S nce an

bppboa

h

4

Ia

P

thttrantmficmostgs2rrsmtbcnasrrcmjtstdsf

h

204 Friday 2 November Papers / Journal of Scie

ody of players and fans. Where there is the potential for significantlayer or fan backlash against a rule change designed to increaselayer safety, it may be rejected. Because injury prevention shoulde a much more prominent goal in amateur sport, perhaps the rulesf professional and amateur sport should differ more radically withslant further towards injury prevention in amateur sport.

ttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2012.11.496

94

mplementation of safer sport at community level–Triathlonnd field hockey case studies

. Tate ∗

Hockey NSW

Safer participant practices and injury prevention is paramounto all sports intending to survive, and indeed prosper, in thisighly litigious and competitive world. To ignore potential safetyrends is to ignore industry guidance and encouragement fromhe Australian Sports Commission and state government sport andecreation departments (significant grass roots funding providers)nd also disregards the fears and anxieties of parents and part-ers who expect not only fair and enjoyable sporting activity forheir loved ones, but overwhelmingly a safe sporting environ-

ent in which to participate. In 2010, Triathlon NSW identifiedrom 400 + post-event technical and safety reports that overtak-ng manoeuvres during the cycling leg was the sport’s most riskyomponent. To educate competitors, actual size vinyl banners wereanufactured and prominently displayed at major events through-

ut NSW to depict the 7 m long bicycle draft zone which is theafe and enforced distance to trail behind the leading competi-or. Meantime, the International Hockey Federation reviewed thelobal playing rules in response to numerous injuries within theirport. Research indicated 72% of match injuries occur within the5 m zone of the goal. A rule change was introduced to reduce theisk and consequently all governing bodies adopted the modifiedule which states free hits taken within the 25 m zone of the oppo-ition goal cannot be hit directly into the goal circle. Other relatedodifications included the ball having to travel 5 m before entering

he opposition goal circle. These rules reduce the incidence of injuryy reducing player congestion within that area of the field. In thease of both sports there was a willing and enthusiastic indoctri-ation for participants by development officers, technical officialsnd coaches right around NSW, motivated by the fact that a saferport enhances their standing with all stakeholders. For hockey, theule modifications have seen an 18% reduction in injuries occur-ing within the 25 m zone of the field, calculated from insurancelaim data and also from injury reports submitted after tourna-ent matches and State Championships. The triathlon results are

ust as satisfying with the accident rate reduced by 28% at all NSWriathlon events since the education program was introduced. Forecond-tier sports such as triathlon and field hockey with restric-ive budgets, limited resources and significant time constraints, weepend on both internal and external research data to ensure the

porting environment, especially at grass roots community level, isair, enjoyable and above all safe.

ttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2012.11.497

d Medicine in Sport 15 (2012) S188–S264

495

FFA–Making sport safer in the real world

M. Bulkeley ∗

Football Federation Australia

Football (soccer) in Australia identifies injury prevention pri-orities through its own injury surveillance of the A-League andNational teams. Through football’s international body (FIFA) Aus-tralian football has access to Injury Prevention resources such asthe FIFA 11 + program.

Dissemination and implementation of Injury Prevention Pro-grams has not been possible until recently with the buildingof Website resources and a National Online Registration. Also arevamp of coaching courses and club accreditation criteria have cre-ated other opportunities. The large participation rate (>1 million)across Australia presents special problems of improving footballsafety relating to club governance and associations. While mostparticipants are registered many more are not (e.g. school, church,corporate competitions).

Presently information (and annual premiums) from insurancecompanies are our only injury monitoring system. Ongoing chrono-logical surveillance into soccer injuries at the community levelwould be obviously more beneficial in determining whether injuryprevention strategies are effective.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2012.11.498

496

The challenges of using research to make community rugbyleague safer

M. Meredith ∗

NSW Rugby League Academy

Rugby League is an ‘invasion’ sport involving physical contactthat carries with it a risk of injury. Participant safety using the bestavailable injury prevention methods is a priority for all the games’administrators with an emphasis on duty of care for all involved inthe game. Administrators are also acutely aware of the challengesinvolved in managing the public perception and media coverageof safety and injury-related aspects of the sport particularly whenlooking to recruit and retain junior participants. In recent yearsthe League has conducted research into several areas includinginjury surveillance, safety policy and practice audits, weight andage-based participation for juniors, and burn out for elite juniors(16–18 years) who participate in school and junior pathway pro-grams. There has also been pressure on the sport to investigateconcussion following recent media reports. Some of the challengesfacing Rugby League when accessing and using available injury pre-vention and safety research evidence include the transferring ofresearch findings from: 1) the elite level to the community levelof the sport (what is true and appropriate for one is not necessar-ily true and appropriate for the other) and 2) other sports to rugbyleague (e.g. head injury research from the US). Rugby League, like allsporting organisations operates in a political context and has histor-ically amended rules or adopted programs based not on researchevidence but more by weight of numbers and opinion of certainsectors of the game. One big challenge facing sport, particularlyat community level is the working relationship between commu-

nity clubs and academics. Volunteers at club level are by nature‘doers’ and they can often struggle with the ethical and scientificrigor required when participating in research. The Rugby Leaguehas recently established a Rugby League Research Board with rep-