Objective To explore adherence to Consensus return to play (RTP) guidelines and potential barriers to best practice in SRC management in Irish amatuer female sport.

Design Qualitative, informal virtual interviews with a convenience snowball sample.

Setting Irish amateur female sport.

Participants Male & female coaches, & allied healthcare professionals (N = 9) working with Irish amateur female athletes of all ages in rugby union, soccer, camogie and Gaelic Football.

Main Results Following thematic analysis, themes of insufficient knowledge and poor culture and attitudes to SRCs were identified within the data. Both coaches and practitioners were generally unaware of Irish national governing body (NGB) RTP Guidelines with poor implementation. GP Clearance was rarely sought for RTP and athlete attitudes to seek treatment for SRCs was poor. Knowledge and use of the SCAT5 was extremely limited and SRC treatment was limited by poor follow up from athletes.

Conclusions Concussion Consensus is the greatest tool available to those involved in sport for best practice SRC management and RTP. However, existence does not equal adherence and further research is required within an Irish context to troubleshoot barriers to best practice, particularly around RTP in female athletes. Both club and NGB policies & procedures should form the backbone of such measures, as this may help overcome athlete resistance to treatment. This qualitative analysis is to be extended to a much larger sample in future studies.