Podium Analytics’ Injury Management App ‘SportSmart’ selected for two-year UK-wide Concussion Research Project

Following the launch of the UK Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport, Podium Analytics, a charity committed to reducing injury in youth and grassroots sport, has announced the launch of a two-year trial of its Head Injury Management Tool (“Traffic-Light System”) to manage the return-to-play process within its SportSmart digital platform.

The SportSmart app is already used by hundreds of schools and clubs, and is free for sports coaches and schoolteachers to use to record and manage suspected head injuries in grassroots sport. The app is easy to use, highly secure and the only digital platform that currently supports the new UK Concussion Guidelines. It will play an important role in helping schools, clubs and parents to manage head injuries and crucially when players should return to training and competition.

Explaining the need for their technology, CEO at Podium Analytics, Andy Hunt said: “Only 2% of UK schools and grassroots sports clubs have a system for recording and managing sport-related concussion. For organisations to successfully implement the new government concussion guidelines, a centralised digital system to record and manage head injury incidences is needed. Podium’s Head Injury Management Tool within the SportSmart app is immediately available for all UK schools and clubs at no cost to the users.”

Sports Minister Stuart Andrew MP welcomed the news: “Sport is vital to our physical and mental well being so it is crucial that we do all we can to prioritise safety for all involved. We have now implemented the first UK-wide guidance to help people recognise and manage concussion at a grassroots level helping to make sport safer for all. Alongside our guidance, technology has an important role to play in tracking and measuring the incidence of concussion at a grassroots level, and I would encourage organisations to get involved.”

There is no limitation to the number of schools and clubs that can take part in the trial. For further information and any clubs, schools or parents wishing to take part, can visit for more information: www.podiumanalytics.org/sportsmart/platform

About Podium Analytics

Podium Analytics is a charity committed to reducing the incidence and impact of injury in youth and grassroots sport. Injury research, prevention and treatment in elite and professional sport are well researched areas. And yet grassroots sport is left out entirely from data collection and injury prevention research. Podium Analytics exists to meet that need.

Its work puts young people playing grassroots sport at the heart of data collection and research, developing preventative solutions which will have a hugely positive impact on the physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing of young people. Young people are particularly vulnerable to injury due to their physical development and participation in multiple sports. Addressing the issue of sports injury in these crucial years will help prevent long standing injuries from occurring and enable them to participate in the sports they love for years to come.

www.podiumanalytics.org

Thursday, 22 June 2023