Between 60 and 75 percent of head trauma in high school football is suffered during practice, not during games. The video demonstrations will highlight the non-contact and limited-contact techniques that have made NFL and college football practice safer than high school practice.
Introduced by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, Assembly Bill 2127 would limit high-impact contact in California high school football practice to three hours per week, within the already-approved guideline of 18 total hours of practice per week. The bill has passed the State Assembly and Senate and now awaits Gov. Jerry Brown's signature. If it is approved, California would become the 13th state in the past 16 months to restrict high school practice-field contact — and the first to enact such a law.
Cosponsored by Practice Like Pros, the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program and Cooley's office, the briefing will precede a panel and football clinic geared toward parents, board of education members, principals, athletic directors, coaches, team doctors, athletic trainers and officials of the California Interscholastic Federation, the state's governing body for high school athletics.
WHEN:
Tuesday, July 8
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.: Media briefing
12:30–2 p.m.: Public event by invitation only. Journalists are welcome to attend.
WHERE:
Palisades Ballroom in UCLA's Carnesale Commons (map)
R.S.V.P.:
To reserve parking for oversized TV trucks, R.S.V.P. by July 7 to UCLA media contacts.
Passenger vehicles should park in the Sunset Village garage, 200 De Neve Drive (map).
Seating for the public event at 12:30 p.m. is limited. Members of the public must R.S.V.P. online at Cooley's website.
WHO:
The event will feature the following participants:
Warren Moon, nine-time NFL Pro Bowl selection and 2006 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee after 23 years as a professional quarterback
Patrick Larimore, UCLA football defensive MVP and 2011 team captain
Dr. Christopher Giza, director of the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program and professor of neurosurgery and pediatric neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital
Terry O'Neil, founder/CEO of Practice Like Pros, a group seeking to reduce the number of concussions among high school athletes; Emmy Award-winning former executive producer of CBS Sports and NBC Sports; former senior vice president of the New Orleans Saints
In addition, the panel and football clinic will feature:
California Assemblyman Ken Cooley (Rancho Cordova)
Roger Blake, executive director of the California Interscholastic Federation
Stanford football coach David Shaw, Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens and Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka (all via video)
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Office of Assemblyman Cooley: Jillena Hernández, 916-281-4832, [email protected]
UCLA: Roxanne Moster, 310-794-2264, [email protected]; and Amy Albin, 310-794-8672, [email protected]
