84R9580 DDT-F
By: Rodriguez of Bexar H.B. No. 3359
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requirements for coaches of youth sports programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 13, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 2053 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 2053. REQUIREMENTS FOR COACHES OF YOUTH SPORTS PROGRAM
Sec. 2053.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Coach" means a person who provides training,
teaching, or similar services to participants in a youth sports
program.
(2) "Youth sports program" means an entity that
provides an organized athletic program that is not associated with
a school and is for children who are enrolled in kindergarten
through sixth grade in a public, private, or charter school or
children of similar age who are provided an education in a home
setting.
Sec. 2053.002. TRAINING AND CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECK
REQUIRED. (a) A person may not act as a coach for a youth sports
program unless the person has successfully completed a youth sports
training course that meets the requirements of this chapter and
rules adopted under this chapter and includes a criminal history
record check ascertaining whether the person is registered as a sex
offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) A youth sports training course required by this section
may be offered or facilitated only by a sports foundation, a
nonprofit national youth sports organization that requires and
administers a participant certification program, a coaches
association, a national governing body as that term is defined by
the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (36 U.S.C. Section
220501), or a public or private high school or middle school
athletic department.
(c) A youth sports training course must include:
(1) at least two hours of in-person or online specific
sport skills-based coaching instruction; and
(2) at least two hours of in-person non-skills-based
coaching instruction that, at a minimum, addresses:
(A) the role of a youth sports coach;
(B) communication and accountability by and
between coaches, participants, and parents;
(C) suggestions for teaching and modeling life
skills;
(D) child developmental stages and corresponding
age-appropriate communication and discipline; and
(E) the health, safety, and legal
responsibilities of coaches.
Sec. 2053.003. LIABILITY INSURANCE INFORMATION. An
organization that provides a youth sports training course may offer
to coaches attending the course information on the availability of
liability insurance for the coaches and their players.
Sec. 2053.004. RULES. The Texas Commission of Licensing
and Regulation may adopt the rules necessary to implement this
chapter.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than December 1, 2015, the Texas
Commission of Licensing and Regulation shall adopt any rules
necessary to implement Chapter 2053, Occupations Code, as added by
this Act.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a coach
who is coaching a youth sports program for a sports season that
begins on or after January 1, 2016. A coach who is coaching a youth
sports program during a sports season that began before that date is
governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.