Saint Mary's National Little League: My Site News

In August 2011, the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board endorsed a concussion policy as an addendum to the Community Standards Guidelines.  Article 6 of the revised Standards now requires that at least two (2) administrators from each volunteer league complete concussion awareness training through the Center for Disease Control (CDC) at

http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp/Training/HeadsUpConcussion.html

The online course can be completed in 20-30 minutes.  All administrators of Fall Leagues must complete the CDC course by March 31, 2012 and provide a copy of their certificate of completion to R&P by that date.

R&P is also requiring all youth sports organizations to provide information on their webpage pertaining to concussions. We have recently created a webpage on our website (see below) with links to the online training as well as fact sheets for parents, athletes, and coaches. It would be sufficient to provide a link to our webpage via your website.

http://www.stmarysmd.com/docs/concussionawarenessinyouthsports.pdf

Also, we highly encourage all coaches in your organization to complete the CDC Concussion Course to increase their knowledge of and sensitivity to the dangers of concussions. A concussion can have a long term health impact on a young athlete including loss of memory, diminished ability to learn, and even death.

Two coaches from each team are still required to complete a yearly criminal background check as well as coaches training. If your league uses  its own training resources please provide me with more information. Background checks can be completed online via the Recreation & Parks website or hard copies of the form can be distributed. NYSCA training dates will be e-mailed to the participating leagues in the coming weeks. They will be held in March.

An updated version of the Community Standards Guidelines can be located in the Forms tab for your reference. Please review the document to bring yourself up to date on our Volunteer Sports requirements in St. Mary's County.

Please contact me with any questions. I look forward to partnering with your organization to provide the citizens of St. Mary's County with a quality youth sports environment that is both safe and fun!

Kyle Kebaugh

Sports Coordinator

St. Mary's Recreation & Parks

301-475-4200 ext 1803