State House passes crackdown on high school sport concussions

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Updated: June 29, 2011 12:20AM

SPRINGFIELD — If they haven’t done so already, school districts across the state would have to adopt rules designed to safeguard student athletes from concussions under legislation that unanimously passed the House Tuesday.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego), the bill’s chief sponsor, said his measure is necessary because concussions create long-term, detrimental health effects, which are especially harmful for teenagers.

“The bottom line is this gets the discussion going,” Cross said.

The bill, which passed 112-0 and now moves to the Senate, would require all school boards to adopt the Illinois High School Association’s guidelines on concussions.

Under those guidelines, referees in games must advise coaches when student athletes are showing signs of concussion and tell them that they should be evaluated by medical staff.

The legislation also for the first time would require parents to sign off on these guidelines before their child could participate in school-sponsored sports.

IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman said he believed most school districts already are in compliance with his association’s concussion guidelines, but he said the legislative push would raise awareness on the issue and get parents more involved.

The measure reflects a growing concern about the effects of concussions at the professional level. Former Chicago Bears lineman Kurt Becker pushed additional safeguards during a House panel last week, even linking the suicide of his teammate from the 1985 Bears, Dave Duerson, to possible head trauma.

During floor debate Tuesday, Rep. Will Davis (D-Chicago) expressed concern that cash-strapped school districts would have to pay more money for a professional doctor to examine injured students — a requirement detailed in an earlier draft of the bill.

Cross said the language was removed as a way not to overburden low-income districts. He said he still plans to work with Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), who has proposed similar legislation, in expanding the measure to cover park district sports.

Elsewhere at the Capitol, by a 52-1 vote, the Illinois Senate confirmed Gov. Quinn’s appointment of Jonathon Monken to be head of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Quinn pulled the plug on Monken’s earlier appointment to head the Illinois State Police after senators balked at his lack of law-enforcement credentials.