A new review calls on Hockey Canada to raise the age for body contact from 13 to 15

The literature search was led by Dr. Kristian Goulet of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) calls on provincial and territorial governments to mandate schools – including those involved in school sports – and sports organizations to establish policies and protocols set, update and enforce to prevent concussions, with a sharp emphasis on body contact.

Currently, hockey organizations in Canada allow body contact in competitive and recreational leagues from the age of 13. But studies have shown that when body contact is initiated, injuries increase significantly, including concussions.

Nearly half of hockey injuries are caused by body checks, with injury rates four times higher for children and teens in leagues where body checks are allowed. Other studies have shown that concussions are reduced by more than 50% when body contact is eliminated. An estimated 200,000 concussions occur in Canada each year, mainly affecting children and youth. Ice hockey is the leading cause of all sports and recreation-related brain injuries in pediatric age groups, in both boys and girls.

Dr. Goulet is hopeful that this review will prompt Hockey Canada to forge a new path forward to strengthen our understanding of concussion and guidance for clinical management, especially as it relates to acute care, ongoing symptoms and prevention.

“Sports are incredibly important to the mental, physical, emotional and social health of our children. However, it is our duty as caregivers, parents, coaches, administrators and decision makers that we make every reasonable effort to make sports as safe as possible,” says Dr. Goulet, an assistant professor at the Ottawa School of Medicine and the medical director of the CHEO Concussion Clinic, the Eastern Ontario Concussion Clinic and the Pediatric Sports Medicine Clinic of Ottawa.