Proposed California Bill To Ban Youth Tackle Football Pulled

CALIFORNIA -- An effort by two California lawmakers to ban youth tackle football was pulled from an Assembly committee this week. The bill that sparked controversy was co-authored by Assembly members Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, but pulled by McCarty.

Members of the Save California Football Coalition who opposed the ban quickly took to social media to share the news.

"AB 2108 has been pulled from the committee by the author," said Jason Ingman of the Save California Football Coalition in a video posted to Facebook. "The bill is now dead. I want to personally thank every person, every parent, every member of the 130,000 youth football players, parents, coaches administrators in the state of California who have dedicated themselves for the last two weeks to stop this bill."

In a statement, one of the group's lead organizers Joe Rafter said "AB2108 failed. It failed for a bunch of reasons that will be dissected over time, by me for sure, and others."

Rafter said the coalition would release "best practices in the form of process, technology, and coaching culture to help everyone increase their football safety."

Similar legislation was proposed in Illinois but was also pulled because of the lack of votes. New Jersey is also considering a similar proposal.

--Photo via Shutterstock

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Youth Tackle Football Could Be Banned In California