Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 830
       
       
        
       By Senator Collins
       
       
       
       
       
       14-00803A-24                                           2024830__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to youth athletic activities; creating
    3         s. 381.796, F.S.; defining terms; requiring an entity
    4         that administers or conducts a high-risk youth
    5         athletic activity or training related to such activity
    6         on certain property to require certain unpaid or
    7         volunteer personnel to complete a specified course;
    8         requiring such personnel to complete the course within
    9         a specified timeframe and annually thereafter;
   10         providing that the course may be offered online or in
   11         person; prohibiting personnel from being charged a fee
   12         for the course; requiring the course to include
   13         specified information; providing an exemption for
   14         licensed athletic trainers; requiring the Department
   15         of Health to adopt rules; amending s. 1012.55, F.S.;
   16         revising the requirements for certain athletic coaches
   17         to include certification in cardiopulmonary
   18         resuscitation, first aid, and the use of an automatic
   19         external defibrillator; providing requirements for
   20         such certification; providing an effective date.
   21          
   22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   23  
   24         Section 1. Section 381.796, Florida Statutes, is created to
   25  read:
   26         381.796 High-risk youth athletic activities.—
   27         (1) For the purposes of this section, the term:
   28         (a) “Athletics personnel” means an individual who is
   29  actively involved in organizing, conducting, or coaching a high
   30  risk youth athletic activity or an individual involved with
   31  training a child for participation in a high-risk youth athletic
   32  activity.
   33         (b) “High-risk youth athletic activity” means any organized
   34  sport for children 14 years of age or younger in which there is
   35  a significant possibility for the child to sustain a serious
   36  physical injury. The term includes, but is not limited to, the
   37  sports of football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer,
   38  ice or field hockey, cheerleading, and lacrosse.
   39         (2) Any entity that administers or conducts a high-risk
   40  youth athletic activity, or training for such activity, on land
   41  owned, leased, operated, or maintained by the state or a
   42  political subdivision of the state must require any unpaid or
   43  volunteer athletics personnel to complete a course approved by
   44  the Department of Health which provides such personnel with
   45  information on how to prevent or decrease the chances of a
   46  participant in a high-risk youth athletic activity from
   47  sustaining a serious physical injury.
   48         (a) The course must be completed within 30 days after the
   49  athletics personnel’s initial involvement with the high-risk
   50  youth athletic activity and must be completed annually
   51  thereafter.
   52         (b) The course may be offered online or in person, and the
   53  athletics personnel may not be charged any fee relating to the
   54  course.
   55         (c) The course must include information on all of the
   56  following:
   57         1. Emergency preparedness, planning, and rehearsal in
   58  relation to traumatic injuries.
   59         2. Concussions and head trauma.
   60         3. Injuries resulting from heat or extreme weather.
   61         4. Physical conditioning and the proper use of training
   62  equipment.
   63         (d) The entity must maintain a record of each athletics
   64  personnel who completes the course for the entirety of his or
   65  her service as an unpaid or volunteer athletics personnel.
   66         (3) An athletic trainer licensed under chapter 468 is
   67  exempt from this section.
   68         (4) The department shall adopt rules to implement this
   69  section.
   70         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   71  1012.55, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   72         1012.55 Positions for which certificates required.—
   73         (2)(a)1. Each person who is employed and renders service as
   74  an athletic coach in any public school in any district of this
   75  state shall:
   76         a. Hold a valid temporary or professional certificate or an
   77  athletic coaching certificate. The athletic coaching certificate
   78  may be used for either part-time or full-time positions.
   79         b. Hold and maintain a certification in cardiopulmonary
   80  resuscitation, first aid, and the use of an automatic external
   81  defibrillator. The certification must be consistent with
   82  national evidence-based emergency cardiovascular care
   83  guidelines.
   84         2. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to any
   85  athletic coach who voluntarily renders service and who is not
   86  employed by any public school district of this state.
   87         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.