Concussion Awareness


NJ Youth Soccer supports the Legislature of the State of New Jersey to raise awareness of concussions amongst youth athletes. Such legislation requires coaches to have head injury safety training to help in the recognition of concussions. To support this effort, all coaches are required to complete on line Concussion Awareness Training.

Further, all clubs will certify to NJ Youth Soccer by October 15th of each year that their coaches have complied with the Concussion Awareness Training requirement and are able to produce a certificate. The required Concussion Awareness Certification form is available here.

All coaches will have the certificate with them when they are coaching. This requirement pertains to both travel and recreation coaches. There are two online training courses that a coach may take that will meet this requirement. Both of these courses are free courses and will provide you a certificate upon completion:

1. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) Heads Up: HEADS UP to Youth Sports Online Training is a free, online course available to coaches, parents, and others helping to keep athletes safe from concussion. It features interviews with leading experts, dynamic graphics and interactive exercises, and compelling storytelling to help you recognize a concussion and know how to respond if you think that your athlete might have a concussion. Once you complete the training and quiz, you can print out a certificate, making it easy to show your league or school you are ready for the season.
2. The National Federation of State High School Associations Concussion in Sports: Sports-related concussion in high school sports can be serious or even life-threatening situations if not managed correctly. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have teamed up to provide information and resources to help educate coaches, officials, parents and students on the importance of proper concussion recognition and management in high school sports. Mick Koester M.D., ATC, Chair of the NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee and Director of the Slocum Sports Concussion in Eugene, Oregon takes you through this course. In this course, you will understand the impact sports-related concussion can have on your players, how to recognize a suspected concussion, the proper protocols to manage a suspected concussion, and steps to help your player return to play safely after experiencing a concussion.

We also recommend that coaches read and watch US Soccer's Recognize to Recover to augment their understanding and education.