‘Team Up, Speak Up’ a team approach to raising awareness of concussions

A Canada-wide initiative was announced at Queen’s Park Tuesday in an attempt to encourage athletes, especially youth athletes, to speak up when they think a teammate may have suffered a concussion.

Pro wrestler, Chris Nowinski career was cut short after suffering from a concussion. He started the Concussion Legacy Foundation which aims to rid athletes of the debilitating long-term effects of concussions. Today Nowinski launched a new program ‘Team up Speak up’ in Canada that requires coaches to recite this message to players at the beginning of the season.

“We’re a team, that means we look out for each other, if your teammate has a concussion they need your help and I as your coach or I as your captain, I expect you to speak up if your teammate has a concussion.”

Nowitski acknowledged that it’s difficult to ask an 11-year old to identify the signs and symptoms of a brain injury, so he hopes that this ‘Team up Speak up’ campaign catches on here in Canada. Last year the initiative was adopted by 150 sporting groups in the U.S. making up about 3 million athletes.