Rugby Alberta would like to announce an exciting research opportunity for its junior membership for the upcoming rugby season (regardless of what rugby looks like for the coming summer!).

The Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre at the University of Calgary has reached out to Rugby Alberta to have junior players who live in the Calgary and Edmonton areas to participate in the SHRed Concussions Research Study.

SHRed Concussions is the Surveillance in High Schools to Reduce Concussions and Consequences of Concussions in Canadian Youth and is a Canadian research study funded by the National Football League’s (NFL) Scientific Advisory Board. There are currently over 30 community, government, and industry partners involved in the study, some of whom include the Calgary Rugby Union, Rugby Alberta, Alberta Senior High School Athletics Association, Rugby Canada, and World Rugby.

This study is looking to develop a greater understanding of concussions through

• Prevention: The reduction of concussion occurrence
• Detection: Efficient identification and diagnosis of symptoms
• Assessment & treatment: Expanding and revising handling of concussion recovery

Junior rugby players between the ages of 13 and 18 are invited to the study and will have access to the study benefits for the duration of the study if they choose to remain enrolled. The study is a 3-year surveillance study, where the study is currently in its second year. However, an extension has been given due to the nature of the COVID pandemic and surrounding sport restrictions.

Importantly, benefits of study participation for athletes include

• Priority access to concussion care with sports medicine physicians 
• Virtual access to a certified athletic therapist for FREE assessment of non-concussion injuries
• Your contribution to research will assist in the development of safer sport and play for all

The role of the athlete includes

• Completing brief weekly questionnaires: Email/text message reminder will ask about sport participation and general health/well-being. These questionnaires take 3 minutes to complete and lets the research team know if you have been injured and need to see the study therapist
• Reporting and recording all injuries
• Baseline testing: Online questionnaires and a virtual Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-5 assessment will be organized closer to the season.

Junior team coaches that coach within the study age and are within the Calgary or Edmonton area are more than welcome to reach out to Isla or Stephen to follow up with any questions regarding their team’s participation in the study and get their team signed up with SHRed. 

To sign-up your junior athlete for the study or get more information, please visit https://shredconcussions.ca/. If you have any questions regarding the study and participation, please do not hesitate to contact the SHRed rugby research leads, Isla Shill, isla.shill@ucalgary.ca, and Dr. Stephen West, stephen.west@ucalgary.ca.

Webinar 

March 16, 17, and 18 from 6-7pm. The presentation itself will be 15-20mins and then we can field any questions that may come up and get people on board. Just a reminder these webinars will be geared towards coaches and parents.

Here is the link to register for the webinar: https://events.ucalgary.ca/sport-injury-prevention-research-centre/