Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado

Youth Sports Concussion Act

Governor Hickenlooper signs the Jake Snakenberg Youth Sports Concussion Act. Photo by Kenny Hosack.

Governor Hickenlooper signs the Jake Snakenberg Youth Sports Concussion Act. Photo by Kenny Hosack.

On March 29, 2011 Colorado Governor Hickenlooper signed in to law ‘Jake Snakenberg Youth Sports Concussion Act’ making Colorado one of the dozen or so states to enact legislation.  The bill requires that coaches receive education about concussion, that a student athlete is removed from the field of play if a concussion is suspected and that the student be signed off by a healthcare professional before returning to play. The Act went into effect January 1, 2012.

Click here for a copy of the act

This hard-won piece of legislation strives to keep our youth athletes safe for the years to come. It requires that coaches get education on how to recognize a concussion, that a player is removed from play if a concussion is suspected and that the student athlete must be signed off by a medical professional before returning to play.

Click here to take the Active online Concussion Training

This was a proud day for the Colorado Brain Injury Collaborative, who spent over a year meeting with stakeholders, creating a consensus and developing language so the bill works for the Colorado youth sports community.

In the Fall of 2004, Jake Snakenberg was a freshman football player at Grandview High School. He likely sustained a concussion in a game the week prior, however, he did not fully understand that he had experienced a concussion and he did not report his symptoms to anyone. One week later, Jake took a typical hit in a game, collapsed on the field and never regained consciousness. Jake passed away from “Second Impact Syndrome” on September 19, 2004.

Training for Medical Providers

Recognizing the need for medical providers to receive up-to-date information about the best practices in concussion management, BIAC co-developed the Colorado Youth Concussion Education Consortium (CYCEC) whose mission is to promote thorough, consistent, and empirically-based concussion education for the diagnosis and management of youth concussions. Please visit this page of our website that was developed to fulfill this need.