AFL PLAY Concussion Hub to Lead the Way for a Safe Season
The AFL has launched its AFL PLAY Concussion Hub for local footy, with the centralised platform transforming concussion education for players, coaches, umpires, families and volunteers.
The AFL PLAY Concussion Hub will be home to all AFL community concussion resources and, in a first of its kind, has translated policies and practices into simplified, engaging and easy to understand content.
Innovating the way sports education is made available to the community, the new Hub will empower everyone in local footy with the knowledge and tools they need to recognise, respond to, and manage concussion.
Teaming up with Matterworks – who also created content for the AFL GOALS program to help educate school students about mental fitness – has seen the AFL’s concussion resources simplified and redesigned to produce digestible content tailored for real-world application.
There are more than 150 educational assets that are accessible comprising of video explainers, microlearning guides and downloadable tools, plus a parent-focused series hosted by social media personality and mum of three, Emmylou MacCarthy.
Check out the AFL PLAY Concussion Hub here.
AFL Executive General Manager of Game Development, Rob Auld said he was pleased to launch the new AFL PLAY Concussion Hub for community football.
“On behalf of the AFL I’m proud to launch our new AFL PLAY Concussion Hub, there has been an enormous amount of work carried out by our people across many departments to create this free, accessible resource for everyone involved in local footy,” Auld said.
“While player safety and wellbeing are paramount and we want to minimise concussions and head knocks in our game, it’s important – like with any contact sport – that we have the right tools and resources in place for participants, coaches, families, umpires and volunteers.
“I’d like to thank Matterworks for their collaboration on this project. The way in which we communicate information and educate members of the football community is vital, so to have this content created in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand is invaluable.
“We worked with Matterworks previously on our AFL GOALS initiative which teaches school students about mental health, and we believe this education model, which now extends to our concussion program, helps set the foundation for generational change in player safety.
“I’d encourage everyone involved in local footy to check out the AFL PLAY Concussion Hub and engage with all the new resources.”
AFL Chief Medical Officer, Michael Makdissi said:
“On behalf of the AFL we are delighted to be able to bring these redesigned concussion education and management resources to the local community through the AFL PLAY Concussion Hub,” Makdissi said.
“We look forward to further refinements to play.afl in which we will be able to share other important health related information related to playing AFL safely in your community.”
Matterworks CEO Sarah Wyse said:
“Matterworks is proud to support the AFL in this vital step towards enhanced player safety. We’ve leveraged our expertise in creating engaging and digestible digital content, including video explainers and microlearning, to transform concussion education into easy-to-understand resources that the community can trust,” Wyse said.
“Building on our successful collaboration with AFL GOALS, we believe the AFL PLAY Concussion Hub offers an invaluable resource for the entire football community, ensuring critical information is accessible and easy to understand in the modern digital age.”
Clubs, coaches, players, umpires, parents, first aiders and volunteers will all receive email communications later today about the AFL PLAY Concussion Hub which details how they can easily access the resources. State and territory associations will also help promote the new AFL Concussion education modules.
