Amateur clubs failing injured players – report
THREE quarters of amateur rugby clubs are failing to meet the standards for medical provision required to help injured players, new research from Coventry and Hartpury Universities has found.
Many clubs do not have sufficiently trained medical staff pitch-side during a match or training; they lack key medical equipment such as stretchers and spinal boards; and there is no access to a defibrillator.
The two universities carried out the first-ever study to investigate whether amateur rugby clubs’ medical personnel, facilities and equipment provision met the requirements outlined by Rugby Football Union (RFU) regulations.
The researchers found that only a quarter of 91 clubs surveyed were compliant with these regulations.
“These were shocking results,” said Dr Cain Clark, a research associate at Coventry University’s School of Life Sciences.
“We have serious concerns for players’ health, safety and welfare and are urging the RFU to look at this issue in depth and overhaul the regulations to protect players. This cannot be ignored. It’s a poor show by the RFU that they are not enforcing their own regulations.
“There have been really high profile discussions about concussion and head injuries in rugby at the Premier League and international level. But no one is talking about the thousands of people across the country who play grassroots rugby every weekend and are being put at risk because clubs don’t have the correct medical standards in place. At the end of the day, we want a safer environment for people to play the sport they love.”
Two thirds of clubs did not have access to a defibrillator and around one in five did not have easy access for emergency services vehicles to reach them.
Clubs told the researchers that the cost of trained medical personnel prevented them providing the same provision to all of their teams and for both training and match days.
The researchers also believe there’s a lack of awareness within smaller clubs of the importance of adequate medical provision.
And they said clubs can get away without having the correct provision, as the RFU doesn’t check on or enforce its own rules.
While there’s growing awareness of the risk of head injuries and concussions in the game and of sudden cardiac arrest in the top flight of the sport, not enough attention is paid to the health risks for amateur players, say the researchers.
The research has been published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science.
The Telegraph spoke to a representative of one of Coventry’s junior clubs who explained the pressures that smaller clubs are under. He asked to remain anonymous.
“We’d all like a team of matchday physiotherapists and someone pitchside prepared for every eventuality, but in reality, when we’re asking players to pay for the privilege to pay, that money only stretches so far,” he said.
“The cost of a physio alone is a huge burden and cannot always be met by using placement students, so some clubs are forced to go without.
“With participation within the sport spiraling too, that means fewer games are played and less income for clubs – so things have to give. It’s a very ideological expectation to have a team of medics on the sidelines but the reality is, doing that would bankrupt lower-level clubs.
“Moreover, it’s fantastic to have these guidelines but there is no support or sign-posting, from our experience, to help clubs achieve these minimum standards.
“We’re left alone to fight an everincreasing battle to keep amateur rugby alive amidst a backdrop of dwindling player numbers, shrinking clubs and therefore limited playing opportunities.
“There’s also increasing strains on things like player availability, limited all-weather training facilities to keep training through the winter at affordable prices and even getting a suitable referee for your level of rugby is becoming a headache.”