House committee hears wide-ranging debate on youth-sports bill; agencies urge clarifications, federations seek exemptions

Lawmakers, sports officials and federations spent an extended House public hearing debating Proyecto de la Cámara 5‑21, a measure that would amend Ley 28 (2019), the charter of rights for child and youth athletes, to set specific rules on participation, practice hours, travel and heat exposure for minors in organized sport.

What the bill would do

As presented at the hearing, the bill proposes: - For ages 5–8: participation limited to strictly recreational activity; no formal competition; official match scoring not shown until age 9. - For ages 9–17: limits on competition in high‑effort or contact sports to a maximum of two games per day and three games per week, with a minimum rest period of 1 hour 30 minutes between matches. - Practice-time caps: maximum weekly practice of 4 hours for ages 5–11 and 6 hours for ages 12–17, counting school sports and private leagues. - Prohibitions on outdoor competitions and training under direct sun between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; a Sunday–Thursday curfew: games and practices may not end after 10 p.m.; and during Monday–Thursday no event may be scheduled that requires more than 80 minutes of travel time from a team’s home site.

Department of Recreation and Sports (DRD)

Edwin Hernández…