Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Youth Sports Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee weighs SB 140, adopts amendments on youth-sports safety standards
Summary
The Senate Education Policy Committee considered SB 140, heard testimony from a longtime coach and sports-medicine advocates about the lack of standards for athletes 14 and under, adopted technical amendments, but the committee record does not show a final favorable report on the bill.
The Senate Education Policy Committee took up SB 140 by Sen. Wagner and adopted proposed amendments after hearing testimony about gaps in medical and safety standards for youth sports.
Coach Crowe, who has worked with the American Sports Medicine Institute and youth-safety groups, told the committee that “there aren't any standards at 14 and under,” and that lack of standards creates medical visits and legal exposure for schools. He said the law under consideration creates “a knowledge based systematic approach” aimed at athletes 14 and younger, a population he said is “eight times larger than the high school population athletes.”
The measure drew a short round of procedural motions: a motion to adopt the amendments was made by Sen. Butler and seconded by Sen. Price and the committee chair confirmed the amendments were adopted. Sen. Wagner and Coach Crowe described outreach around the proposal, saying it has reached many counties and more than 400 municipalities; Crowe named the American Sports Medicine Institute and the advocacy group SayKidz as partners and cited local collaborators including Ryan Hollingsworth, Eric Mackey, and Greg Cochran.
Supporters framed the bill as filling a training and access gap for younger athletes who generally lack athletic trainers and local access to team doctors. Crowe highlighted spotty coverage in certain counties, naming Crenshaw, Geneva and Coffee counties as places where additional enforcement or connectivity is needed.
The transcript records a subsequent motion for a favorable report by Sen. Price, seconded by Sen. Hatcher, and several senators recorded “aye” during roll call. Later in the same proceeding the chair stated, “Okay. So I have no bills given a favorable report,” leaving the committee’s final action on SB 140 unclear in the record provided.
Committee members thanked Sen. Wagner and Coach Crowe for their work on youth safety. The committee then moved on to other bills on the agenda.
