On and after January 1, 2021, a youth sports organization that conducts a tackle football program shall comply with all of the following requirements:

(a) A tackle football team shall not conduct more than two full-contact practices per week during the preseason and regular season.

Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 124241

  • Coach: means a person appointed by a youth sports organization to supervise or instruct a participant in the sport of youth tackle football. See California Health and Safety Code 124240
  • Full-contact practice: means a session where one or more drills or live action is conducted that involves contact at game speed, as in an actual tackle football game or scrimmage. See California Health and Safety Code 124240
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Heat-related illness: includes , but is not necessarily limited to, heat cramps, heat syncope, heat exhaustion, and exertional heat stroke. See California Health and Safety Code 124240
  • Off-season: means a period extending from the end of the regular season until 30 days before the commencement of the next regular season. See California Health and Safety Code 124240
  • Preseason: means a period of 30 days before the commencement of the regular season. See California Health and Safety Code 124240
  • Regular season: means the period from the first league football game or scrimmage until the completion of the final football game of that season. See California Health and Safety Code 124240
  • Safety equipment: includes , but is not necessarily limited to, all of the following:

    California Health and Safety Code 124240

  • Youth sports organization: means an organization, business, or nonprofit entity that sponsors or conducts amateur sports competition, training, camps, clinics, practices, or clubs. See California Health and Safety Code 124240
  • Youth tackle football league: means the organization that groups together youth sports organizations that conduct youth tackle football, administers rules, and sets game schedules. See California Health and Safety Code 124240

(b) A tackle football team shall not hold a full-contact practice during the off-season.

(c) The full-contact portion of a practice shall not exceed 30 minutes in any single day.

(d) A coach shall annually receive a tackling and blocking certification from a nationally recognized program that emphasizes shoulder tackling, safe contact and blocking drills, and techniques designed to minimize the risk during contact by removing the involvement of youth tackle football participant’s head from all tackling and blocking techniques.

(e) Each youth tackle football administrator, coach, and referee shall annually complete all of the following:

(1) The concussion and head injury education pursuant to Section 124235.

(2) The Opioid Factsheet for Patients pursuant to Section 124236.

(3) Training in the basic understanding of the signs, symptoms, and appropriate responses to heat-related illness.

(f) Each parent or guardian of a youth tackle football participant shall receive concussion and head injury information for that athlete pursuant to Section 124235 and the Opioid Factsheet for Patients pursuant to Section 124236.

(g) Each football helmet shall be reconditioned and recertified every other year, unless stated otherwise by the manufacturer. Only entities licensed by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment shall perform the reconditioning and recertification. Every reconditioned and recertified helmet shall display a clearly recognizable mark or notice in the helmet indicating the month and year of the last certification.

(h) A minimum of one certified emergency medical technician, state-licensed paramedic, or higher-level licensed medical professional shall be present during all preseason, regular season, and postseason games. The certified emergency medical technician, state-licensed paramedic, or higher-level licensed medical professional shall have the authority to provide prehospital emergency medical care or rescue services consistent with their certification or license, and remove any youth tackle football participant from the game who exhibits an injury, including, but not necessarily limited to, symptoms of a concussion or other head injury.

(i) A coach shall annually receive first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and automated external defibrillator certification.

(j) At least one independent nonrostered individual, appointed by the youth sports organization, shall be present at all practice locations. The individual shall hold current and active certification in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillator, and concussion protocols. The individual shall have the authority to evaluate and remove any youth tackle football participant from practice who exhibits an injury, including, but not limited to, symptoms of a concussion or other head injury.

(k) Safety equipment shall be inspected before every full-contact practice or game to ensure that all youth tackle football participants are properly equipped.

(l) Each youth tackle football participant removed pursuant to this section shall comply with Section 124235. The injury shall be reported to the youth tackle football league.

(m) Each youth tackle football participant shall complete a minimum of 10 hours of noncontact practice at the beginning of each season for the purpose of conditioning, acclimating to safety equipment, and progressing to the introduction of full-contact practice. During this noncontact practice, the youth tackle football participants shall not wear any pads, and shall only wear helmets if required to do so by the coaches.

(n) A youth sports organization shall annually provide a declaration to its youth tackle football league stating that it is in compliance with this article, and shall either post the declaration on its internet website or provide the declaration to all youth tackle football participants within its youth sports organization.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 49, Sec. 1. (AB 2300) Effective January 1, 2021.)

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