Texas Youth Sports Concussion Law
What Texas law requires when a young athlete takes a hit to the head — in plain English, with the statute underneath it.
Checked against the official Texas 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. Texas 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?
A physician's — a medical doctor (MD or DO). Texas is one of a small number of states that will not accept anyone else for this. A note from an athletic trainer, a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant does not satisfy the statute here, even though those clinicians manage concussions competently and can do so in most other states. Worth knowing before you book the appointment.
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. Texas 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?
No — and this is the gap most parents do not know about. Texas's law stops at school sports. A club team, a travel team, a church league or a Saturday rec programme is outside it, so the coach who is legally required to bench your child at a school game has no such duty at a club game. Nothing stops a league from having a good policy of its own, and many do. But you have to ask for it rather than assume it, and the time to ask is at registration, not from the sideline.
Read the law itself, in full: Tex. Educ. Code §§ 38.151-38.160 (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 120 verified concussion providers in Texas across 40 cities, and you can filter by the kind of clinician the answer above calls for.
What makes Texas's law different
Texas is the outlier the model law is usually contrasted against. Every district and charter school with interscholastic athletes must appoint or approve a standing concussion oversight team — at least one physician, with an employed athletic trainer required to be on it and a school nurse entitled to join on request — and that team, not the legislature, writes the district's return-to-play protocol on peer-reviewed evidence. Return to play then requires a written form signed by both the student and the parent/guardian attesting that the protocol was completed, that they understand the risks and the § 38.159 immunity provisions, and consenting to disclosure of the physician's recommendations, on top of the treating physician's own written clearance — and the statute flatly forbids a coach from authorizing return or from being the designee who supervises compliance.
| Statute | Tex. Educ. Code §§ 38.151-38.160 (Subchapter D) |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Natasha's Law |
| Enacted | 2011 |
| Amended | 2017, 2019, 2023 |
| Who may clear a return to play | Physician only |
| Return-to-learn protocol required | No |
| Covers non-school club and rec leagues | No — school sports only |
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 activity, including practice and competition, sponsored or sanctioned by a school district (including home-rule districts), a public school including an open-enrollment charter school, or the University Interscholastic League. Private schools and non-school recreational or club youth leagues are outside the subchapter.
Education and acknowledgment
A student may not participate in interscholastic athletics until both the student and the student's parent, guardian, or person with legal authority to make medical decisions sign a UIL-approved form for that school year acknowledging receiving and reading written information on concussion prevention, symptoms, treatment, and oversight, plus guidelines for safely resuming activity after a concussion. Separately, coaches, and school nurses and licensed health care professionals serving on the oversight team, must complete at least two hours of UIL-approved (or license-board-approved) concussion training every two years and file proof with the superintendent.
Texas Return-to-Play Law: Removal From Play
A student must be removed from an interscholastic athletics practice or competition immediately if any of the following believes the student might have sustained a concussion: a coach, a physician, a licensed health care professional (athletic trainer, advanced practice nurse, neuropsychologist, or physician assistant), a person licensed under Occupations Code ch. 201 or ch. 453 (chiropractor or physical therapist), a school nurse, or the student's parent or guardian or other person with legal authority to make medical decisions.
Texas Return-to-Play Law: Getting Cleared to Return
Return requires four things: evaluation by a treating physician selected by the student or parent using established medical protocols based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence; completion of every requirement of the district's return-to-play protocol; the treating physician's written statement that it is safe for the student to return; and a signed acknowledgment/consent. A coach may not authorize return to play, and the superintendent's designee who oversees compliance may not be a coach.
Who the law lets sign the clearance
- treating physician (the only person who may authorize return to play), selected by the student or the student's parent/guardian
Return to learn
Not addressed in the statute.
How the law has changed
- 2017 — H.B. 3024 expanded the list of persons who may order removal from play under § 38.156 to include a person licensed under Occupations Code ch. 201 (chiropractors) and the student's parent, guardian, or other person with legal authority to make medical decisions.
- 2019 — H.B. 961 added school nurses to concussion oversight team eligibility (§ 38.154), to the removal-from-play list (§ 38.156), and to the biennial training requirement (§ 38.158), and barred anyone out of compliance with training from serving on an oversight team.
- 2023 — H.B. 1002 allowed chiropractors and physical therapists (Occupations Code chs. 201 and 453) who meet the concussion training requirement to serve on concussion oversight teams, and added licensed physical therapists to those who may remove a student from play.
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:
Section 38.159 preserves rather than grants immunity: the subchapter does not waive any immunity of a school district or open-enrollment charter school or its officers and employees, does not waive immunity under Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.151, and does not create a cause of action or liability against a district, charter school, or a member of a concussion oversight team for the injury or death of a student in interscholastic athletics practice or competition.
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 Texas?
A physician's — a medical doctor (MD or DO). Texas is one of a small number of states that will not accept anyone else for this. A note from an athletic trainer, a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant does not satisfy the statute here, even though those clinicians manage concussions competently and can do so in most other states. Worth knowing before you book the appointment.
Can a student go back in the same day after a head injury in Texas?
In practice, no. Texas 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 Texas?
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 Texas require schools to help with schoolwork after a concussion?
No. Texas 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 Texas's concussion law apply to club and rec league sports?
No — and this is the gap most parents do not know about. Texas's law stops at school sports. A club team, a travel team, a church league or a Saturday rec programme is outside it, so the coach who is legally required to bench your child at a school game has no such duty at a club game. Nothing stops a league from having a good policy of its own, and many do. But you have to ask for it rather than assume it, and the time to ask is at registration, not from the sideline.
When did Texas pass its youth concussion law?
2011. The statute is Tex. Educ. Code §§ 38.151-38.160 (Subchapter D). It has been amended in 2017, 2019, 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
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.