December 4, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

State Might Regulate, Limit High School Football Practice:

There is a bill just approved by legislators in Sacramento aiming to limit the amount of live contact at high school football practices. Earlier last week, a Hall of Fame NFL quarterback was at UCLA advocating high school football teams follow the NCAA’s lead and limit live contact football practices to just two times per week.

If either the law is passed or the NCAA policy becomes the norm for prep football, changes could be in store for pigskin programs at schools such as Santa Monica High School.

The potential perils of frequent live contact football practices was the main topic of discussion July 8 at UCLA, where former NFL quarterback and current Hall of Famer Warren Moon suggested high school programs should follow the NCAA’s lead in limiting full-speed play in non-game situations.

By limiting live contact football practices to just two times per week, the NCAA hopes to cut down on the chances one if its players would suffer from a concussion.

Moon discussed the NCAA observation and its potential application to high school football as part of a panel earlier this week at UCLA.

Organized by the Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program and Practice Like Pros, the panel featured Moon and other public officials screening videos to demonstrate proper football techniques.

“There’s certain ways to play the game. You play the game full speed of course, but you don’t have to beat up each other all week at practice to be ready to play the game,” Moon reportedly said at the UCLA panel on July 8.

The former quarterback split time between the NFL and the Canadian Football League, playing for the Edmonton Eskimos, Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, and Kansas City Chiefs during a 22-year career.

Prior to his pro career, Moon played prep football at Hamilton High School near Culver City.

The July 8 panel convened one day after the NCAA reportedly published new guidelines promoting concussion safety. Those guidelines reportedly called for live football practices to be limited to two times per week during the season, which generally runs from August to January (including the bowl season).

Advocating for those same standards to be applied to high school football programs, Moon reportedly stated most concussions or other head trauma cases actually occur during practice instead of in real games.

Assemblyman Ken Cooley, a Democrat who represents the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova and is the author of Assembly Bill 2127 (AB 2127), joined Moon on the panel.

The State Assembly approved AB 2127 on May 15; about four weeks later, the State Senate approved the bill. AB 2127 now awaits Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature. Should he sign the bill, it will become law.

If enacted, the new law would prohibit high school and middle school football teams from conducting more than two full contact practices a week within the pre- and regular season. Each full contact session must be done within 90 minutes per practice. Full contact practices would be prohibited once the season is over.

Any student-athlete suffering from a concussion or other head trauma would be required to complete, according to AB 2127, “a graduated return-to-play protocol of at least seven days.”

“Academic studies have shown that the cumulative effects of sub-concussive blows to the brain experienced during football may contribute to long-term brain damage and early-onset dementia, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE,” the Brain Injury Association of California said in an issued statement in support of AB 2127. “Experts contend that hits to the brain should be minimized as much as possible.”

The California Medical Assoc. (CMA) opposed AB 2127, stating the bill is too broad and does not contain language requiring the proper diagnosis of head injuries.

In its opposition statement, the CMA cited an estimate by the Center for Disease Control that as many as four million high school students suffer from head injuries annually. However, the CME argued since such injuries are difficult to recognize and diagnose, about 80 percent of head injuries are either not diagnosed or not treated.

Next week’s issue of The Mirror will look into how this proposed law would directly impact the coaches and players of Samohi’s football team.

If AB 2127 were ultimately signed into law, California would reportedly become the 16th state since 2013 to restrict the amount of physical contact at football practices.

in Sports
<>Related Posts

Former Angels Communications Director Eric Kay Sentenced to 22 Years in Tyler Skaggs Overdose Case

October 14, 2022

October 14, 2022

October sentencing comes over three years after 2019 overdose in Southlake, Texas Former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay was...

Update: Santa Monica Girls Softball Team Fundraising for USA Softball National Championships

July 25, 2022

July 25, 2022

By Ashley Sloan The Santa Monica Girls U14 Softball Fastpitch team has advanced to the USA Softball National Championship in...

Super Bowl Pre-Game Show to Be Broadcast From Santa Monica Pier

February 10, 2022

February 10, 2022

The Santa Monica Pier will be the location for the Super Bowl Pre-Game show broadcast. Learn more in this video...

Santa Monica Youth Basketball Staying and Playing Strong

October 13, 2021

October 13, 2021

By Dr. Paul Drew Hello everyone, I’m Dr. Paul Drew.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to...

Local Hoopers Rejoice As Venice Basketball League Returns

September 6, 2021

September 6, 2021

The Venice Basketball League is officially back on the courts after nearly 2 years of closure. Nick Ansom joins us...

Westside Olympic Swimmer Shares Her Journey To The Games

August 31, 2021

August 31, 2021

Two time Olympian, Westside Local, and Medical Student Andi Murez has returned from the Tokyo games, hear about her journey...

Local Little League All-Star Team Wins More Than Just Championships

August 10, 2021

August 10, 2021

The Venice Baseball Academy’s little league team, the Tide, recently won the SoCal State Championships but it’s more than winning...

Crossroads Wins CIF and State Regionals

June 15, 2021

June 15, 2021

The Crossroads Varsity Boys Soccer Team had a stellar championship season starting with a true underdog story with CIF Division 6 Playoff...

Samohi Vikings Frosh-Soph Defeat Culver City Centaurs in Final Seconds

April 20, 2021

April 20, 2021

2020 was a tough year for Santa Monica High School football as Covid-19 restrictions forced all high school sports to...

Pali Riptide Baseball Club Tryouts

January 7, 2021

January 7, 2021

January 9th and 10th at Pali Rec Center The Pali Riptide Baseball Club is preparing for a spring season and...

Grand Jury Indicts Former Angel Employee in Tyler Skaggs’ Fatal Overdose

October 19, 2020

October 19, 2020

Fort Wayne grand jury indicts Eric Prescott Kay on drug distribution and drug conspiracy charges By Sam Catanzaro A federal...

Column: How to Play it Safe to Prevent Deadly Heat Exhaustion

August 24, 2020

August 24, 2020

By Shawn McCann  As the Southland region broils in a summer heatwave, the coronavirus pandemic has created additional concern for...

Former Angels Employee Charged in Tyler Skagg’s Fatal Fentanyl Overdose

August 7, 2020

August 7, 2020

Former Angels Communications Director Eric Prescott Kay faces up to 20 years in prison By Sam Catanzaro An ex-employee of...

LA Marathon to Exclude Santa Monica

July 24, 2020

July 24, 2020

Race organizers, citing “bigger footprint at the finish line”, choose Century City end point By Sam Catanzaro Santa Monica has...