The Baltimore city council passed a bill that seeks to keep youth athletes safe by mandating education and access to emergency equipment, according to local TV station WBAL.
The bill, dubbed the Jordan McNair Youth Athletic Protection Act, was named for the University of Maryland football player who died after suffering a heatstroke during a team workout last year.
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McNair’s parents, Tonya Wilson and Marty McNair, set up a foundation to honor their son following his death.
“The only way to really kind of be impactful is to create legislation and policy,” Marty McNair told WBAL.
Under the new law, which is awaiting a signature from mayor Jack Young and is set to go into effect next year, coaches of youth programs will be required to complete six safety trainings in order to receive a permit for use of the city’s parks and recreation facilities.
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In addition, the bill mandates that the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks make automated external defibrillators available to any programs using its facilities.
Any youth athlete who is removed from play due to a condition such as concussion, heat exhaustion or heatstroke must receive written clearance from a doctor in order to return to play under the law.
“We want to make sure that every young person that is participating on a public field, that the people that are coaching and the people that are working with them on that team, in that sports program, are trained to make sure that they can keep them as safe as possible,” city council president Brandon Scott said of the legislation.
“Jordan is smiling down on us today,” Wilson told WBAL.
