Under a threat of a veto from Gov. Gavin Newsom, California lawmakers have, for now, backed off an effort to ban youth tackle football in the Golden State.
But even if they try again, the state could face the risk of years of lawsuits, potentially challenging the action as unconstitutional, a prominent sports lawyer says.
After AB 734 was approved by California legislators in January, a backlash from parents prompted a preemptive veto pledge from Newsom in a Politico story.
Jeremy Evans
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But questions linger about what comes next.
Attempts to ban youth football have arisen before in California, as well as some other states, but any government passing such a measure would likely face a court challenge, said Jeremy Evans, the CEO, founder, and managing attorney of California Sports Lawyer, with offices in Los Angeles and Newport Beach.
“In terms of standards, the government doesn't own sports teams, and they're not involved in the regulation of athletes,” Evans said. “So they shouldn't be involved in telling parents when and where they can put their kids in sports.
“From a constitutional standpoint, neither the state, nor the federal government can force parents to make decisions on matters like that. This would be similar to Congress telling the NCAA how to manage itself.”
But the state can work with local athletic officials, Evans added, which they would rely on to set a policy that requires certain pads or helmets.
“These would be conference or association rules with backing from health experts,” Evans said. “But from a standpoint of the government coming in and saying, you absolutely cannot do this. No, there's absolutely no way.
"And not only is it unconstitutional, I think it really goes against the sort of bottom-up approach in terms of the way most representative republics work. For the most part the federal government's limited; state government should be limited, and it's the local efforts – the associations, the conferences – that really set those rules.”
The government can step in by requiring certain safety equipment and practices, Evans said. Newsom signed the Youth Football Act in 2019 to limit full-contact practices, and Gov. Pete Wilson in 1993 signed a helmet law for children riding bicycles.
Yet concerns persist on hypotheticals. For example, if California determines it's too dangerous to the health of kids to ride in cars, even if they're in a seat belt, could the state could go as far as prohibiting children from riding in private cars?
“I go back to the same point; that the government could potentially try to pass a law and may even be successful in getting a governor to sign it, in a state legislature, bicameral sort of system,” Evans said. “But again, I think something like that would 100% be litigated, and I think at the lower court levels, the judges wouldn't go for that, because it would basically be saying that you're trying to tell parents how they should raise their kids. And that's just not practical.”
In the AB 734 Assembly Analysis, the California Youth Football Alliance in opposition asserted the 2019 law goes far enough: “We believe AB 734 is a misguided discriminatory piece of proposed legislation that will only lead to immediate and harmful statewide negative outcomes for California's youth ... Youth tackle football is often embedded in large statewide underserved communities often serving as an alternative to drug abuse, gang violence, and many other pitfalls facing California's Youth. AB 734 would only serve to negate the positive impact youth coaches, volunteers, and mentors have on California's youth.”
Whether or not a child plays in a particular sport should be a family decision, without government interference, Evans said.
“That is not something the government should be involved in – I think the biggest takeaway is politicians really need to get into the community, as opposed to just passing a law or doing something because it might seem that this is the best approach,” Evans said. “The reality of it, practically speaking, is that government can't force parents into how to raise their kids and what to involve them in.
"Politicians just need to do their part to talk with the communities specifically on an issue like this, where you're talking about parenting.”