On April 21, 2011, Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed the state's new youth sports concussion safety law [1]. Arizona became the fifteenth state to enact a strong concussion safety law since May 2009. As of April 27, 2013, that number now stands at 45 plus the District of Columbia.
"I am grateful that the Governor signed this important piece of legislation. Hopefully, other states will follow suit so that we can reduce instances of traumatic brain injuries across the nation," said State Sen. Rich Crandall, the bill sponsor.
Update: The Arizona Interscholastic Association has since approved a new bylaw - applicable to the estimated 100,000 Arizona high school athletes - requiring them to take and pass with a grade of 80 or better a 30-minute, interactive online concussion learning tool called Brainbook in order to compete in their sport. Arizona is the first state in the country to mandate the testing. According to the AIA [5], more than 150,000 student-athletes in the state have completed the program through April 2013.
For a list of state concussion laws, click here [6].
For statistics about concussions in high school sports, clickhere [7].
For myths about concussions, click here [8].
Posted April 23, 2011; updated March 30, 2015
Links:
[1] http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/sb1521s.pdf
[2] https://www.momsteam.com/node/1469
[3] https://www.momsteam.com/node/149
[4] https://www.momsteam.com/node/2698
[5] http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10637189.htm
[6] https://www.momsteam.com/node/3015
[7] https://www.momsteam.com/node/118
[8] https://www.momsteam.com/node/145
[9] https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/every-state-has-youth-sports-concussion-safety-law