Posted: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 12:00 am
Several thousand coaches of school athletics in Oregon will be affected by a bill on concussions among student athletes.
They will have to take annual training on recognizing the first signs of a concussion and how to seek proper treatment, and they'll be required to keep injured students out of competition and practice for at least a day.
The coaches' association of the Oregon School Activities Association alone has between 3,000 and 4,000 members. But there may be additional coaches working in Oregon, for not all belong to the association, said Tom Welter, the OSAA's executive director.
The legislature has passed and sent to the governor SB 348, sponsored by Sen. Bill Morrisette, D-Eugene, whose district includes Brownsville and south Linn County.
Morrisette's bill was informally named "Max's Law" in honor of Max Conradt, who suffered a permanent traumatic brain injury in 2001 football games for Waldport High School. He now resides at an assisted-living facility in Salem.
His father, Ralph Conradt, contends that an inadequate 20-year-old helmet contributed to the severity of Max's injury, according to Morrisette's office.
"I think we ultimately need to get a helmet retirement requirement into law," Morrisette said. "And in the meantime, I hope the increased awareness that this bill has created will motivate districts to at least insist on closer inspection of helmets."
Morrisette sponsored a law in the 2003 legislative session that requires children 15 and under to wear helmets while riding scooters, skateboards or in-line skates.
Dr. Michael Koester, a specialist in brain injuries and chairman of the school association's medical advisory committee, hopes the law will give coaches the information they need to recognize when an athlete has had a concussion.
"While the law applies only to high school coaches," Koester said, " I would like to see communities hold their youth coaches to the same standards that are expected from high school coaches."
Once the governor signs the bill, it will take effect July 1.
Democrat-Herald