New legislation could create state department to oversee youth sports

News Brief

Wednesday, October 15, 2025 — 3:19 pm

New legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom could create a department to help and regulate youth athletics.

Assembly Bill 749, dubbed the Youth Sports for All Act, requires State Public Health Officer Erica Pan to create a fee to research the necessity for a California Department of Youth Sports.

“This bill is a crucial first step towards engaging with experts on the establishment of a centralized entity charged with improving access, involvement and the sustainability of youth sports across California, leading to healthier and more resilient youth, young adults, and communities,” mentioned Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, within the creator’s assertion.

A survey of California households with school-age youngsters discovered {that a} majority of California youth interact in bodily exercise lower than an hour a day — the minimal advisable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in accordance to the 2024 Play Equity Report by the LA84 Foundation, a supporter of the invoice. 

The report discovered that 10% of California youth are “never” lively and solely 39% have each day bodily training in school. The charges of bodily exercise are lowest for Black ladies, Latino youth, youth with disabilities, youth with annual family incomes under $50,000, and youth within the Inland Empire, in accordance to the report.

“The current youth sports landscape is highly fragmented and unfair,” McKinnor mentioned. “Existing practices, pay-to-play models, a lack of facilities, the absence of statewide coaching and safety standards, hyper-competitive leagues, and inaccessible community-based programs deny every child the opportunity to reap the lifelong benefits of youth sports participation, which include positive socio-emotional development, community cohesion, mental and physical health, academic success, and overall healthier and stronger communities.”

The fee will analyze whether or not all California youth have entry to sports no matter their intercourse, race, sexual orientation, gender identification, incapacity, revenue, or place of residence.

The fee additionally will make suggestions concerning the duties, powers and tasks of the departments, take into account monetary impacts, and establish funding sources.

The invoice was supported by dozens of organizations, together with the California State PTA, Disability Rights California, a number of Boys & Girls Clubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Rams. There was no formal opposition on file. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee mentioned the invoice has unknown one-time prices, probably within the a whole lot of 1000’s to low hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.

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