Senate Bill 231: Military Family Sports Act Summary

• Reorganizes interscholastic athletics rules in North Carolina by creating a new Article 29E in Chapter 115C of the General Statutes to establish comprehensive regulations governing student athletic eligibility and safety requirements.

• Requires all coaches, athletic directors, school nurses, first responders, volunteers, students, and parents to receive and sign annual concussion and head injury information sheets before participating in interscholastic athletics.

• Mandates that students showing concussion symptoms be removed from activity immediately and cannot return until evaluated and cleared by a licensed physician, neuropsychologist, athletic trainer, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner with concussion management training.

• Requires each middle and high school to develop, maintain, and annually review a written venue-specific emergency action plan addressing serious injuries and acute medical conditions, including delineation of roles, communication methods, emergency equipment, and emergency transport procedures.

• Expands athletic eligibility for children of military families transferring to a school due to military service, allowing them to participate in interscholastic athletics during the semester they transfer regardless of course enrollment requirements or application deadlines.