I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2932 

To provide for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish 

grant programs to improve the health and positive youth development 

impacts of youth sports participation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2015 

Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. RANGEL, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 

Mr. MURPHY of Florida, and Mr. VEASEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 

and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to establish grant programs to improve the health and 

positive youth development impacts of youth sports participation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Physical activity, Liv5 ing healthy, Access, Youth development, and Safety in 

6 Youth Sports Act’’ or the ‘‘PLAYS in Youth Sports Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAMS. 

2 (a) ORGANIZATION GRANT PROGRAM.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services shall establish a competitive grants 

5 program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Organi6 zation Grants Program’’) to award grants, in ac7 cordance with paragraph (3), to eligible national 

8 non-profit organizations to improve the health and 

9 positive youth development impacts of youth sports 

10 participation, in accordance with paragraph (4). 

11 (2) ELIGIBLE NATIONAL NON-PROFIT ORGANI12 ZATION.—For purposes of this subsection, a national 

13 non-profit organization shall be eligible for a grant 

14 under this subsection if such organization— 

15 (A) has experience with working with re16 gional and local non-profit youth sports organi17 zations in the areas of improved health, positive 

18 youth development, and safe playing environ19 ments consistent with the types of activities de20 scribed in paragraph (5); and 

21 (B) submits to the Secretary a plan for 

22 awarding subgrants to regional and local non23 profit youth sports organizations to improve 

24 physical activity or sports programs carried out 

25 in the areas served by such organizations to imVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jul 01, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2932.IH H2932

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1 prove the health of youth through, and have 

2 positive impacts on, youth sports participation. 

3 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

4 (A) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Each grant 

5 awarded under this subsection shall be no more 

6 than $250,000 and no less than $10,000. 

7 (B) SELECTION OF GRANTEES THROUGH

8 GRANT SELECTION BOARD.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one 

10 year after the date on which funds are first 

11 appropriated to carry out this section, the 

12 Secretary shall establish a grant selection 

13 board to select the eligible national non14 profit organizations to be awarded grants 

15 under this subsection. 

16 (ii) COMPOSITION.—Such board shall 

17 consist of 10 members to be selected from 

18 the Department of Health and Human 

19 Services, including from the following: 

20 (I) The Administration for Chil21 dren and Families (ACF), in par22 ticular the Family and Youth Services 

23 Bureau. 

24 (II) The Office of the Assistant 

25 Secretary for Health, in particular the 


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1 Office of Adolescent Health and the 

2 President’s Council on Fitness, 

3 Sports, and Nutrition. 

4 (III) The Centers for Disease 

5 Control and Prevention, in particular 

6 the Office of Noncommunicable Dis7 eases, Injury and Environment 

8 Health, and the National Center for 

9 Injury Prevention and Control. 

10 (IV) The Center for Faith-Based 

11 and Neighborhood Partnerships. 

12 (V) The National Institutes of 

13 Health, in particular the National In14 stitute of Child Health and Human 

15 Development and the National Insti16 tute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal 

17 and Skin Diseases. 

18 (iii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting 

19 grantees under this subsection, the board 

20 under this subparagraph shall, with respect 

21 to a plan described in paragraph (2)(B) 

22 submitted by a national non-profit organi23 zation, evaluate the plan based on the abil24 ity of the plan to ensure that the grant will 

25 help improve the physical activity or sports 


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1 program involved in at least one of the fol2 lowing areas: 

3 (I) Effectiveness, through activi4 ties described in paragraph (5)(B). 

5 (II) Participation, through activi6 ties described in paragraph (5)(C). 

7 (III) Health and Safety, through 

8 activities described in paragraph 

9 (5)(D). 

10 (4) USES OF GRANTS.—A grant awarded under 

11 this subsection to an eligible non-profit organization 

12 may be used by such organization only for awarding 

13 subgrants in accordance with paragraph (5) and 

14 consistent with the plan submitted by the organiza15 tion under paragraph (2)(B). 

16 (5) USES OF SUBGRANTS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.— 

18 (i) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A 

19 subgrant awarded to a regional and local 

20 non-profit youth sports organization pursu21 ant to this subsection may be used by such 

22 organization for only the activities de23 scribed in the subsequent subparagraphs of 

24 this paragraph in accordance with the pro25 visions of the respective subparagraph. 


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1 (ii) EXCLUDED ACTIVITIES.—A 

2 subgrant awarded to a regional and local 

3 non-profit youth sports organization pursu4 ant to this subsection may not be used by 

5 such organization for any of the following: 

6 (I) Any activity the organization 

7 is in the process of conducting or 

8 planning to conduct as of the date of 

9 application for a subgrant under this 

10 subsection. 

11 (II) Any activity primarily de12 signed to expand the organization 

13 among those portions of the commu14 nity that would otherwise participate 

15 in youth sports, rather than those ef16 forts aimed at a particularly under17 served participating portion of the 

18 community. 

19 (III) Efforts that are not likely 

20 to be continued after funding from 

21 the subgrant has expired. 

22 (iii) AMOUNT OF SUBGRANTS.—A 

23 subgrant under this subsection shall be not 

24 more than $10,000 and not less than 

25 $1,000. 


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1 (B) ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE EFFECTIVE2 NESS OF YOUTH SPORTS.— 

3 (i) ACTIVITIES.—The activities de4 scribed in this subparagraph are activities 

5 that promote effectiveness of physical ac6 tivities or youth sports, including the fol7 lowing: 

8 (I) Training and certification 

9 programs for coaches, in accordance 

10 with clause (ii). 

11 (II) Developing and imple12 menting coaching guidelines described 

13 in clause (iii). 

14 (III) Training for youth develop15 ment and character development. 

16 (IV) Developing or implementing 

17 evaluation and results implementation 

18 process. 

19 (V) Instructing positive parental 

20 involvement. 

21 (VI) Developing and imple22 menting an athlete code of conduct 

23 and instruction. 


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1 (VII) Developing and imple2 menting coach and volunteer retention 

3 efforts. 

4 (VIII) Fostering a positive sport 

5 experience for all involved that em6 phasizes athlete development over win7 ning at all costs. 

8 (IX) Activities to enhance affects 

9 beyond the playing field, such as with 

10 respect to nutrition practices, aca11 demic performance, encouragement of 

12 life-long practices, and promotion of 

13 positive self-image. 

14 (ii) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION

15 PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS.—For pur16 poses of clause (i)(I), a training or certifi17 cation program for coaches described in 

18 such clause— 

19 (I) shall be based on consensus 

20 within the youth sports non-profit 

21 community; 

22 (II) should be interactive; 

23 (III) should aspire to coaching 

24 education at the youth sport level that 

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1 edge in the areas of coaching philos2 ophy and style, communication, team 

3 management, practice and game-day 

4 planning, first aid, and rules as well 

5 as sport-specific content on teaching 

6 the techniques and tactics of the re7 spective sport; 

8 (IV) should include content that 

9 is complete, comprehensive, afford10 able, and user-friendly; a convenient 

11 online 24/7 delivery system; supple12 mental resources and support mate13 rials, such as coaching youth sports 

14 books, study guides, forms, checklists, 

15 and plans; and a web-based tracking 

16 and reporting interface that docu17 ments a national coaches registry; and 

18 (V) should emphasize athlete de19 velopment over winning at all costs. 

20 (iii) COACHING REQUIREMENTS.—For 

21 purposes of clause (i)(II), the coaching 

22 guidelines described in this clause, with re23 spect to planning and practice of youth 

24 sports, are guidelines to achieve the fol25 lowing: 


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1 (I) Developing and refining the 

2 philosophy and style of such coaching. 

3 (II) Developing the character of 

4 the youth athletes through role-mod5 eling, teaching, and exhibiting appro6 priate citizenship behaviors. 

7 (III) Communicating effectively 

8 by role-modeling, teaching, and ex9 pecting honest and effective commu10 nication. 

11 (IV) Guiding athletes to develop 

12 self-confidence by modeling and teach13 ing self-confident attributes and be14 haviors and creating situations in 

15 which athletes experience success. 

16 (V) Teaching the sport involved 

17 effectively by teaching the rules, sys18 tems, and defined plays of the sport 

19 involved. 

20 (VI) Teaching technical and tac21 tical skills effectively by instructing 

22 athletes in the use of correct and safe 

23 techniques and teaching how to proc24 ess game situations to gain a competi25 tive advantage. 


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1 (VII) Teaching sport decision2 making skills effectively by modeling 

3 and teaching perception, attention, 

4 and concentration skills. 

5 (VIII) Challenging athletes in 

6 practice and competition by devel7 oping season and practice plans to 

8 create optimally challenging, safe, and 

9 effective practices and competitions. 

10 (IX) Physically preparing ath11 letes by modeling, teaching, and ex12 pecting appropriate physical training, 

13 nutrition, and drug-free habits. 

14 (X) Taking all measures feasible 

15 to ensure the safety of athletes by 

16 checking facilities and equipment (and 

17 how such equipment fits), monitoring 

18 athletes’ activities closely, and cor19 recting unsafe behavior immediately. 

20 (XI) Managing relationships ef21 fectively by modeling, teaching, and 

22 expecting positive interactions between 

23 coaches, athletes, parents, administra24 tors, medical personnel, officials, and 

25 media. 


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1 (XII) Supporting scholastic 

2 achievement by expecting commitment 

3 to academics and teaching the value 

4 of education. 

5 (C) ACTIVITIES RELATING TO PARTICIPA6 TION.—The activities described in this subpara7 graph are activities to lead to sustained in8 creases in participation in youth sports, includ9 ing the following: 

10 (i) Activities to lower barriers to par11 ticipation, such as by making it easier for 

12 youth with disabilities to participate, ac13 quiring or modifying space, raising money 

14 for an endowment to keep participation 

15 fees low or free, including through scholar16 ships. 

17 (ii) Activities to target populations 

18 under-represented in youth sports or par19 ticularly at-risk communities, such as girls 

20 and other under-represented minorities, 

21 populations in geographical areas with par22 ticular low participation rates, populations 

23 with high obesity risk, populations in high 

24 crime and violence areas, homeless youth, 


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1 youth with behavioral issues, youth with 

2 physical or mental disabilities. 

3 (iii) Activities for capacity building. 

4 (iv) Activities to engage parents and 

5 other family members to encourage life6 long physical activity. 

7 (D) ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE SAFETY AND

8 HEALTH.— 

9 (i) ACTIVITIES.—The activities de10 scribed in this subparagraph are activities 

11 to promote safety and health, including the 

12 following: 

13 (I) Background checks described 

14 in clause (ii)(I) and the establishment 

15 of procedures for such background 

16 checks in accordance with clause 

17 (ii)(II). 

18 (II) Abuse prevention and re19 sponse activities described in clause 

20 (iii). 

21 (III) Measures to implement pro22 gram improvements as broadly as pos23 sible within the organization receiving 

24 the subgrant by providing resources 

25 for activities, such as administrative 


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1 guidelines and materials, training op2 portunities, and codes of conduct. 

3 (IV) Training programs to ad4 dress the matters described in clause 

5 (iv). 

6 (V) Prevention efforts to prevent 

7 and reduce the occurrence of concus8 sions (through baseline screening, 

9 clear return to play and other post10 concussion protocols, prevention ef11 forts, parent and participant edu12 cation) and of overuse and overload 

13 and injury risk. 

14 (VI) Practices to encourage 

15 water drinking, increased physical 

16 movement, nutritious snacks, and na17 tional healthy eating practices. 

18 (VII) Targeted programs for par19 ticular at-risk behavior or at-risk pop20 ulations, such as with respect to lat21 eral injuries in girls and for partici22 pants with physical and mental dis23 abilities, such as Type 1 diabetes, eat24 ing disorders, and sickle cell trait. 

25 (VIII) Parent education. 


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1 (IX) Parent code of conduct and 

2 instruction. 

3 (X) Athlete code of conduct and 

4 instruction. 

5 (XI) Bullying prevention. 

6 (XII) Safety procedures for en7 gagement of youth sports photog8 raphers. 

9 (XIII) Venue and event safety. 

10 (XIV) Participant comprehensive 

11 health history and pre-screening re12 cording, evaluation, and privacy secur13 ing, including in a standardized form 

14 or way that make it easy for partici15 pants to share their information with 

16 other organizations. 

17 (XV) Encouraging and facili18 tating participation in the Presidential 

19 Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) of 

20 participants. 

21 (ii) BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

22 (I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes 

23 of clause (i)(I), background checks de24 scribed in this clause— 


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1 (aa) check for known of2 fenses and pending actions of 

3 abuse, harm, or violent behavior 

4 and molestation of youth by 

5 coaches, mentors, or other adults 

6 with access to youth sports par7 ticipants; 

8 (bb) screen employees, con9 tractors, and volunteer forces 

10 who have regular contact with 

11 youth participants, authority or 

12 supervision roles with respect to 

13 such youth, opportunity to estab14 lish a position of trust with re15 spect to such youth, or oppor16 tunity for one-on-one contact 

17 with such youth; 

18 (cc) should utilize advance19 ments in technology that make 

20 criminal history information 

21 available to these organizations; 

22 (dd) must provide for reli23 able, rapid, comprehensive, up-to24 date checks at a very reasonable 

25 cost so that the organizations can 


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1 make informed screening deci2 sions; 

3 (ee) provide access to crimi4 nal background information that 

5 has been recently updated, and is 

6 dependable, complete, and 

7 accessed from national databases, 

8 county courts (county of resi9 dence) and all available State sex 

10 offender registries; and 

11 (ff) provide screenings that 

12 generally cover identity 

13 verification, using social security 

14 number validation and address 

15 trace report; National Criminal 

16 database search, updated regu17 larly with more than 300 million 

18 criminal records; the Office of 

19 Foreign Assets Control terrorist 

20 database search; Sex Offender 

21 Registry search of all available 

22 States with at least one county 

23 search that generally covers long24 est and most recent residency in 

25 the past five years. 


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1 (II) PROCEDURES.—For pur2 poses of clause (i)(I), the establish3 ment of procedures for conducting 

4 and reviewing background checks de5 scribed in subclause (I) shall identify 

6 who is responsible for conducting the 

7 checks, reviewing the criminal history 

8 records, determining fitness, notifying 

9 the volunteer or staff of the decision, 

10 managing legally compliant notices, 

11 and the dissemination, control, stor12 age, and destruction of information 

13 gained in the background check. 

14 (iii) ABUSE PREVENTION AND RE15 SPONSE ACTIVITIES.—For purposes of 

16 clause (i)(II), abuse prevention and re17 sponse activities described in this clause 

18 are the following: 

19 (I) The development and rein20 forcement of appropriate communica21 tion, training, and response protocols 

22 for abuse and other inappropriate be23 havior. 

24 (II) Awareness, prevention, and 

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1 tocol to immediately report potential 

2 criminal behavior on the part of any 

3 coach or official to the appropriate 

4 law enforcement agency. 

5 (III) Reference checking of vol6 unteers, including previous clubs, 

7 teams, or athletes with whom the indi8 vidual has worked. 

9 (IV) Questioning about the indi10 vidual’s behaviors and if anyone has 

11 reported any inappropriate behavior 

12 that might be of concern. 

13 (V) Work with insurance pro14 viders or other risk management ex15 perts to help maintain a safe environ16 ment. 

17 (iv) TRAINING PROGRAMS.—For pur18 poses of clause (i)(IV), the matters de19 scribed in this clause are the following: 

20 (I) First aid, CPR, and 

21 defibrillator. 

22 (II) Mild traumatic brain injury 

23 or concussion. 

24 (III) Heat acclimatization and 

25 heat illness prevention. 


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1 (IV) Human kinetics coaching 

2 education. 

3 (V) Risk management. 

4 (VI) Legal issues. 

5 (VII) Pre-participation Physical 

6 Evaluation (PPE). 

7 (VIII) Emergency planning. 

8 (IX) Training practices. 

9 (X) Strength and conditioning. 

10 (XI) Nutrition. 

11 (XII) Recognizing sports-related 

12 illnesses and injuries. 

13 (XIII) Prevention and care of 

14 concussions. 

15 (XIV) Equipment fitting. 

16 (XV) Safe playing conditions. 

17 (6) FUNDING.—There is authorized to carry 

18 out this subsection such sums as may be necessary. 

19 (b) STATE AND LOCAL GRANT PROGRAM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

21 Human Services may establish a grant program 

22 under which the Secretary shall award one-time 

23 competitive grants to municipalities, counties, and 

24 States to fund efforts of such municipalities, coun25 ties, and States to establish and implement model 


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1 standards, such as through surveys, studies, pilot 

2 programs, and guidelines, for out-of-school youth 

3 sports coaches. 

4 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A grantee under this 

5 subsection must agree to enact or improve imple6 mentation of standards that— 

7 (A) do not conflict or otherwise negatively 

8 interfere with standards that apply within the 

9 jurisdiction of such grantee; and 

10 (B) are aimed at improving effectiveness, 

11 participation, and health and safety of youth 

12 sports. 

13 (3) PERMITTED ACTIVITIES.—A grant under 

14 this subsection may be used for activities including 

15 the following: 

16 (A) Surveys. 

17 (B) Studies. 

18 (C) Pilot programs. 

19 (D) Development of guidelines and stand20 ards. 

21 (E) Education and outreach. 

22 (F) Implementation efforts. 

23 (4) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Grants under this 

24 subsection shall be awarded, with respect to model 


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1 standards described in paragraph (1), based on the 

2 following criteria: 

3 (A) Number of coaches affected by such 

4 standards. 

5 (B) Degree with which activities and 

6 standards, as applicable, are easy and afford7 able to the organization or coach involved. 

8 (C) Comprehensiveness of such standards 

9 and the number of subjects covered effectively 

10 by such standards. 

11 (5) REPORTS.— 

12 (A) BY GRANTEES.—As a condition of re13 ceipt of a grant under this subsection, a grantee 

14 shall submit to the Secretary of Health and 

15 Human Services such information as specified 

16 by the Secretary, by such time as specified by 

17 the Secretary, to complete the report described 

18 in subparagraph (B). 

19 (B) BY SECRETARY.—Not later than five 

20 years after the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv22 ices shall publish a national report on lessons 

23 learned from the model standards implemented 

24 pursuant to grants awarded under this sub25 section. The report shall— 


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1 (i) measure the effectiveness of such 

2 standards in improving health, safety, par3 ticipation rate, and inclusion; and 

4 (ii) describe the areas in which fund5 ing under such grants was spent, including 

6 by purposes and outcomes. 

7 (6) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be ap8 propriated to carry out this section such sums as are 

9 necessary. 

10 SEC. 3. YOUTH SPORTS RESEARCH. 

11 (a) GAO STUDY.—Not later than two years after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

13 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

14 on— 

15 (1) a history of the prior 50 years of Federal 

16 Government programs used to help promote the ef17 fectiveness, participation, health, and safety of non18 school based organized youth sports; and 

19 (2) evidence available on the effectiveness and 

20 outcomes of such programs. 

21 (b) HHS STUDY.—Not later than two years after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 

23 and Human Services shall submit to Congress a report 

24 on— 


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1 (1) youth sports risk prevention efforts con2 ducted or supported by the Department of Health 

3 and Human Services and other Federal agencies; 

4 (2) beneficial practices in place relating to such 

5 efforts and the effectiveness of such practices; and 

6 (3) assessing further steps and resources need7 ed to reduce risks and increase the benefits of 

8 sports. 

9 SEC. 4. SAFETY PROMOTION. 

10 The Secretary of Health and Human Services is au11 thorized, through the Centers for Disease Control and 

12 Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, to un13 dertake, support, enhance, and expand research and pre14 vention efforts to advance youth sports safety. 

Æ 


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