Any player who suffers a serious blow to the head, loses consciousness or shows signs of concussion (such as vacant stare, incoherent or slurred speech, lack of coordination, disorientation) SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM PLAY AND SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE PLAYING IN THE GAME.

After a head injury:

• A PLAYER SHOULD IMMEDIATELY SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT RESUME PLAYING UNTIL CLEARED BY A DOCTOR.  
• PLAYERS WITH A SUSPECTED CONCUSSION SHOULD NOT BE LEFT ALONE AND SHOULD NOT DRIVE A MOTOR VEHICLE.  
• THERE SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY NO RETURN TO PLAY ON THE DAY OF A CONCUSSIVE INJURY.

For more information refer to the FFA National Concussion Guidelines.

If a spinal injury, neck injury, broken bones or other major injury are suspected OR if a player is suffering pins and needles or loss of feeling in arms or legs:

• UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THE PLAYER BE MOVED OR CARRIED – MOVING A PLAYER COULD HAVE DIRE CONSEQUENCES
  • focus on the player’s welfare
  • do not worry about delaying or abandoning the game  
• Call an ambulance (‘000’) immediately.
• Comfort the player.
• NEVER try and treat an injury that is beyond your level of training.

In addition to the usual good hygiene practices that should always be applied for injury management the practices listed below should also be followed.  They are taken from the FNSW Responding to Football Injuries During COVID-19 guidelines.

• Washing hands effectively is the number one way to stop infections in their tracks.
• Where possible, wear disposable gloves. If gloves are not available, make sure you wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub for at least 20 seconds prior to and after attending to the player.
• Approach the injured player and instruct all other players and match officials to move away and maintain a minimum of 1.5 metres distance from yourself and the player.
• In the first instance, and where possible, assess the player using voice instructions while trying to maintain a distance of 1.5 metres from them.
• Make sure you, the player and the people around you follow good respiratory hygiene. As difficult as it may be, try to calm the player down by having them breath slowly and deeply.
• Avoid unnecessary touching of the player.
• Do not touch your face while or after responding to an injured player, and importantly, do not touch your face whilst wearing disposable gloves – this negates the reason why you wear the gloves in the first place.

Click HERE to read the full guidelines.

You can find defibrillators (AEDs) at Seaforth Oval (at matches) and Tania Park (24×7).  

Defibrillators save lives in heart attacks.  Having one available to use within the first 5 minutes can massively improve the chances of saving a life.  

IF AN EMERGENCY HAPPENS AND YOU NEED THE DEVICE THEN JUST GO AND GET IT – YOU DON’T NEED TO ASK ANYONE FOR APPROVAL TO TAKE IT.

THEY ARE DESIGNED TO BE USED BY ANYONE – YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE HAD ANY SPECIAL FIRST AID TRAINING TO USE IT – JUST OPEN IT UP AND IT WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO.

At Seaforth Oval there are comprehensive first aid kits in the canteen and the gear room for use with more serious injuries.

All teams should take ice to matches to treat bruises and sprains.

A limited number of small bags of ice are available from the canteen to treat players who have been injured.

The player injury insurance that’s provided through your registration only applies if you are playing on fields that have been officially allocated by our club or by the MWFA AND only if you are training or playing an official match.

If you are training with friends or training away from your allocated training ground or playing a match that has not been sanctioned by the MWFA then your player injury insurance is void and you will not be covered for injury.

This includes pre-season training.  During pre-season, if you have not been allocated a field, even if it is one of Seaforth FCs regular training or playing fields, then you are not covered by insurance.

Football NSW provides personal injury insurance for registered players.  The insurance is provided by FNSW using the company Gow Gates.  

Gow Gates has a dedicated portal for FNSW insurance HERE.  It includes information about what is covered and how to submit a claim.

Note that claims related to COVID are excluded under the policy.

As of 2023 members who are employed on a full-time basis can also purchase “Top Up” cover to provide additional Loss of Income benefit.  See more details about this HERE.

To lodge an injury claim online go to the Gow Gates FNSW insurance portal HERE.

Please note, one part of the claim is a Club Declaration which must be completed by the club.  When you send us that section (to secretary@seaforthfc.com), please make sure that you also send us details of what the injury was and when it occurred (eg. match details).  Otherwise this will delay the process.