Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
SECTION
I
- Authority
The following rules have been hereby promulgated pursuant to
Act 642 of 2023, the "Coach Safely Act."
SECTION II
- Purpose
The purpose of these rules is to ensure any association, as
defined in Section III - Definitions (1), that sponsors or conducts sports
training or high-risk youth athletic activities for children aged fourteen (14)
and younger requires all coaches and athletics personnel to complete an online
or residence courses approved by the Arkansas Department of Health.
SECTION III
-
Definitions
As used in this section:
(1) "Association" means an organization that
administers or conducts high-risk youth athletic activities on property that is
owned, leased, managed, or maintained by the state, an agent of the state, or a
political subdivision of the state
(2) "Athletics personnel" means athletic
directors and other individuals actively involved in organizing, training, or
coaching athletic activities for individuals who are fourteen (14) years of age
or younger
(3) "Coach" means any
individual, whether paid, unpaid, volunteer, or interim, who has been approved
by an association to organize, train, or supervise a youth athlete or team of
youth athletes.
a. "Coach" may include without
limitation an individual selected by a youth athlete or a team of youth
athletes who has not been approved by an association if the individual approved
by an association is unavailable
(4) "High-risk youth athletic activities"
means any organized sport in which there is a significant possibility for a
youth athlete to sustain a serious physical injury, including without
limitation the sports of football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer,
ice or field hockey, cheerleading, and lacrosse
(5) "Residence course" means a course in
which the athletic personnel or coach goes to an institutional campus or
instructional site as opposed to a course where the athletic personnel or coach
completes the course online.
(6)
"Youth athlete" means an individual who is fourteen (14) years of age or
younger and participates in an organized sport.
SECTION IV
- Training
Requirements
(1) Any Youth Injury
Mitigation and Information Course described under this section shall provide
information and awareness of actions and measures that may be used to decrease
the likelihood that a youth athlete will sustain a serious injury while engaged
or participating in a high-risk youth athletic activity that includes the
following subjects, without limitation:
a.
Emergency Preparedness, planning, and rehearsal for traumatic
injuries;
b. Concussions and head
trauma;
c. Heat and extreme
weather-related injury familiarization;
d. Physical conditioning and training
equipment usage; and
e. Heart
defects and abnormalities leading to sudden cardiac death.
(2) Athletic personnel and coaches that are
required to take a course on Youth Injury Mitigation and Information shall
complete the course within thirty (30) days of becoming actively engaged in or
serving as a part of the athletics personnel or coaching staff for an
association.
(3) Training on the
course on Youth Injury Mitigation and Information is an annual requirement to
be completed no later than the anniversary of the date on which the individual
became actively engaged in serving as athletic personnel or coach for an
association.
SECTION V
- Approved Courses
(1) The
approved course provider list is located on the Coach Safely section of the
Arkansas Department of Health website:
https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov.
(2) Copies of the approved course provider
list may also be obtained by contacting the Arkansas Department of Health
Substance Misuse and Injury Prevention program:
Phone: 501-671-1449
Mailing Address: 4815 West Markham Street, Slot 10, Little
Rock, AR 72205
Email Address: ADH.injuryprevention@arkansas.gov
(3) To request review and approval
of a course, contact the Arkansas Department of Health Substance Misuse and
Injury Prevention program:
Phone: 501-671-1449
Mailing Address: 4815 West Markham Street, Slot 10, Little
Rock, AR 72205
Email Address: ADH.injuryprevention@arkansas.gov
SECTION VI
-
Record Keeping Requirements
An association that conducts a high-risk youth athletic
activity or event that requires a coach or an athletics personnel member to
complete a Youth Injury Mitigation and Information Course shall maintain a
record of individual course completion for as long as that individual serves as
athletic personnel or coach for the association.
SECTION VII
- Exemption
(1) The Youth Injury Mitigation and
Information training requirement does not apply to the following individuals:
a. A licensed teacher with a coaching
endorsement on the licensed teacher's teaching license.
b. A licensed teacher who completes the
Arkansas Activities Association and the National Federation of State High
School Associations coaching endorsement program
c. A registered volunteer under the Arkansas
Registered Volunteers Program Act, Ark Code Aimotated §
6-22-101 et seq., who completes the
Arkansas Activities Association and National Federation of State High School
Associations coaching endorsement program.
(2) All licensed and certified athletic
trainers, doctors, nurses, first responders, and healthcare professionals with
acute traumatic life support training are exempt from the Youth Injury
Mitigation and Information course requirement.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing Rules pertaining to the
Youth Injury Mitigation and Information Courses for Athletics Persormel and
Coaches were duly adopted by the Arkansas State Board of Health on the 27th day
of July, 2023.
