Mayer: Lawmakers Send Concussion Awareness and Brain Injury Prevention Act to the Governor

HB300 Endorsed by the NFL, Including Former St. Louis Ram Mike Jones

Jefferson City – Students athletes must sit out of play after suffering a concussion until a doctor signs off on their return thanks to an awareness and prevention initiative the General Assembly today approved and sent to the governor. Several state lawmakers and the National Football League (NFL) championed House Bill 300 that would create the “Interscholastic Youth Sports Brain Injury Prevention Act” to educate and protect student athletes from the risks of concussions and other brain injuries.

Senate Leader Robert N. Mayer, R-Dexter, handled the bill in the Senate where it passed by a vote of 33 to 1.

“Today, we know that some brain injuries are the result of young athletes continuing to play a sport after they have suffered a concussion,” said Mayer. “By educating them, their parents and coaches, we can better protect these students from life-altering brain injuries.”

“With up to 18 percent of all high school sports being contact sports and with up to 19 percent of all the athletes in those contact sports receiving a concussion (over 62,000 of them),” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger, R-Lake St. Louis. “I feel it is high time our coaches, athletes and parents know the symptoms of a concussion - when in doubt set them out.”

Under the bill, student athletes suspected of sustaining a concussion or brain injury must stop play for at least 24 hours and could not return without written permission from a medical professional trained in the evaluation and management of concussions. Plus, student athlete’s parents would be required to sign a concussion and brain injury information sheet prior to participation in any practice or competition.

The act also requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to work with school boards, the Missouri State High School Activities Association, and an organization that provides support services for brain injuries to implement educational information for youth athletes on the risks of concussions and other brain injuries. The department and organizations must develop guidelines, and forms to educate coaches, student athletes, and their parents or guardians on the nature and risks of concussions and other brain injuries by the end of the year. The materials they produce must include information on continuing to play after a concussion.

Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, sponsored a similar bill in the Senate and said the sooner these common sense guidelines are put in place, the sooner we will reduce the number of brain injuries stemming from contact sports.

“Education is half the battle,” said Schaaf. “The more our student athletes, their parents and coaches know, the better decisions they will make when faced with the symptoms.”

The NFL is supportive of the awareness and prevention effort, helping champion similar legislation in at least ten other states this year.

“The league has strict return-to-play guidelines that apply to some of the best athletes in the world,” Kenneth Edmonds, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy for the NFL, told a Senate committee earlier this month. “We believe a similar approach is necessary when dealing with some of the youngest athletes. This legislation does that.”

Former linebacker for the World Champion St. Louis Rams and current Lincoln University Head Football Coach Mike Jones also testified in support of the bill earlier this month.

“We are learning today that returning to play with a sprained ankle or a swollen knee is one thing; returning to play before being fully recovered from a concussion or other head injury is a great deal more serious,” Jones said to senators at a hearing. “Young athletes and their parents need to be educated on the symptoms and dangers of concussions and should not be allowed to return without medical clearance. That is what this bill is about.”

If signed by the governor, the bill would take effect August 28.