Return to play (RTP) is the process of returning an athlete to participate in his/her/their sport. Return to sport (RTS) is applicable to all sports and athletes. For the purposes of this consensus statement, RTS will be used to include both the process and the decision, focused on non-game-day RTS. It is important for the team physician to recognize RTS represents a continuum: return to participation, RTS, and return to performance (1). This progression can be applied for any sport, athlete, or injury/illness. The RTS decision is ongoing, is context dependent, and may change over time. The team physician has the central role in not only protecting the athlete`s health, but also protecting the athlete from coercion to participate. The final RTS decision should be led by the team physician (2,3) as part of a shared decision-making process (SDM) (4-6). This model remains the best practice in making the RTS decision (4-6). The process is dynamic, and decision points may change over time based on evolving information and risk.
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