Index
Overview
Rowan's Law helps athletes and their families understand the risks involved with sports, particularly pertaining to concussions. With this important law passed clubs will now need to ensure they meet the law's requirements when registering their participants.
Rowan's Law Requirements
With the passing of Rowan' Law sports clubs and organizations now need to receive two-fold confirmation from their members/participants that they have read and accept/acknowledge the information. The first confirmation must come from the athlete themselves, while the second must come from the parent/guardian of the athlete (if under 18).
Clubs and organizations will need to be able to report on these confirmations at any time as audits will be common place to ensure all entities are maintaining the requirements.
Please be sure to read this document carefully, but note that the below items are recommendations. Your club's/organization's compliance with this law falls on you/your administrative team. If you are unsure, or wish to verify your process, please contact your sport's governing body's office and/or discuss the language you've chosen with a lawyer.
If confirmation from your members is only required for certain programs or sports, the tag filters can be used in the policy settings to only present the Rowan's Law policy where it has been determined that it is required.
Club Expectations
As noted above, clubs and organizations will need to receive acceptance/acknowledgement from the athlete as well as the parent/guardian (for athletes under 18). How you present these policies to be accepted and submitted to your club will depend on your preferences. The most common settings that are used by organizations are detailed below. However, your organization/governing body may have different requirements or expectations.
It is very important to note that the phrasing you use within your policies, and how you implement this law will determine your compliance with the law. The responsibility of these elements fall solely on your organization. The below section, Compliance Options Within Uplifter, should be used for example purposes only. We recommend you consult your sport's governing body and/or obtain legal advice to assure that the wording and your application of these requirements comply with the new law.
A Dedicated Public Page For Rowan's Law
While not directly required, we do recommend creating a dedicated page on your public site to convey information about Rowan's Law. This can include what the law is, why it was enacted, and links to further information. It should also include a download link to the Rowan’s Law Acknowledgement Form and your Concussion Code of Conduct for Athletes and Parents/Guardians for printing.
Please see our article Public Website Management for steps on creating pages and adding a file for download.
Policy Settings
Typically clubs will have two policies. One policy for participants under the age of 18 and one policy for participants over the age of 18 and guardians or parents.
Participant Policy
The Participant Policy is required to be accepted once per year by the participant themselves. The time frame of this policy is most often aligned with your organization's insurance year. The end of the current insurance year should be used as the Effective End Date.
Parent/Guardian Policy
The Parent/Guardian Policy is required to be accepted once per year by the parent/guardian of any participants under the age of 18. As with the Participant Policy, most organizations will parallel their insurance fee dates to dictate their policy acceptance cycles.
Note that this policy is still set to apply to the Participant, but uses the Prompt to Acknowledge Identity field to defer to the parent/guardian if the participant is under age.
Skate Ontario Recommended Language
Athletes under 26 and parents of athletes under 18 years of age must confirm that they have reviewed the Government of Ontario Concussion Awareness Resources below and Skate Ontario’s Concussion Code of Conduct for Athletes and Parents/Guardians prior to registration and/or on the first day of skating.
Government of Ontario Concussion Awareness Resources – Rowan’s Law E-booklet:
Skate Ontario:
Recommended Language for online “Checkbox” for Skaters:I acknowledge that I am the skater participating in physical activities at the (insert name of Skating Club/Skating School) and I have read the Government of Ontario Concussion Awareness Resource for my age group and the Skate Ontario Concussion Code of Conduct and understand what a concussion is and how it may be caused. I understand the importance of reporting a suspected concussion to my coaches and my parent/guardian. I understand that I must be removed from practice/competition if a concussion is suspected. I understand that I must provide written clearance from an appropriate health care provider to my coach before returning to practice/competition. I understand the possible consequence of returning to practice/competition too soon and that my brain needs time to heal.
Recommended Language for online “Checkbox” for Parents: I acknowledge that my child is participating in physical activities at the [insert name of Skating Club/Skating School) and I have read the Government of Ontario Concussion Awareness Resource for his/her age group and the Skate Ontario Concussion Code of Conduct and understand what a concussion is and how it may be caused. I understand the importance of reporting a suspected concussion to coaches and any other designated persons at the club/skating school. I understand that my child must be removed from practice/competition if a concussion is suspected. I understand that I must provide written clearance from an appropriate health care provider to my coach before my child is permitted to return to practice/competition. I understand the possible consequence of returning to practice/competition too soon and that my child’s brain needs time to heal.