Title: Youth Athletic Activities

Summary: Requires entities that administer or conduct high-risk youth athletic activities or training related to such activities on certain property to require athletics personnel to complete course within specified timeframe & to maintain record of personnel who complete such course for specified timeframe; provides for course requirements; provides exemption.

Full Text:
An act relating to youth athletic activities; creating s. 381.796, F.S.; providing definitions; requiring an entity that administers or conducts a high-risk youth athletic activity or training related to such activity on certain property to require certain unpaid or volunteer personnel to complete a specified course and for such entities to maintain a record of personnel who complete the course for a specified timeframe; requiring such personnel to complete the course within a specified timeframe and annually thereafter; providing that the course may be offered online or in person; prohibiting personnel from being charged a fee for the course; requiring the cou rse to include specified information; providing an exemption for licensed athletic trainers; requiring the Department of Health to adopt rules; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Sect ion 381.796, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 381.796 High-risk youth athletic activities.-(1) For the purposes of this section, the term: (a) "Athletics personnel" means an individual who is HB 2023 actively involved in organizing, conducting, or coac hing a high risk youth athletic activity or an individual involved with training a child for participation in a high-risk youth athletic activity. (b) "High-risk youth athletic activity" means any organized sport for children years of age or younger i nwhich there is a significant possibility for the child to sustain a serious physical injury. The term includes, but is not limited to, the sports of football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, ice or field hockey, cheerleading, and lacrosse. (2) Any entity that administers or conducts a high-risk youth athletic activity, or training for such activity, on land owned, leased, operated, or maintained by the state or a political subdivision of the state must require any unpaid or volunteer athletics personnel to complete a course approved by the Department of Health that provides such personnel with information on how to prevent or decrease the chances of a participant in a high-risk youth athletic activity from sustaining a serious physical injury. (a) The course must be completed within days after the athletics personnel's initial involvement with the high-risk youth athletic activity and must be completed annually thereafter. (b) The course may be offered online or in person, and the athletics personnel may not be charged any fee relating to the HB 2023 course. (c) The course must include the following information on: 1. Emergency preparedness, planning, and rehearsal in relation to traumatic injuries. 2. Concussions and head trauma. 3. Injur ies resulting from heat or extreme weather. 4. Physical conditioning and the proper use of training equipment. (d) The entity must maintain a record of each athletics personnel who completes the course for the entirety of his or her service as an unpaid or volunteer athletics personnel. (3) An athletic trainer licensed under chapter is exempt from the course requirements in this section. (4) The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. Section 2. This act shall take effec tJuly 1, 2023.