Concussion Captains FAQ

Anyone involved in sports can commit to becoming a Concussion Captain, including athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, athletic directors, and parents. While anyone can sign up, data has shown us the Team Up Against Concussions speech is most effective when it comes from an athlete on the team. Therefore, we recommend adult Captains delegate giving the speech to a player who exhibits leadership qualities and is respected by their teammates.

There is no cost associated with becoming a Concussion Captain. Upon signup, we send our Captains a free Team Up Against Concussions wristband and a speech card along with a digital content kit.

We send out wristbands and speech cards in bi-weekly on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Concussion Captains can level up to the Champion level by completing each of the following tasks:

1. Committing to becoming a Concussion Captain, giving the Team Up Against Concussions speech to their team, and posting about the speech on social media.

2. Taking our Concussion Captains Quiz and posting about the quiz on social media.

We'll track Captains’ progress towards reaching the Champions level.

Everyone who reaches Champion status receives special recognition on our website and, for a limited time only, a free Team Up Against Concussions T-shirt!

The Team Up Against Concussions speech is best given:

• Prior to the start of a season
• At the end of a practice
• With the consent of a coach
• With the full team in attendance

We also recommend encouraging a teammate to commit to becoming a Captain alongside you. More athletes giving the Team Up Against Concussions speech makes it easier to give the speech and makes the speech more powerful and effective.

The Concussion Captains program debuted in fall 2022. We built the Captains program on the foundations of our Team Up Speak Up program, which ran from 2016 through spring 2021.

Here is a quick summary of the changes we made to Team Up Speak Up:

• The new “Team Up Against Concussions” speech is rebranded from the old “Team Up Speak Up” speech. The speech is largely the same as it has always been, but the name change helps people new to the program immediately identify the speech with concussion safety.
• We created more ways for someone who gives the speech to their team to get involved with concussion education and advocacy in meaningful ways.
• We designed collateral (wristbands, speech cards, and T-shirts) for Concussion Captains and Concussion Champions to give them the tools they need to give the speech and identify as ambassadors for the Concussion & CTE Foundation.
• Previously, Team Up Speak Up ran exclusively ahead of the fall sports season. The new program will have three pre-season pushes ahead of the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons. More pre-season pushes allow more athletes from more sports to participate in the program.