School & Club Enrolment
Why Enrol?
By enrolling in this programme you will ensure that your child has the best chance of avoiding the potentially serious consequences of concussion. Contact and collision sport at school is often the source of much anxiety to parents. Due to peer, parental and coach pressures to return to sport as soon as possible, concussion has often been poorly managed at school level resulting in at least one recent schoolboy death.
The aim of the Sports Concussion Programme is to make the management of concussion safer by using internationally recognised clinical guidelines and computer brain function tests.
The programme is designed for hockey, soccer, cricket, rugby and other contact and collision sports. SA Rugby has used the programme for professional players for the last 10 years and advocates that all schoolboy rugby players should partake.
Costs (per year)
Teams: R475.00 per player. Includes educational support website link, clinical protocols for your medical staff and all sports physician consultations after a concussion; NeuroFlex® baseline and follow up screening is included free of charge.
Sign-up Today
Contact your school’s headmaster, director of sport or please complete our enrollment form and we will send you the relevant information.
For the year participants will:
- Have a baseline computer brain function test before the season (performed at the school or in one of our laboratories).
- Receive information on how to recognise and treat concussion, including fieldside information cards for your team.
- Receive a free consultation by a sports doctor after any suspected concussion.
- Receive as many brain function tests as necessary after any concussion.
- Receive return-to-play guidelines after a concussion.
- Have access to a network of brain specialists including neurologists and neuropsychologists.
Johannesburg Schools Concussion Programme Bookings
We have expanded our team of attending doctors in Johannesburg, to four. Kindly note the following clinic times should you wish any players to be assessed:
- Sunday morning clinic in Birdhaven – Dr Kyle Winik, appointments 071-8036770
- Waterfall Sports Orthopaedic Surgery – Dr Thabo Maleka – Monday, Tuesday and Friday afternoons, appointments with Rosemary 011-3047724 (Dr Elené Lourens available for spill over patients)
- Birdhaven Clinic – Dr Kyle Winik – Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, appointments 071-8036770
For all other Regions in South Africa, please visit our Doctors Page, where you can contact any of the sports physicians enrolled in the Schools Concussion Programme.
In the case of a potentially severe acute injury, please follow your school’s emergency protocols, and arrange for the player to go to your nearest casualty or emergency rooms. In these cases, please also WhatsApp me. Also, for complex and unresolving cases or whenever guidance is needed, please discuss with me, Prof Jon Patricios (WhatsApp 082-5746918). Cases involving persisting symptoms or recurrent cases to be seen at Waterfall, appointments with Rosemary 011-3047724.
Post-concussion medical evaluations are included in the enrolment fee for those who signed up for the 2025 concussion programme. Students not enrolled will still be assessed but will be charged a full consultation fee each time. Parents are welcome to attend the evaluations or call the attending doctor to discuss the findings and return-to-learn/return-to-sport recommendations.
Prof Jon Patricios is available to discuss any cases evaluated by the medical team and will particularly assess complicated cases and those with persisting symptoms. Please visit our Concussion Toolkit for the post-concussion, return-to-sport and return-to-learn guidelines.
NeuroFlex® Testing
The NeuroFlex® platform delivers (VOMS) assessments through immersive virtual reality goggles to easily provide objective measures of these important neurophysiological tests.
The NeuroFlex® platform utilises a simple ‘plug-and-play’ design (and fits in a backpack), with standardised test delivery, making delivery of VOMS testing easy. All these features greatly increase accessibility to this important testing, ensuring everyone can be tested.
