BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 949
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
949 (Gonzalez)
As Amended May 6, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Arts |6-0 |Calderon, | |
| | |Obernolte, Chu, | |
| | |Levine, Medina, | |
| | |Nazarian | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
AB 949
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| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Would require the California Interscholastic Federation
(CIF), in consultation with the State Department of Education, to
develop guidelines, procedures, and safety standards for the
purpose of classifying competition cheer as an interscholastic
sport, as specified, no later than July 1, 2017. This bill would
also require the CIF to seek a United States Department of
Education Office for Civil Rights Title IX compliance designation
for competition cheer, and would specify that competition cheer
shall not be counted toward a school's Title IX compliance unless
the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil
Rights deems competition cheer compliant with its definition of a
sport.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there are no additional costs for the California
Department of Education for consultation with the CIF, which is
not a state-funded entity.
COMMENTS: This bill creates competition cheer as a new
interscholastic sport governed by the CIF. With the creation of
competition cheer as a new interscholastic sport, participants in
the sport will be governed by rules adopted by CIF, competition
cheer coaches will be required to complete the same training as
all other interscholastic coaches, and participants will be
eligible for an exemption from physical education courses, like
all other interscholastic sport participants. It should be noted
that competition cheer is different than sideline cheer.
Competition cheer will be regulated like all other interscholastic
sports, meaning that they will compete in regular direct
competitions with other teams, and only compete during one season.
Sideline cheer that you might see at football and basketball
games is not competition cheer and will not be considered an
AB 949
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interscholastic sport.
According to the author, this bill would create new safety
guidelines for training and potentially spark changes in athletic
department funding for cheer at California high schools. The
recognition of cheer as an official sport will provide resources
to cheer coaches and cheerleaders consistent with other
CIF-sanctioned sports. The benefits of having the same CIF
standards will ensure a certain level of coaching competency and
skill once safety guidelines are developed by the California
Department of Education and CIF. Incidents of cheer injuries -
including fractures, spinal damage, head injuries, concussions and
paralysis - have increased (as cheer has become more popular).
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in 2011,
there were almost 37,000 emergency room visits for cheer injuries.
Cheer injuries account for approximately 65% of all catastrophic
injuries in girls' high school athletics, according to a recent
report by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury
Research at the University of North Carolina. The medical field
has recognized the dramatically increase popularity of cheer and
injuries. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy
statement and The American Medical Association adopted the policy
to consider cheer a sport because of its rigors and risks.
Please see Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and
Internet Media analysis for full discussion of the measure.
Analysis Prepared by:
Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T., & I.M. / (916)
319-3450
FN: 0000528
AB 949
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