Senators are revisiting a sports safety bill named after a middle school football player who died after a football-related head injury during a practice.
SB657, creating Cohen Craddock Student Athlete Safety Act, was discussed and advanced by the Senate Education Committee today. The bill is next set for review by the Senate Finance Committee.
The boy’s father, Ryan Craddock, spoke before the committee and said the bill remains his passion.
“I want you all to think of what your children or your grandchildren truly mean to you, their health and safety,” Craddock told the committee.
A similar bill was considered last year but was not passed into law. Last year’s legislation would have required all youth football players in West Virginia to wear a soft-shell cover such as Guardian Caps on their helmets for organized practice.
This year’s bill makes the use of those helmets permissive, so schools could opt in. The bill also calls for examination of concussion protocol, education and training to prevent concussions — the development of a Concussion Education Prevention and Response Plan.
The bill also establishes the Cohen Craddock Memorial Grant Program to help with funding for football safety equipment that reduces concussions.
“This year’s bill adds in the education component,” said Senate Education Chairwoman Amy Nichole Grady, R-Mason.
“So: the education and training with the board of physical therapy, making sure they set up that protocol and train the coaches, teachers, parents, student athletes in leagues and also in school sports to make sure we’re focusing on education in trying to reduce the occurrence of concussions.”
The second difference, Grady said, is “last year it was an unfunded mandate that we required all the schools to have these. It’s permissive now, and the reason we did that was simply because we were worried about how counties would pay for them.”
Craddock embraced the educational component of the bill, saying “it actually stresses the education and the importance of why we need to pay attention.”
The Guardian Caps would add a layer of protection if used, he said. “So my question to a lot of people is, what does it hurt? We have a lot to gain. Professional athletes do it. You know the studies are there for them. If our colleges are doing it, why are we not doing it for our children?”
Senator Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, told Craddock that he admires his courage and persistence.
“Your courage is incredible,” Tarr said. “I admire you. I’d have a hard time standing and talking about the incident. But I admire the fire in your belly.”
Craddock responded by saying, “My sole goal is to take the tragedy from what we’ve had to experience as a family of Cohens and hopefully trying to prevent it from happening to other kids.”