Maryland 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. Maryland 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?

Maryland 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?

Partly. Maryland law gestures at academic accommodations but does not require a structured return-to-learn plan. You can ask for support, but you are asking, not invoking a requirement.

What if the team is not run by their school?

Yes. This is worth knowing, because it is not true everywhere: Maryland 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: Md. Code Ann., Educ. § 7-433 (mgaleg.maryland.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 72 verified concussion providers in Maryland across 23 cities, and you can filter by the kind of clinician the answer above calls for.

Browse Maryland concussion specialists →

What makes Maryland's law different

Maryland uses a two-statute structure — the Education Article for public schools and the Health-General Article for community/recreational youth sports — and enforces the community side through a facility-use hook: a youth sports program using public school facilities must provide a statement of compliance, and local governments must notify programs using their facilities. The Health-General section was later broadened beyond concussion to cover sudden cardiac arrest, making it a combined head-injury/cardiac statute. It also stands out for putting academic accommodations into the mandated awareness-program content back in 2011, while leaving the actual protocol to an MSDE policy document incorporated by reference in COMAR. A 2025 bill (HB 1393) that would have added personnel registries, background screening and website posting of return-to-play policies did not pass.

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

Educ. § 7-433 covers students in public school systems participating in school-authorized interscholastic athletics, and also reaches youth sports programs that use public school facilities. Health-Gen. § 14-501 separately covers 'youth sports programs' — programs organized for recreational athletic competition or instruction for participants under age 19 — operating at public school facilities or run by recreational athletic organizations.

Education and acknowledgment

The State (Maryland Department of Health, MSDE, county boards, MPSSAA, the Maryland Athletic Trainers' Association, the Brain Injury Association of Maryland and licensed providers) must develop a concussion awareness program covering the nature and risk of concussion, removal and return-to-play criteria, the risks of not reporting and of continuing to play, and appropriate academic accommodations. County boards must give a concussion/head-injury information sheet to student athletes and their parents/guardians, who must sign an acknowledgment before participating; youth sports programs may deliver it through registration notice with acknowledgment by signature, checkbox or electronic method, and there must be a process verifying coaches received the information.

Maryland Return-to-Play Law: Removal From Play

A student or youth athlete suspected of sustaining a concussion or other head injury in a practice or game must be removed from play at that time. The statute does not name a specific person as the removal authority — the duty runs to the school system / youth sports program.

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

The athlete may not return to play until receiving written clearance from a licensed health care provider trained in the evaluation and management of concussions. Because removal is immediate and clearance is a precondition, same-day return is effectively barred.

Who the law lets sign the clearance

• licensed health care provider trained in the evaluation and management of concussions

Return to learn

Partially addressed: the mandatory awareness program must include 'appropriate academic accommodations for students diagnosed as having sustained a concussion,' but the statute prescribes no reentry protocol. COMAR 13A.06.08.03 incorporates by reference an MSDE document, 'Policies and Programs on Concussions for Public Schools and Youth Sport Programs,' which carries the operational detail.

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:

Not addressed in the statute — no immunity clause or liability disclaimer appears in Educ. § 7-433 or Health-Gen. § 14-501.

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 Maryland?

Maryland 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 Maryland?

In practice, no. Maryland 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 Maryland?

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 Maryland require schools to help with schoolwork after a concussion?

Partly. Maryland law gestures at academic accommodations but does not require a structured return-to-learn plan. You can ask for support, but you are asking, not invoking a requirement.

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

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

2011. The statute is Md. Code Ann., Educ. § 7-433 (public schools and youth sports programs); Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 14-501 (youth sports programs); implementing regs at COMAR 13A.06.08.

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

• MD Educ. § 7-433 (Maryland General Assembly statute text)
• MD Health-Gen. § 14-501 (Maryland General Assembly statute text)
• MD Educ. § 7-433 (FindLaw, current text)
• MD Health-Gen. § 14-501, 2015 edition (Justia)
• 2011 SB 771 — became Chapter 548, May 19, 2011 (MGA sponsor index)
• COMAR 13A.06.08 — Head Injuries and Concussions in Extracurricular Athletic Events
• 2025 HB 1393 (did not pass)