Why the protocol exists

The 21-day protocol isn't bureaucracy.
It's the documented lesson of what happens without one.

Every rule in the GRAS programme exists because of cases where there was no system. Rowan Stringer is the most important of them.

Rowan Stringer · 1995–2013

She was 17 years old. Captain of her school rugby team. She died because nobody knew.

Rowan Stringer was a high school rugby player in Ottawa, Canada. In May 2013, she sustained multiple concussions in the same week during matches and training sessions. None of them were tracked. Nobody knew she had already been concussed when she went back onto the pitch. She died from Second Impact Syndrome — a catastrophic condition that occurs when a second concussion is sustained before the brain has recovered from the first.

The Ontario coroner's inquest into Rowan's death made 49 recommendations. The most significant outcome was Rowan's Law — the first legislation in Canada mandating concussion education, reporting, and return-to-play protocols for youth sport. It came into force in 2019. Her parents, Gordon and Kathleen Stringer, have spent the years since campaigning so that no other family goes through what theirs did.

The RFU's HEADCASE GRAS programme — which GRTP Tracker is built around — exists for exactly this reason. Not as a compliance exercise. As the practical response to what happens when sport has no system.

Read Rowan's story on the Concussion Legacy Foundation website →

98%

of UK schools and grassroots clubs

have no formal system for recording and managing sport-related concussion. (Podium Analytics)

21 days

minimum before return to match play

Under the RFU's GRAS programme, no player can return to competitive play before completing a 21-day graduated protocol. Not a guideline — a requirement.

When there's no system

What a mishandled concussion looks like.

This isn't a worst-case scenario. It's the default when concussion management runs on memory, paper, and goodwill.

Saturday

Player takes a knock

Coach makes a mental note. Parents are told at the final whistle. Someone says they'll follow it up. Day 1 of a 21-day protocol.

Monday

Training as normal

Player sits out but joins the warm-up. The note from Saturday is in someone's pocket. Nobody has formally started the protocol.

Wednesday

“I think he's fine”

Big fixture Saturday. Player says they feel OK. Coach hasn't heard otherwise. Nobody has a record to check against.

Saturday

He plays. Day 7 of 21.

Three weeks later a parent contacts the school. They want proof of the concussion protocol. There is no record to show them.

GRTP Tracker stops this at step one.

The protocol starts automatically the moment a concussion is logged. Nobody has to remember. The record builds itself.

Start free trial →

Second Impact Syndrome

Why the 21-day minimum exists.

Second Impact Syndrome occurs when an athlete sustains a second concussion before the brain has fully recovered from the first. The result is rapid and often catastrophic brain swelling. It is rare but disproportionately fatal in young athletes, whose brains are still developing.

The GRAS programme's 21-day structure is not arbitrary. Each stage is designed to progressively reintroduce physical and cognitive demand only once the previous stage has been tolerated symptom-free. The 14-day symptom-free requirement before Stage 5 (Full Contact Practice) is a direct response to cases where players appeared recovered but were not.

The protocol works when it's followed. It can only be followed if someone is tracking it. That is the entire purpose of GRTP Tracker.

RFU HEADCASE GRAS programme → Rowan's story →

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