In compliance with Tennessee legislation, Public Chapter 148 (Click Here for more information), which was passed by the State of Tennessee Legislature on March 21, 2013, signed into law on April 12, 2013, and became effective on January 1, 2014. Cheatham County Soccer Association (CCSA) has adopted guidelines and forms as developed by the Tennessee Department of Health to inform and educate coaches, young athletes, and their parents or guardians of the nature, risk and symptoms of concussion and head injury. Every individual involved in youth athletics must become more proactive in identifying and treating athletes who show signs of concussion or head injury. In order to address this critical issue, it is therefore CCSA's policy that:

Any player who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion such as loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion or balance problems, shall be immediately removed from the game and shall not return to play until cleared by an appropriate health care professional.

Education is the key to identifying and treating youth athletes who show signs of a concussion during athletic participation. It is very important that every administrator, coach, parent, official, athlete and health-care professional know the symptoms and steps to take when dealing with student-athletes that display signs of a possible concussion. Concussion can be a serious health issue and should be treated as such.

As part of the law, all league administrators, officials, coaches, and assistant coaches must participate in a concussion education program prior to the start of each season. In addition, each season parents of every player must review concussion education materials and policy and then sign a document stating that they have done so. It should be noted that this all must occur before a team conducts its first practice.