The Ivy League presidents accepted a series of recommendations made by the League’s Multi-Sport Concussion Review Committee aimed at limiting the incidence of concussion in men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s soccer. The Multi-Sport Concussion Review Committee oversaw the reviews in men’s and women’s lacrosse and soccer. The Multi-Sport Committee arose from the Ivy League’s Ad Hoc Committee on Concussion, which conducted last year’s football concussion review and was also co-chaired by Dartmouth then-President Jim Yong Kim and Cornell President David J. Skorton, both medical doctors. Sport-specific committees reviewed men’s and women’s soccer (one committee), men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse, and included Ivy League head coaches, administrators, expert consultants, team physicians and athletic trainers.
The Ivy League presidents also accepted sport-specific recommendations, including:
Men’s Lacrosse
- Coaches will designate 11 combined days in the fall and spring seasons in which body checking will not be permitted in practices.
- Only one full-contact practice per day will be permitted. • Coaches will place a greater emphasis on teaching proper hitting techniques in practice.
- The Ivy League office will work with the NCAA on specific issues that could potentially lower the incidence of concussion, including examining the possibility of more stringent consequences for penalties involving targeting the head as well as considering possible rules changes surrounding face-offs.
Women’s Lacrosse
- Coaches will modify 10 spring practices to exclude stick-checking.
- Coaches will dedicate time during the beginning of fall practice and skill instruction season on teaching proper stick-checking technique.
- Each student-athlete will be required to attend at least one skill instruction session that focuses on proper stick-checking technique prior to the first fall practice.
- Other adopted recommendations centered on suggestions for minimizing accidental hits to the head during practices and continued assessment of officiating to address fouls involving hits (i.e., stick-checking) to the head and other dangerous play.
- Certified officials will attend one fall practice to emphasize adherence to safety rules and cardable fouls.
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