Louisiana 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. Louisiana 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?

Louisiana 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.

Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and licensed psychologists.

The exact wording, if you need to show it to a school

• physician as defined in La. R.S. 37:1262
• licensed nurse practitioner
• licensed physician assistant
• licensed psychologist

That list comes straight from La. R.S. 40:1089.1–1089.5 (legis.la.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?

No. Louisiana 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: Louisiana 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: La. R.S. 40:1089.1–1089.5 (legis.la.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 38 verified concussion providers in Louisiana across 14 cities, and you can filter by the kind of clinician the answer above calls for.

Browse Louisiana concussion specialists →

What makes Louisiana's law different

Louisiana's reach is markedly broader than the school-only model: it binds private clubs, public recreation facilities, and athletic leagues, and defines coverage by athlete age (7 through 18) rather than by school enrollment. It is also one of the few states to name licensed psychologists — with neuropsychology or concussion-management training — among providers who may clear an athlete, and it writes an explicit statutory role for licensed athletic trainers to run the graduated return-to-play after a provider's written clearance. A separate statute, La. R.S. 40:1087.1 (emergency action plans and serious sports injuries for high schools), expressly carves concussions out and defers them to this Act.

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

Covers youth athletic activity — organized competition or practice for participants seven years of age or older and under nineteen. It binds public and nonpublic elementary, middle/junior high, and high schools plus private clubs, public recreation facilities, and athletic leagues sponsoring youth athletics. College and university activities, instruction-only programs, incidental athletic components of non-athletic programs, and private lessons are expressly excluded.

Education and acknowledgment

Each covered school, club, facility, and league must annually provide concussion and head-injury information to coaches, officials, volunteers, youth athletes, and parents before each athletic season, and every coach (paid or volunteer) and official must complete an annual concussion recognition course. Each youth athlete and the athlete's parent or legal guardian must sign a concussion and head injury information sheet as a condition of participation, acknowledging the statutory return-to-play requirements. CDC 'Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports' or substantially similar NFHS materials satisfy the training requirement.

Louisiana Return-to-Play Law: Removal From Play

The coach must immediately remove a youth athlete from a game, competition, or practice if the athlete reports concussion signs or symptoms, if a coach, athletic trainer, or official observes signs reasonably suggesting a concussion, or if a healthcare provider or other certified person notifies the coach of a suspected concussion. The coach must also notify the athlete's parent or legal guardian.

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

The athlete may not return to play or participate in any supervised team activities until evaluated by a healthcare provider and given written clearance from that provider for a full or graduated return to play. The qualifying healthcare provider must have received training in neuropsychology or in concussion evaluation and management. After a written clearance for graduated return, the organization may let a licensed athletic trainer with specific knowledge of the athlete's condition manage the graduated return-to-play progression.

Who the law lets sign the clearance

• physician as defined in La. R.S. 37:1262
• licensed nurse practitioner
• licensed physician assistant
• licensed psychologist

Return to learn

Not addressed in the statute.

How the law has changed

• 2015 — H.C.R. No. 84 of the 2015 Regular Session redesignated the Act from R.S. 40:1299.181–1299.185 to R.S. 40:1089.1–1089.5 — a renumbering, not a substantive change.
• 2018 — Acts 2018, No. 206 (HB 326), a technical-corrections measure, amended sections of the Act; the changes appear to be terminology and agency-reference updates rather than new concussion protocols.

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:

La. R.S. 40:1089.4(D) provides that the section creates no liability for, and no cause of action against, a school and its officers or employees, an organization or association of which a school or district is a member, a private or public school, a private club, a public recreation facility, or an athletic league that has complied with the Subpart.

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 Louisiana?

Louisiana 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. physician as defined in La. R.S. 37:1262; licensed nurse practitioner; licensed physician assistant; licensed psychologist

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

In practice, no. Louisiana 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 Louisiana?

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 Louisiana require schools to help with schoolwork after a concussion?

No. Louisiana 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 Louisiana's concussion law apply to club and rec league sports?

Yes. This is worth knowing, because it is not true everywhere: Louisiana 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 Louisiana pass its youth concussion law?

2011. The statute is La. R.S. 40:1089.1–1089.5 (originally enacted as La. R.S. 40:1299.181–1299.185 by Acts 2011, No. 314, eff. June 28, 2011). It has been amended in 2015, 2018.

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

• La. Legislature – Subpart B, Louisiana Youth Concussion Act (R.S. 40:1089.1)
• La. Legislature – R.S. 40:1089.2 definitions
• Justia – La. R.S. 40:1089.3 education requirements
• Justia – La. R.S. 40:1089.4 removal and return to play
• Justia – La. R.S. 40:1089.5 concussion information
• Justia – La. R.S. 40:1087.1 (concussion carve-out)
• LERN – Louisiana Youth Concussion Act