Table 3.

The five-colour health and performance risk grading system

Health status: state-specific conditions where applicable	Medical/injury (health) risk	Performance risk*
Healthy—no illness/injury	Minimal risk to your future health based on your current health status It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should you become ill or injured. It is your responsibility to consult with a Sports Physician or Physiotherapist immediately if you have any health concerns	Minimal risk of suboptimal performance based on your current health status and the nature of the sport/event It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should you become ill or injured. It is your responsibility to consult your coach/manager immediately if you have any concerns
Asymptomatic chronic illness/injury (well controlled)—for example ▸ Asthma—well controlled; ▸ Insufficient Vitamin D; ▸ Previous ACL injury	Low risk to your health due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should the condition(s) become symptomatic. It is your responsibility to consult with a Sports Physician or Physiotherapist immediately if you have any health concerns	Low risk of suboptimal performance due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one and the demands of the sport It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should the condition(s) become symptomatic. It is your responsibility to consult your coach/manager immediately if you have any concerns
Symptomatic illness/injury in full training/competition—for example ▸ Previous ACL/partial meniscectomy with mild effusion/pain associated with loading/training	Mild risk to your health due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should the condition(s) become symptomatic. It is your responsibility to consult with a Sports Physician or Physiotherapist immediately if you have any health concerns	Mild risk of suboptimal performance due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one and the demands of the sport It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should the condition(s) become more symptomatic. It is your responsibility to consult your coach/manager immediately if you have any concerns
Symptomatic illness/injury with modified training—for example ▸ Recent stress fracture, asymptomatic and doing modified training but still unable to sustain normal training load	Moderate risk to your health due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should the condition(s) become symptomatic. It is your responsibility to consult with a Sports Physician or Physiotherapist immediately if you have any health concerns	Moderate risk of suboptimal performance due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one and the demands of the sport It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should the condition(s) become more symptomatic. It is your responsibility to consult your coach/manager immediately if you have any concerns
Symptomatic illness/injury—no training—for example ▸ Pneumonia with high fever ▸ HOCM†	High risk to your health due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one The medical advice is that training and competition should be avoided It should be noted that this grading might be fluent and might change at any time should the nature of the condition(s) change. It is your sole responsibility if you decide not to adhere to the medical advice and to consult with a Sports Physician or Physiotherapist immediately if you have any further concerns	High risk of suboptimal performance due to the nature of the conditions stated in column one and the demands of the sport It should be noted that this grading is fluent and might change at any time should the condition(s) become less symptomatic—consult your coach/manager immediately if you have any concerns

*The performance risk column did not form part of the official EMR system but guided performance discussions (between the athlete, coach and medical team).

†It is important to consider high risk (often asymptomatic) medical conditions here.

ACL, anterior cruciate ligament; EMR, electronic medical record; HOCM, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.