An examination of social relations and concussion management via the blue card
Michael P. Jorgensen, Parissa Safai, Lynda Mainwaring

TL;DR
This paper explores how match officials in rugby experience and manage concussions using the Blue Card initiative, focusing on social relations and responsibilities.
Contribution
The study introduces a novel application of Relational Coordination Theory to examine the social dynamics and challenges faced by match officials in concussion management.
Findings
Four key themes emerged from the data: trust, respect, cooperation; shared responsibility; shared understanding; and harassment-free sport.
Match officials face tensions in managing games and participants while safeguarding athlete well-being.
The findings highlight the importance of social relations in effective concussion management.
Abstract
Initially developed by New Zealand Rugby in 2014, the Blue Card initiative in rugby enables match officials to remove athletes from play if they are suspected to have sustained a concussion. Considerable attention has been paid by sport and health advocates to the possibilities and limitations of this initiative in safeguarding athlete health. However, little if any attention has been paid to the well-being of those responsible for administering the Blue Card (i.e., match officials). The aim of this paper was to examine match officials' experiences with and perspectives on implementing the Blue Card initiative in Ontario, Canada, with focused attention on the tensions around their ability to manage games and participants (e.g., athletes, coaches) while attempting to safeguard athlete well-being. Using Relational Coordination Theory (RCT) as a guiding framework and qualitative research…
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Taxonomy
TopicsTraumatic Brain Injury Research · Sport Psychology and Performance · Health Policy Implementation Science
