Concussion Awareness

The Legislature of the State of New Jersey passed a bill to raise the awareness of concussions amongst youth athletes. Starting this Fall 2011/Spring 2012 soccer year all Recreation, Inter County and Travel coaches are required to have head injury safety training to help in the recognition of concussions. The required course is available for free at:

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports  a free, online course available to coaches, parents, and others helping to keep athletes safe from concussion

The National Federation of State High School Associations Concussion in Sports - What You Need To Know.

More information is available on the NJYS website.

Kid Safe Program

New Jersey Youth Soccer Kid Safe Program requires that every coach (including assistant coaches, trainers, managers) both volunteer and non-volunteer and every volunteer complete an Employment/Volunteer Disclosure Form and have that form on file with their club.  In addition, NJYS issues passes to non-volunteer individuals who are paid to coach or train players.  Each individual who applies for a non-volunteer pass must complete and submit to NJYS a Disclosure/Background Check Authorization form.  NJYS will do a background check on every non-volunteer applicant before the pass is issued.  NJYS will keep the Disclosure/Background Check Authorization form on file.

The Cranford Soccer Club is required to implement the program at club level and create a Risk Management Coordinator. The coordinator will be responsible to verify that all forms have been returned to the Club and report back to NJYS.  Currently all parent volunteers can complete the form during the on-line registration process. Additional program details can be found on the NJYS website.