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The collaboration will focus on concussion education, strategies and awareness to make soccer a safer game for young athletes.Getty Images/iStockphoto

In what is being hailed as a first in Canada, a leading adolescent concussion-care hospital is joining forces with both grassroots and professional soccer organizations to raise awareness on brain injuries and youth soccer safety.

The collaboration between Toronto's Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, the Ontario Soccer Association and the Toronto Soccer Association is a commitment to ensuring a safer game for young participants, said Dr. Nick Reed. He is co-director and clinician scientist at Holland Bloorview's concussion centre, one of the first in the world to be dedicated exclusively to pediatric or youth concussions.

"This is really unique within the sports community," Dr. Reed said Wednesday in an interview.

"It's really all about bringing the experts from both worlds together to make sure that kids and coaches and trainers get the right information and services that they need."

The collaboration will focus on concussion education, strategies and awareness, and campaigns to align players, parents, coaches and trainers on the most up-to-date evidence and resources for concussion prevention, identification and management.

The timing for the initiative could not be better with the ongoing Olympics in Rio showcasing the abilities of the best athletes in the world.

That includes Canada's women's soccer team that will play for the bronze medal against Brazil on Friday.

"Partnering with Holland Bloorview is a natural fit for us at the Ontario Soccer Association," said Johnny Misley, OSA executive director, in a news release. "We strive to be on the cutting edge of programming for our membership, and this partnership both positions us as thought leaders in the soccer community as well as gives us the opportunity to deliver greater educational resources to those in Ontario."

The OSA is the governing body for 21 soccer associations in the province, and with more than 475,000 annual participants, it's one of the largest sporting organizations in Canada. The TSA, meanwhile, boasts 26 member associations and about 25,000 players.

It is estimated that one in five sport-related injuries are concussions. About 200,000 concussions are reported each year in Canada, but the true number is likely much higher, as concussions are largely under reported.

That is especially true in youth sports such as soccer, Dr. Reed said.

While concussion issues in sport have been hot button topics for several years now, most of the attention has been paid to those athletes participating at the professional or collegiate level.

According to Dr. Reed, data and educational resources for younger athletes and sport administrators on concussions, including soccer, is not as readily available.

"We have done a pretty good job on the awareness around what a concussion is, what the signs and symptoms are, within the youth sports community," he said. "But the questions remain, okay, now I know I have a concussion, what do I do next? That's where we believe the gap in the knowledge exists.

"And then the other side we need to educate people on is the cultural aspect. We really need to make sure that we're addressing this idea of 'tough it out, rub some dirt on it, keep on playing, keep on the field, keep on the ice' – whatever the sport may be."

The hospital's commitment to the program with the OSA and the TSA is for three years.

With TFC, the agreement for the moment is for one year, and it will involve the club's academy soccer players. It will include baseline testing and follow-up care programs that will include the assessment of neurocognitive function, as well as balance, strength and agility.

For the OSA and TSA, the hospital has already been setting up booths at selected soccer festivals and tournaments and providing information brochures on concussions to players, coaches and parents.

The hospital is also planning on linking websites with the two soccer associations, and will be offering courses for coaches on how to recognize when a player has been concussed, and what to do.

Holland Bloorview will also offer discounts for any OSA and TSA teams that want to have its players baseline tested. The hospital said it will provide free evaluation and treatment for any of those players who then suffer a concussion.

"We want to make sure that all kids have access to good follow-up care, because that's really what matters here," Dr. Reed said. "When kids have concussions, we need to make sure they have access to good health-care services."

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