Concussion legislation extended to high school cheerleaders
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Cheerleaders across New Jersey got a boost Monday from the state legislature, which addressed three bills involving interscholastic sports.
The first bill it passed, A-4008, extends the safety training requirement to cheerleading coaches. The training covers how to recognize head and neck injuries and concussions, and the appropriate amount of time to delay a return to competition.
“These students run the risk of serious injury when they perform, and deserve the same level of protection given to other students involved in school athletics,” said Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan (D-Middlesex), who co-sponsored the bill.
Bishop Ahr athletic director Mike Wolfthal, whose school produces one of New Jersey’s top competitive cheer squads, seconded that notion.
“I would be totally supportive of anything to make what they do safer because they probably are more susceptible to injury than any athlete I have, other than gymnastics,” Wolfthal said. “It’s just a very physical, intense sport.”
The second bill passed, A-2454, codified many of the anti-steroids initiatives already being taken by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association and established the third week in September as “Steroid Awareness Week” in New Jersey.
It also requires the NJSAA to provide anti-steroid advertisements in any program or handout produced for sale or distribution at state tournaments and to include healthy alternatives for strength building into coaches’ training programs.
“Even though we will always move forward with all aspects of trying to get information out to our student-athletes about the problems of dealing with steroids,” NJSIAA executive director Steve Timko said, “we’ll continue to improve all of our programs and do anything we can to enhance the education of our student-athletes and our coaches at workshops and state tournaments.”
The third bill, A-3973, which was on the agenda and expected to pass late Monday, requires schools to annually inform student-athletes about NCAA eligibility standards.
In October, the NCAA raised the minimum standards for incoming freshmen who want to compete in intercollegiate sports. It raised the grade point average from 2.0 to 2.3 and now requires the completion of 10 of the 16 mandatory core courses prior to senior year. Seven of those must be English, math and science courses.