The government has just recently approved the regulations which constitute the details of Rowan's Law. This week our staff have received the required resources from the Ministry and have been involved in webinars with Ministry staff for clarification and further information.

As part of our original commitment, Ontario Sailing is altering our Concussion Management Policy and Procedures to match the final version of the regulations now that they have been passed into law. There are not many surprises in their final regulations but one change does effect Officials. The Ministry was required to define which prescribed roles would need to review and commit to a Concussion Code of Conduct. Despite officials being identified in the original legislation, the final law indicates only coaches and trainers need to commit to a Code of Conduct for Concussions.
As a result of this change, we are removing the Code of Conduct component for Officials from our concussion management procedures.

A review of Ministry Approved Concussion Awareness Resources is still required for Officials however. The Ministry recently released that resource. At this time there is only one option for adults, an e-booklet that can be downloaded HERE.

As the Ministry has decided that only this resource is approved, we do need each Official to confirm that they have reviewed this document, regardless of any other concussion training or knowledge you may have.

We ask you to please review this document and simply reply to this email ( [email protected]) with a note confirming that yes, you have reviewed it. Please remember to include your name.  We will track this confirmation list for all registered Officials for the province.

This aspect of Rowan's Law does come into effect on July 1st, however we do have a 60 day grace period for you to acknowledge your review of their resource. We would ask that you do this review as soon as possible to get it completed. If you have not confirmed with Ontario Sailing that you have reviewed the Ministry Approved Concussion Awareness Resource by August 30th you will not be able to fulfill your role as Official within the constraints of Rowan's Law.

If you have any questions or need further clarification about concussions, please feel free to reach out to Lisa Roddie COAST Manager ( [email protected]).