REFORM Project Newsletter – December 2025
REFORM Project Newsletter – December 2025
A year-end reflection and a shared step forward
REFORM Project Newsletter – December 2025 As 2025 comes to an end, it is a good moment to look back at what we have achieved together since the project began on 15 January 2024. Much of this work has taken place in parallel across the four countries — developing materials, refining methods, testing early versions and preparing for the practical phase that now lies ahead. The result is a project that is ready to move from development into real football environments.
Key achievements in 2025
This year brought several important milestones that now form the backbone of the upcoming pilot:
- The MOOC reached a stable beta version in English for an early stakeholder review, and was then translated into Norwegian, German, Croatian and Turkish.
- Toolbox v1 was completed, offering practical guidance for coaches, referees, players and parents.
- A targeted stakeholder review with national federations and selected testers helped us make final refinements.
- The pilot roadmap was finalised, giving all partners a shared plan for club outreach, onboarding and support.
- The first scientific publication, the REFORM protocol, was accepted and published.
- The referee manuscript progressed into revision.
- Focus group data were cleaned and prepared for qualitative analysis.
- Evaluation tools were completed and aligned across countries.
These accomplishments have required steady work from many people, and they give us a solid foundation for the implementation phase in 2026.
Thank you to all partners
To everyone involved across the four countries: thank you.
The progress this year reflects the combined efforts of many — developing materials, translating, testing, coordinating, collecting data and shaping the scientific work. Each contribution, large or small, has helped move REFORM forward.
The project stands on a strong collaborative foundation. The national football associations of Norway (Norges Fotballforbund), Germany (DFB), Croatia (Hrvatski nogometni savez) and Türkiye (Turkish Football Federation) have played a central role in ensuring that the materials are relevant and applicable in real football settings. Our academic partners — UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Universität des Saarlandes, the University of Split and Acıbadem Üniversitesi — have provided the scientific and methodological grounding necessary for a project of this scope.
We also want to acknowledge the wider support that makes REFORM possible.
The project benefits greatly from UEFA’s facilitation and expertise, which helps us reach the contexts where concussion education is most needed. And REFORM is funded through the Erasmus+ Sport programme, whose support has been essential in enabling cross-national collaboration and a shared European approach.
REFORM is built on the understanding that better structures can reduce avoidable risk. No model can eliminate uncertainty entirely, but a clearer and more consistent approach to concussion recognition and response can make a real difference for the young players who depend on us.
Looking ahead to 2026
The coming year is the final year of REFORM and will be the most practical.
Once the snow has cleared from the football pitches, pilot activities will begin in the participating clubs. Coaches will be onboarded, the MOOC and Toolbox will be used in training and match environments, and pre–post data will be collected across all four countries.
Alongside pilot implementation, we will continue:
- qualitative analysis of the focus group data
- refinement of communication and training materials
- manuscript development and submission
- coordination with federations and clubs
This phase will show how the tools function in real settings and where final adjustments may be needed before the project concludes.
