State Secretary briefed on 'no head contact' in youth bouts

The Vechtsportautoriteit has briefed State Secretary (staatssecretaris) Tielen (Sport) on the measures taken in combat sports to prevent brain injury in young athletes. This took place during a meeting with several sports federations following the report ‘Hoofdzaak’ (Head Matters) recently published by the Netherlands Sports Council (Nederlandse Sportraad).

Judith Tielen (VVD) is State Secretary for Youth, Physical Activity and Sport. She wanted to know how sports federations respond to the advice of the Sports Council. To this end she met in Utrecht with, among others, the VA, the Dutch combat sports federation (Nederlandse Vechtsportbond), the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), the ice hockey federation, the rugby federation and the skating federation. Board members Diederik van Omme and Bas Pijnenburg attended on behalf of the VA.

The VA regards the report of the Sports Council as confirmation that the right course was set eight years ago. When the Vechtsportautoriteit was established in 2017 to regulate these sports more effectively, there were no rules on strikes and kicks to the head involving children. It was up to coaches and referees to make sensible choices. This self-regulation did not work sufficiently. Too many people turned out to have insufficient knowledge of the risks and the consequences of blows to the head while the brain is still developing. This was at the expense of the children’s health. The VA therefore decided to intervene across the sector with binding measures.

From 2017 onwards the VA began introducing a ban on techniques to the head (strikes and kicks) in bouts involving minors. The measure was introduced step by step. First a ban applied up to the age of sixteen, then up to seventeen and eventually up to eighteen.

The VA explained to the State Secretary that this required active work on building support. For example, a conference was organised with academic Erik Scherder, together with referees, influential coaches and (former) elite athletes.

The VA also commissioned a literature review by an academic. She collected all relevant research into brain injury in young people following impact. This was used to inform the sector, which led to growing awareness of the risks for young children. Partly as a result, within three years there was broad support in combat sports for measures that had initially been received with scepticism.

Because the regulation of combat sports has improved, following an evaluation of the measure by the VA the sector has been given limited scope to develop an exemption rule allowing top talents from the age of 16 to compete with head contact, in preparation for bouts at that level from the age of 18, so that they do not enter that level unprepared. This is being closely monitored.

The State Secretary noted with satisfaction that most federations take the conclusions of the report seriously and want to translate them into practice. The VA has indicated that it is happy to share experiences and knowledge with other sports federations.

Image: Nederlandse Sportraad