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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6511
January Session, 2021
AN ACT REQUIRING BAC KGROUND CHECKS FOR Y OUTH SPORTS
COACHES, TRAINERS AN D INSTRUCTORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 21a-432 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 2
(a) For purposes of this section: 3
(1) "Youth athletic activity" means an organized athletic activity 4
involving participants of not less than seven years of age, except as 5
provided in subsections (d) to (f), inclusive, of this section and not more 6
than nineteen years of age, who (A) (i) engage in an organized athletic 7
game or competition against another team, club or entity or in practice 8
or preparation for an organized game or competition against another 9
team, club or entity, or (ii) attend an organized athletic camp or clinic 10
the purpose of which is to train, instruct or prepare such participants to 11
engage in an organized athletic game or competition, and (B) (i) pay a 12
fee to participate in such organized athletic game or competition or 13
attend such camp or clinic, or (ii) whose cost to participate in such 14
athletic game or competition or attend such camp or clinic is sponsored 15
by a municipality, business or nonprofit organization. "Youth athletic 16
activity" does not include any college or university athletic activity, or 17
an athletic activity that is incidental to a nonathletic program or lesson; 18 Substitute Bill No. 6511
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and 19
(2) "Operator" means any municipality, business or nonprofit 20
organization that conducts, coordinates, organizes or otherwise 21
oversees any youth athletic activity but shall not include any 22
municipality, business or nonprofit organization solely providing access 23
to, or use of, any field, court or other recreational area, whether for 24
compensation or not. 25
(b) Not later than January 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, each 26
operator of a youth athletic activity shall make available a written or 27
electronic statement regarding concussions to each youth athlete and a 28
parent or legal guardian of each youth athlete participating in the youth 29
athletic activity. Such written or electronic statement shall be made 30
available upon registration of each youth athlete and shall be consistent 31
with the most recent information provided by the National Centers for 32
Disease Control and Prevention regarding concussions. Such written or 33
electronic statement shall include educational content addressing, at a 34
minimum: (1) The recognition of signs or symptoms of a concussion, (2) 35
the means of obtaining proper medical treatment for a person suspected 36
of sustaining a concussion, (3) the nature and risks of concussions, 37
including the danger of continuing to engage in youth athletic activity 38
after sustaining a concussion, and (4) the proper procedures for 39
allowing a youth athlete who has sustained a concussion to return to 40
athletic activity. 41
(c) No operator, or designee of such operator, shall be subject to civil 42
liability for failing to make available the written or electronic statement 43
regarding concussions pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. 44
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 45
for purposes of this subsection and subsections (e) and (f) of this section, 46
youth athletic activity also includes an organized athletic activity 47
involving participants less than seven years of age. On and after October 48
1, 2022, an operator shall require any prospective employee, except as 49
provided in subsection (f) of this section, who is eighteen years of age or 50 Substitute Bill No. 6511
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older and applying for a position as a coach or instructor of a youth 51
athletic activity or as an athletic trainer, licensed under chapter 375a, to 52
submit to a comprehensive background check, including state and 53
national criminal history records checks and a check of the state child 54
abuse registry established pursuant to section 17a-101k. The criminal 55
history records check required pursuant to this subsection shall be 56
conducted (1) in accordance with section 29-17a, or (2) by a third party 57
provider of criminal history record checks, including, but not limited to, 58
criminal history record checks conducted through a centralized 59
disciplinary database established by an independent national safe sport 60
organization. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to an 61
athletic coach of intramural or interscholastic athletics who is employed 62
by a local or regional board of education, provided such board satisfies 63
the requirements relating to state and national criminal history records 64
checks applicable to employees of such board pursuant to section 10-65
221d. Any criminal history background check conducted pursuant to 66
this subsection shall be completed not later than five business days after 67
receipt of the request for such background check. Pending completion 68
of all background check components described in this subsection, a 69
prospective employee may begin work on a provisional basis, provided 70
such prospective employee is supervised at all times by an employee 71
who was subjected to a background check described in this subsection 72
within the previous five years. 73
(e) The comprehensive background checks required pursuant to 74
subsection (d) of this section shall be conducted at least once every five 75
years for each coach, instructor or athletic trainer employed by an 76
operator. 77
(f) A person who is eighteen years of age or older and applies for a 78
position as a coach, instructor or athletic trainer for a youth athletic 79
activity in the state shall not be required to submit to such 80
comprehensive background checks if such person (1) is an employee of 81
an operator of a youth athletic activity in the state, or has not been 82
separated from employment as a coach, instructor or athletic trainer for 83 Substitute Bill No. 6511
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a youth athletic activity in the state for a period of more than one 84
hundred eighty days, and (2) has successfully completed such 85
comprehensive background checks in the previous five years. Nothing 86
in this section prohibits an operator from requiring that a person 87
applying for a position as a coach, instructor or athletic trainer submit 88
to comprehensive background checks more than once during a five-year 89
period. 90
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 21a-432
KID Joint Favorable Subst.