| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to high school athletic trainers; |
| 3 | requiring the Florida High School Athletic Association to |
| 4 | conduct a study related to the need for athletic trainers |
| 5 | in certain high schools and to submit the study's findings |
| 6 | to the Governor and Legislature by a specified date; |
| 7 | providing an effective date. |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Section 1. The Florida High School Athletic Association |
| 12 | shall conduct a study to evaluate the need for athletic trainers |
| 13 | in each high school in the state that participates in athletics. |
| 14 | The association shall consult with school districts, medical |
| 15 | professionals, and the Department of Health to consider the |
| 16 | need, cost, and availability of hiring an athletic trainer for |
| 17 | each high school that participates in athletics. The study shall |
| 18 | include, at a minimum, data related to the number of schools |
| 19 | that currently employ an athletic trainer, the sports supervised |
| 20 | by an athletic trainer, and the injury rates for those sports |
| 21 | supervised by an athletic trainer compared to the injury rates |
| 22 | for the same sports not supervised by an athletic trainer. For |
| 23 | purposes of this study, "high school" includes grades 6 through |
| 24 | 12. The association shall submit its findings to the Governor, |
| 25 | the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of |
| 26 | Representatives by December 1, 2011. |
| 27 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |