Arkansas Youth Sports Concussion Law

What this actually means for your family

The statutory detail is further down, and it is all sourced. But if you are here because your child got hit this week, these are the six things you came to find out.

My child took a hit to the head. Does the coach have to take them out?

Yes. If your child shows signs of a concussion, or is suspected of having one, they have to come out of that practice or game right away. This is the part of the law that is nearly identical everywhere, and it does not require anyone to be certain — a suspicion is enough, and the coach is not supposed to wait for a diagnosis before acting.

Can they go back in the same day?

In practice, no. Arkansas law does not use the words 'same day,' but it bars a return until a provider has examined your child and put a clearance in writing. That is not something that realistically happens between the third and fourth quarter, so the effect is the same.

Whose note does the school have to accept?

Arkansas does not limit this to physicians. Any licensed health care provider who has been trained in evaluating and managing concussions, and who is working within their own scope of practice, can sign. That usually includes athletic trainers, nurse practitioners and physician assistants alongside physicians. Because the law describes the training rather than naming professions, the practical test is whether the provider can say they are trained in concussion management — so ask when you book.

Is there a minimum number of days out?

Not in the law. This surprises people, but the statute sets no minimum number of days — it just requires a provider to sign off. How long your child sits out is a clinical decision, not a legal one, and a provider who returns a child quickly is not breaking any law. This is the single biggest gap between what these statutes require and what current concussion medicine actually recommends.

Does the school have to help with schoolwork while they recover?

No. Arkansas law is silent about school. It governs athletics only. That is a real gap, because recovering from a concussion is usually harder in a classroom than on a field — screens, noise, testing and concentration are exactly what an injured brain struggles with. Ask the school anyway, and if symptoms persist, ask about a 504 plan, which does carry legal weight.

What if the team is not run by their school?

Yes. This is worth knowing, because it is not true everywhere: Arkansas wrote its law to cover organised youth sport generally, not just the teams a school runs. A club, a travel team, a municipal rec league — the same removal rule and the same clearance requirement apply. If a club coach tells you the concussion law is a school thing, they are wrong, and you can say so.

Read the law itself, in full: Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-710 (law.justia.com). This is the text a school, a coach or an athletic director is bound by, so it is the page to print or forward if anyone tells you the rule is something other than what you have read here. Where a state's law runs across several sections, the rest of them are in the sources at the foot of this page.

If this happened in the last few days

Rule out the emergencies first.

A concussion is not usually a medical emergency, but a small number of head injuries are. Go to an emergency department now for a headache that keeps getting worse, repeated vomiting, seizures, slurred speech, weakness or numbness, one pupil larger than the other, or a child who cannot be woken or is unusually confused or drowsy. None of this is what the concussion statute is about, and none of it should wait for a clearance appointment.

Get the evaluation booked, and book the right kind.

The clearance your school needs has to come from a provider the law recognizes, and that list is different in every state — it is the third question above. Confirming that before the appointment saves families a wasted visit and a second co-pay more often than you would think.

Write down what happened while it is fresh.

The date and time, what the hit looked like, who saw it, what symptoms appeared and when, and who was told. This helps the clinician far more than a general 'he got hit at practice,' and if there is ever a dispute with the school about what was reported, it is the only contemporaneous record anyone will have.

Finding a provider who can sign it

Knowing what the law requires is one half of it; finding someone who can actually do the evaluation is the other. Our directory lists 40 verified concussion providers in Arkansas across 11 cities, and you can filter by the kind of clinician the answer above calls for.

Browse Arkansas concussion specialists →

What makes Arkansas's law different

Arkansas statutorily outsources the substance of its protocol: § 6-18-710(c) directs the Department of Health to develop concussion protocols 'substantially similar to' those the Arkansas Activities Association had already adopted, effectively codifying the athletic association's own rules as the state floor. It is also unusual in tying coach training to a three-year cycle rather than annually, and in backing that requirement with graduated, enumerated suspension penalties — a genuine enforcement mechanism most concussion statutes lack. Its removal trigger is broader than the model law: it reaches an athlete who 'has had an injury,' not just one suspected of concussion.

The statute in detail

Everything above is the short version. This is what the law actually says, section by section, for anyone who needs the precise wording — a school administrator writing policy, a coach checking a duty, or a family that has hit a disagreement with a district.

Who the law covers

Broad — the operative unit is the 'youth athletic activity,' defined as an organized athletic contest or practice in which a majority of participants are under 19, whether competing against another team, club or entity. It expressly excludes college and university activities and athletics incidental to a non-athletic program, so recreational and community youth leagues are covered along with school sports. The related § 6-18-708 applies to public school districts specifically.

Education and acknowledgment

An information sheet on concussion and head injury must be distributed annually to each person who intends to participate in a youth athletic activity. A person may not participate unless the sheet is returned signed by the participant and, if under 18, also by a parent or guardian. Coach training is handled separately: under § 6-18-708 public school athletics coaches must complete training every three years covering recognition and management of concussions (along with dehydration, cardiac arrest and other emergencies), potentially including a component on educating parents about sports safety.

Arkansas Return-to-Play Law: Removal From Play

A youth athlete suspected of sustaining a concussion — or who has sustained an injury — in a game, activity or practice must be removed at that time. The statute does not name who orders the removal.

Arkansas Return-to-Play Law: Getting Cleared to Return

The athlete may not return to play until evaluated by a licensed healthcare provider trained in the evaluation and management of concussions and given written clearance to return by that provider. No waiting period or graduated protocol appears in the statute; the operative detail lives in the concussion protocols the Department of Health is directed to develop.

Who the law lets sign the clearance

• licensed healthcare provider trained in the evaluation and management of concussions (the statute does not enumerate professions, and expressly allows the provider to be a volunteer)

Return to learn

Not addressed in the statute.

How the law has changed

• 2017 — Act 2017 No. 1013, § 2 amended the companion section § 6-18-708, which sets the every-three-years coach training requirement (covering concussion recognition and management) and its escalating suspension penalties for non-compliance.
• 2023 — Act 642 of 2023, the Arkansas 'Coach Safely Act' (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-721, implemented by Ark. Dept. of Health rule 007.01.23-003), added a separate annual injury-mitigation course requirement — including concussion and head trauma — for coaches and athletics personnel working with athletes 14 and under in high-risk sports.

What happens if the rules are not followed

This is the part families ask about most and the part these statutes handle least. Almost every one of these laws sets out duties without setting out a penalty for ignoring them, and most go further and grant the school and its staff protection from being sued over concussion decisions. What that protection covers, and where it stops, is a state-specific question:

A healthcare provider who volunteers to authorize return to play is not liable for civil damages for any act or omission in rendering that care, other than acts or omissions constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. Separately, § 6-18-708 imposes escalating penalties on coaches who fail to complete required training: suspension from coaching until completion, then suspension for the rest of the season plus the following season, then permanent suspension.

Two things are worth being clear about. Immunity clauses of this kind generally stop short of conduct that is willful or reckless, so they are not unconditional. And a school district's or athletic association's own rules sit on top of the statute and can be enforced through the school or the association even where the law provides no remedy — that route is often faster than any legal one. If you believe the rules were not followed and your child was harmed as a result, that is a question for an attorney licensed in your state. It is not something this page can answer, and it is not something a directory should pretend to.

Common questions

Whose note does a school have to accept to clear a concussion in Arkansas?

Arkansas does not limit this to physicians. Any licensed health care provider who has been trained in evaluating and managing concussions, and who is working within their own scope of practice, can sign. That usually includes athletic trainers, nurse practitioners and physician assistants alongside physicians. Because the law describes the training rather than naming professions, the practical test is whether the provider can say they are trained in concussion management — so ask when you book.

Can a student go back in the same day after a head injury in Arkansas?

In practice, no. Arkansas law does not use the words 'same day,' but it bars a return until a provider has examined your child and put a clearance in writing. That is not something that realistically happens between the third and fourth quarter, so the effect is the same.

How long does a student have to sit out after a concussion in Arkansas?

Not in the law. This surprises people, but the statute sets no minimum number of days — it just requires a provider to sign off. How long your child sits out is a clinical decision, not a legal one, and a provider who returns a child quickly is not breaking any law. This is the single biggest gap between what these statutes require and what current concussion medicine actually recommends.

Does Arkansas require schools to help with schoolwork after a concussion?

No. Arkansas law is silent about school. It governs athletics only. That is a real gap, because recovering from a concussion is usually harder in a classroom than on a field — screens, noise, testing and concentration are exactly what an injured brain struggles with. Ask the school anyway, and if symptoms persist, ask about a 504 plan, which does carry legal weight.

Does Arkansas's concussion law apply to club and rec league sports?

Yes. This is worth knowing, because it is not true everywhere: Arkansas wrote its law to cover organised youth sport generally, not just the teams a school runs. A club, a travel team, a municipal rec league — the same removal rule and the same clearance requirement apply. If a club coach tells you the concussion law is a school thing, they are wrong, and you can say so.

When did Arkansas pass its youth concussion law?

2013. The statute is Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-710 (coach-training and school procedure provisions at Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-708). It has been amended in 2017, 2023.

How this summary was written

Each summary was built from the statutory text and, where the statute delegates, the state rule or athletic association policy it delegates to. Where a detail could not be traced to a primary source it was left out rather than guessed at, so a section reading “not addressed in the statute” means the law is silent — not that nothing applies.

Not legal advice. This is a plain-language summary of a statute, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the law or asking a lawyer about a specific situation. Statutes are amended; school district and athletic association rules sit on top of them and are often stricter. Every source used for this page is linked below so you can check it against the text.

Sources

• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-710 (Justia, 2024)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-710 (FindLaw)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-708 health and safety in public schools, coach training (Justia)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-710 (Onecle)
• Ark. Dept. of Health rule 007.01.23-003, Coach Safely Act (Act 642 of 2023)
• Arkansas Code title 6, ch. 18, subch. 7 section list