Illinois Youth Sports Concussion Law
What Illinois law requires when a young athlete takes a hit to the head — in plain English, with the statute underneath it.
Checked against the official Illinois statutory text on 2 August 2026. Re-verified every year.
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. Illinois 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?
Illinois names specific professions in the law, so this one is worth checking before you book — if your provider is not one of them, the school does not have to take their note.
The treating physician, an athletic trainer, a physician assistant or an advanced practice registered nurse. A coach may not authorize a return, and that is spelled out.
The exact wording, if you need to show it to a school
- treating physician
- athletic trainer
- physician assistant
- advanced practice registered nurse
That list comes straight from 105 ILCS 5/22-80 (ilga.gov). 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.
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?
Yes. Illinois is in the minority here — it requires a plan for getting back to the classroom, not just back to the field, and it does so in the statute itself. You can ask the school for it by name rather than as a favor.
What if the team is not run by their school?
Not as a requirement. Illinois law does speak to non-school youth leagues, but it encourages rather than obliges — which means a club team can ignore it without breaking any law. In practice that puts the question back on you: ask the league, before the season, what its concussion policy actually is and who is allowed to clear a player. Illinois did write a companion act for youth sports leagues, 410 ILCS 145, but it encourages them to hand out educational materials rather than requiring the removal and clearance steps. The school-side law is the one with teeth.
Read the law itself, in full: 105 ILCS 5/22-80 (ilga.gov). 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 101 verified concussion providers in Illinois across 39 cities, and you can filter by the kind of clinician the answer above calls for.
What makes Illinois's law different
Illinois goes well past the three-part model law. Every school must convene a 'concussion oversight team' that establishes both the return-to-play and return-to-learn protocols — it must include at least one physician to the extent practicable, and must include the school's athletic trainer and school nurse if the school employs them; the school must also designate at least one person responsible for implementing the protocols, who need not be a licensed health care professional but may not be a coach. Coaches, game officials, and oversight team members must complete biennial concussion training from IHSA-approved providers, and schools must maintain a written emergency action plan for serious athletic injuries covering personnel roles, communication, equipment access and emergency transport, reviewed annually by athletic trainers, first responders (including emergency medical dispatchers), coaches, school nurses, athletic directors and volunteers. The statute also flatly bars coaches from authorizing either return to play or return to learn.
| Statute | 105 ILCS 5/22-80 (school/interscholastic provisions); 410 ILCS 145/1 et seq. (companion act for non-school youth sports leagues) |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Youth Sports Concussion Safety Act |
| Enacted | 2015 |
| Amended | 2022, 2025 |
| Who may clear a return to play | Specific professions named |
| Return-to-learn protocol required | Yes — in the statute |
| Covers non-school club and rec leagues | Encouraged, not required |
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
Applies to interscholastic athletic activities sponsored or sanctioned by a school, the Illinois Elementary School Association, or the Illinois High School Association, beginning with the 2016-2017 school year. A companion act created by the same public act, 410 ILCS 145, reaches sponsored youth sports activities of non-school youth sports leagues beginning January 1, 2016, but that act is largely hortatory (it encourages leagues to distribute educational materials) rather than mandatory.
Education and acknowledgment
A student may not participate in an interscholastic athletic activity for a school year until the student and the student's parent/guardian (or another person with legal authority to make the student's medical decisions) sign a form for that school year acknowledging receipt of, and having read, written information explaining concussion prevention, symptoms, treatment and oversight, plus guidelines for safely resuming participation. The form must be approved by the IHSA.
Illinois Return-to-Play Law: Removal From Play
A student must be removed from an interscholastic athletics practice or competition immediately if a coach, physician, game official, athletic trainer, the student's parent or guardian or other person with legal authority to make medical decisions, the student, or any other person designated in the school's protocol believes the student may have sustained a concussion.
Illinois Return-to-Play Law: Getting Cleared to Return
The student must be evaluated by a treating physician, athletic trainer, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse; must complete the school's return-to-play and return-to-learn protocols (which must be based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence consistent with CDC guidelines); and must receive written clearance from that provider. A coach of an interscholastic athletics team may not authorize a student's return to play or return to learn.
Who the law lets sign the clearance
- treating physician
- athletic trainer
- physician assistant
- advanced practice registered nurse
Return to learn
Yes — this is one of the most developed return-to-learn mandates in the country. Each school's concussion oversight team must establish a return-to-learn protocol based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence consistent with CDC guidelines; the statute expressly recognizes that a student may need informal or formal accommodations, modification of curriculum, and monitoring by medical or academic staff, and directs the State Board of Education to adopt rules governing such accommodation.
How the law has changed
- 2022 — P.A. 102-1006 (SB3127) added emergency medical dispatchers to the list of first responders who must participate in the annual review of a school's written emergency action plan for interscholastic athletics.
- 2025 — P.A. 104-391 (SB1740, eff. 8-15-25), an omnibus School Code mandate-reduction act, removed the minimum-hour requirement for the biennial concussion training.
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:
No express immunity or liability-shield provision was identified in 105 ILCS 5/22-80.
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 Illinois?
Illinois names specific professions in the law, so this one is worth checking before you book — if your provider is not one of them, the school does not have to take their note. treating physician; athletic trainer; physician assistant; advanced practice registered nurse
Can a student go back in the same day after a head injury in Illinois?
In practice, no. Illinois 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 Illinois?
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 Illinois require schools to help with schoolwork after a concussion?
Yes. Illinois is in the minority here — it requires a plan for getting back to the classroom, not just back to the field, and it does so in the statute itself. You can ask the school for it by name rather than as a favor.
Does Illinois's concussion law apply to club and rec league sports?
Not as a requirement. Illinois law does speak to non-school youth leagues, but it encourages rather than obliges — which means a club team can ignore it without breaking any law. In practice that puts the question back on you: ask the league, before the season, what its concussion policy actually is and who is allowed to clear a player. Illinois did write a companion act for youth sports leagues, 410 ILCS 145, but it encourages them to hand out educational materials rather than requiring the removal and clearance steps. The school-side law is the one with teeth.
When did Illinois pass its youth concussion law?
2015. The statute is 105 ILCS 5/22-80 (school/interscholastic provisions); 410 ILCS 145/1 et seq. (companion act for non-school youth sports leagues). It has been amended in 2022, 2025.
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
What the law does not tell you
A statute sets the minimum a school has to do. It does not describe what recovery actually looks like, how long symptoms usually last, or which clinician treats which symptom — and on those questions the clinical consensus has moved a long way ahead of most of this legislation.
- The six-step return-to-play protocol — the graduated progression most of these laws point at without describing.
- Concussion symptoms and red flags — what warrants an emergency room rather than a sideline decision.
- The six stages of recovery — what the progression looks like in practice, and why the two-week figure misleads families.
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Compare with other states
Laws that look identical on paper often differ on the one point that matters to you.