All NCAA member schools are required to annually report diagnosed sport-related concussions involving student-athletes and their resolution. Schools are responsible for submitting aggregate concussion data through the NCAA concussion reporting process in accordance with NCAA legislation and policies maintained by the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

Each institution may determine the appropriate individual responsible for submitting concussion data on behalf of the school. This may include athletics healthcare administrators, athletic trainers, team physicians, compliance staff or other designated institutional personnel with access to the necessary concussion information.

Member schools are required to report the total number of diagnosed sport-related concussions involving student-athletes during the reporting period and the number of those concussions that have been resolved.

The NCAA collects aggregate institutional data only. Schools do not report student-athlete names, sport-specific information or other personally identifiable information as part of the concussion reporting process.

This information helps support NCAA health and safety initiatives, research efforts and ongoing evaluation of concussion management practices across college sports.

The purpose of this document is to provide step-by-step instructions that can be used by member institutions to satisfy legislated annual concussion reporting requirements (Division I Bylaw 20.2.4.20.1; Division II Bylaw 7.3.1.5.15; Division III Bylaw 20.8.4.17).

The reporting portal initially opened to Association membership on July 1, 2020. The annual cycle for reporting concussions is from July 1 to June 30 each year. This cycle parallels the footprint of a typical academic year. Schools may report at any time during the year, but it is anticipated that most schools will elect to report late in the cycle to ensure that they have an accurate accounting of the concussions that occurred during the preceding academic year. The NCAA Sport Science Institute will provide an annual reminder to schools of the reporting requirements well ahead of the June 30 deadline.

Note: In the initial 2020-21 annual cycle, NCAA legislation required schools to report concussions that were diagnosed from May 18, 2020 forward. As the reporting cycle did not begin until July 1, 2020, schools were expected to report all concussions that were diagnosed from May 18, 2020 to the end of the first annual reporting cycle on June 30, 2021.

For example: Schools that initially reported on June 1, 2021 were required to report all concussions diagnosed from May 18, 2020 until June 1, 2021. In subsequent years, schools must report concussions occurring since the date of their last reporting.

The school should identify one employee who will report on behalf of the school (School Reporter). While the oversight responsibilities of the Athletics Health Care Administrator should place that individual in a beneficial position to perform this reporting function, member institutions have flexibility to designate reporting responsibility as they deem appropriate. At a minimum, it is reasonable to expect that the Athletics Health Care Administrator will, as part of their broader oversight responsibilities, verify that this personnel decision has been addressed. Schools are not obligated to submit their designated school reporter to the NCAA national office as this information will be captured at the time of report (see step #2 below).

1. The initial website page will provide the School Reporter with some important preliminary information that will facilitate the reporting activity. After reviewing the preliminary information, the School Reporter will click the gold box at the bottom of the page to move forward with reporting.
2. Clicking on the gold box will bring the School Reporter to the reporting page where the reporting process begins with a request for basic demographic information, including the name of the School Reporter, the school for which they are reporting, as well as an institutional email address and phone number (see screen shot example below). The School Reporter should complete the information as indicated.
3. Once the demographic information is complete, the School Reporter will move on to the second and final section at the bottom of the page, entitled “Reportable Concussion Information.” In this section, the School Reporter should input the requested concussion and resolution information and complete the “I am human” inquiry activity by following the prompts (see screen shot example below). Once complete, the School Reporter should click the “Submit Report” button.
4. Once the report is submitted, the School Reporter will receive an email confirming that the concussion reporting process has been completed. The email will originate from the address noreply@datalyscenter.org and will include a submission confirmation number, the concussion data provided by the School Reporter, information about where to report questions, and a prompt to archive the confirmation email for future reference. Member institutions are encouraged to retain a copy of the confirmation email on file.

Members with technical issues about the concussion reporting website may contact the site administrator directly by phone at 855-832-4222 or email at info@datalyscenter.org. Substantive questions about the NCAA concussion reporting requirements should be directed the NCAA Sport Science Institute at: ssi@ncaa.org.