return to play.
"The parent of a child with a concussion this season was looking to us for direction and asking what was the protocol, what did we require, so they were very cooperative," Bertoldi said.
"We expressed that first and foremost for us was concerned for her daughters welfare and although she is a very competitive young athlete, and wanted to get straight back on the court, I'm sure that was difficult for mum to manage, but she did support the protocol that we implemented and now she is back training and about to compete this weekend."
With grass roots sports across the nation adopting a 21-day protocol, Bertoldi is hopeful the consistency will benefit parents and players too.
"We're all sending the same message out to our athletes, parents, coaches, and officials across the board," she said.
"If that message is consistent, then it's going to be much more widely received and accepted, it's taken as the norm.
"If the protocols are different from sport to sport, that creates confusion and frustration with all injuries, especially with head injuries.
"We've got to take our lead from the medical professionals that really know what we should be looking for and how this should be dealt with, so I think it's a really good move by Netball Australia and Netball NSW to accept this, and to know that other sports are doing the same."
Players with concussion must follow protocols outlined by Netball Australia, and can return to the court no sooner than the 21st day following the incident.