Learn about Rowan’s Law of Ontario – how it came about and what it requires from athletes, their parents or guardians, and sports organizations
When a young rugby player died from a concussion in 2013, it sparked a movement to protect young athletes and led to the passing of a provincial statute called Rowan’s Law. This Ontario law has changed how sports organizations in the province handle head injuries, ensuring the health of young athletes.
This article can be used by athletes, their families, and sports organizations who wish to learn more about this law. This can also be used as part of a sports organization’s educational resources on concussions or its protocols.
Rowan’s Law is a provincial statute in Ontario that aims to promote awareness and methods of addressing concussions among amateur athletes in any competitive sport. Generally, it requires sports organizations to establish:
It also establishes the Rowan’s Law Advisory Committee and empowers the Lieutenant Governor to create the necessary Regulation for this statute.
Officially called Rowan’s Law (Concussion Safety), 2018, it was named Rowan Stringer, a high school rugby player from Ottawa. Stringer died in 2013 from second impact syndrome (SIS), which prompted the passing of this statute.
Here’s a brief video that talks about the Rowan’s Law:
You can reach out to lawyers and law firms in Ontario to find out more about this law. To help your search, check out our Special Report on the Top Law Firms in Ontario.
Rowan Stringer was the 17-year-old captain of John McCrae Secondary School’s rugby team. On May 3, 2013, Stringer was playing in a high school rugby tournament, where she was tackled and experienced blows to the head. She was eventually removed from the game after complaining of headaches. Three days later, on May 6, Stringer again played in a rugby game where she was kicked in the head, causing her headaches to return.
The coroner’s inquest revealed the symptoms of SIS, as shown from Stringer’s texts to her friends. She complained about the blows to the head she received from the two games and other experiencing symptoms such as headache, fatigue, and tinnitus. These showed that Stringer had experienced concussions from the games. It was also discovered that Stringer had not told any adult about her May 3 and 6 concussions. This is even after her Googling concussions and her telling her friends that she probably had one.
It was on May 8 that the fatal injury to Stringer happened, when she was high tackled, upended, and landed on her head on the ground. Although she sat up momentarily, she lost consciousness and never regained it. 911 was called and she was immediately taken to the hospital; Stringer died four days later.
Second impact syndrome is a result of two concussions that happened in a short time. This is because the second head injury (or the ‘second impact’) occurred before a person has fully recovered from the first head injury.
This usually happens in contact sports, such as hockey, American football, boxing, or rugby as in the case of Stringer. Because of the nature of these sports, there’s a high risk that concussions will happen to its athletes. It’s when they’re made to play back into the field right away, without even recovering, that makes them susceptible to SIS.
Rowan’s Law and its Regulation requires three main things from sports organizations:
We’ll discuss each of these main requirements below. In any case, the Regulation has also listed the amateur competitive sports to which Rowan’s Law applies.
Educational initiatives and resources
Because of the difficulty in determining what constitutes second impact syndrome, educating athletes and the people behind them would be the best thing to do. Knowing about concussions is important, as this is where the SIS stems from. This includes learning:
This is why educational initiatives are one of the important provisions under Rowan’s Law.
As the main objective of this law is to educate athletes, it has prescribed several requirements to sports organizations, such as concussion awareness resources. As a preliminary step, organizations must look if they’re covered under the meaning of “sports organization” under the law.
Rowan’s Law defines “sports organizations” as those who satisfy these conditions:
These prescribed activities include:
training athletes
conducting practices among athletes
organizing one or more tournaments, contests, or other competitions
other activities carried out in connection with an amateur competitive sport
After determining that an entity is a sports organization under the Rowan’s Law, they’re then required to do the following with regards to concussion awareness:
athletes under 26 years old who registered with a sports organization must confirm that they have reviewed the organization’s concussion awareness resources
athletes under 18 years old, in addition to reviewing the resources, must also have their parent or guardian confirm that they also reviewed the same resources
the review of the concussion awareness resources, and its confirmation, must be done every year after the athlete’s registration
coaches, referees, judges, team trainers, and other designated persons must also confirm to have reviewed the organization’s concussion awareness resources
Concussion awareness resources can either be those from the government and/or coming from the organization itself.
Below is an example of educational resources that can be used for awareness among children that talks about concussions and the Rowan’s Law:
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Aside from requiring their athletes and coaches to review concussion awareness resources, a sports organization must establish its own concussion code of conduct. Similarly, their athletes, coaches, and other designated persons must also confirm that they reviewed the organization’s concussion code of conduct. This code of conduct must be regularly reviewed by the organization, at least every year.
A sports organization must have the following commitments or acknowledgements, which also have the appropriate individuals who should make them:
Under the law’s Regulation, a concussion code of conduct may forego any of the following, if a sports organization already has a separate rule in place for them:
There are two protocols that the law requires from sports organizations:
Each of these protocols has its own requirements, which sports organizations must meet.
Under a removal-from-sport protocol, there should be a specific process to remove an athlete from a competition if they’re suspected of sustaining a concussion. The sports organization must have a designated person to implement this protocol, which applies whether it’s during training, practice, or competition.
Some of the rules that a removal-from-sport protocol should contain are the following:
Return-to-sport protocol
The return-to-sport protocol is triggered after the removal-from-sport protocol. This ensures that the athlete only returns to training, practice, or competition after proper medical intervention.
Specifically, a sports organization’s return-to-sport protocol should provide that:
for an athlete to be able to return to training, practice, or competition, they must first undergo a medical assessment, has not been diagnosed to have a concussion, and has been medically cleared from it
if diagnosed as having a concussion, the athlete must proceed through the graduated return-to-sport steps, as set out in the protocol, before returning to the training, practice, or competition
an athlete may only be allowed to proceed to unrestricted practice, training, or competition, or to return to these activities, if:
the sport organization must record the athlete’s progression through the graduated return-to-sport steps up until the athlete, or their parent or guardian of athletes under 18, has provided a confirmation of medical clearance to the designated person
Just like how other statutes in Canada protect personal information, there’s also a provision in Rowan’s Law on the similar matter. Under its Regulation, when a sports organization collects personal information over the implementation of its removal-from-sport and return-to-sport protocols, the following rules apply:
the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information must be limited only to what is reasonably necessary to carry out the protocols
access to personal information must be limited to individuals who require it in fulfilling their duties or obligations under this law
personal information must be retained, disclosed, and disposed of in a secure manner
a retention policy for the personal information must be created
The Regulation also provides for what seems to be the only exception to the applicability of a sports organization’s protocols. There are instances when a registered athlete of a sports organization attends a competition held by another sport organization. Here, removal-from-sport and return-to-sport protocols of the sports organization holding the competition will apply.
The law and its Regulation apply differently to sports organizations in post-secondary institutions and universities. Generally, all age limits are disregarded when talking about the athletes of these sports organizations. For example, concussion awareness resources must be provided to athletes of any age (instead of those who are under 26 years old).
To keep the memory of Rowan Stringer alive, not just in the passing of the law, the last Wednesday in September of each year was proclaimed as Rowan’s Law Day. This celebration continues to raise awareness about concussion safety among young athletes and their teams.
Rowan’s Law: a young athlete’s protection
With Ontario’s passing of Rowan’s Law, everyone involved in competitive contact sports—parents, coaches, and sports organizations—are burdened to protect our young athletes. After all, safety in sports should always come first, while also ensuring that every athlete can enjoy the sports they love, without compromising their health. By maintaining this collective commitment to safety against concussions, we honor Rowan Stringer’s legacy and protect future generations of young athletes.
For more resources on and other updates on new laws, including Rowan’s Law, check out our page on Legal Education.
