Children can still play tackle football, despite risk of brain damage, after California bill dies
A Democratic Assembly bill to ban young people from playing tackle football in California is dead.
After California Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened a veto, the bill’s author, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, announced that he would pull the bill from consideration.
On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers, coaches, parents and children gathered on the Capitol steps in Sacramento to condemn the legislation.
This opposition comes despite the risk that concussions, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (or CTE), poses to young developing brains.
Assembly Bill 734 would have barred youth sports organizations from allowing children younger than 6 to play tackle football starting in 2025.
By 2027, that ban would extend to 10-year-olds and by 2029, 12-year-olds would also be barred from playing tackle football.
AB 734 followed 2019 legislation, the California Youth Football Act, that mandated concussion prevention training and the implementation of return to play protocols.
Bipartisan opposition
Despite research showing the dangers tackle football poses to young children, Newsom, a Democrat, has vowed to veto AB 734 if it is sent to his desk.
In a statement given to Politico, Newsom said, “I am deeply concerned about the health and safety of our young athletes, but an outright ban is not the answer. My administration will work with the Legislature and the bill’s author to strengthen safety in youth football — while ensuring parents have the freedom to decide which sports are most appropriate for their children.”
Newsom’s office declined to comment any further.
On the Capitol steps Wednesday, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, took credit for pushing Newsom to block the legislation.
“I’m glad the governor took our talking points — parents get to decide, not the government,” he said.
Gallagher said that while AB 734 is likely stalled for now, “We have to be vigilant, we have to be vigilant against this.”
Steve Famiano, head of the group Save Youth Football California, said it was disappointing to be standing on the Capitol steps on Wednesday, still protesting legislation to bar youth tackle football.
“We love our kids, we love our communities and this has to end. Sacramento needs to listen to us and we need to stop being adversarial when it comes to families and government,” he said.
In a statement to The Bee, McCarty said that he will not pursue AB 734.
“I do look forward to the governor’s invitation to work on ways to better protect our youngest athletes and keep them safe from repetitive head hits, which can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE),” he said.
CTE and the risk to children
The bill comes amid a greater conversation taking place about brain injuries and CTE, and whether young people should be participating in sports that place them at greater risk.
A June 2023 study in the journal Nature Communications found a large correlation between years spent playing tackle football and CTE status.
“Research shows that the human brain does not fully develop until a person’s mid-20s. Therefore, young athletes experiencing head injuries are at greater risk of long-term brain damage if injured during the critical stages of brain development,” according to an Assembly floor analysis of the bill.
During an informational committee hearing last October, Dr. Stella Legarda — president of the California Neurology Society — cited a study of 214 American football players that found that those who began playing before age 12 were twice as likely to develop “clinically meaningful impairments” and more than three times as likely to experience elevated depression, according to the Assembly floor analysis.
Legarda also cited a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that youth athletes who play tackle football take 23 times more high-magnitude impacts than a child who plays flag football.
This story was originally published January 17, 2024 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Children can still play tackle football, despite risk of brain damage, after California bill dies."