Bill Text: NJ A1422 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires youth baseball league coaches to comply with pitch count standards to minimize injury to youth baseball pitchers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [A1422 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A1422-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires youth baseball league coaches to comply with pitch count standards to minimize injury to youth baseball pitchers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning youth baseball leagues and supplementing Title 5 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Baseball is one of the safest sports available to today's youth; however, many of the serious injuries suffered by adult baseball players may have developed at the youth baseball league level;
b. Pitches are counted and monitored for professional, collegiate and high school pitchers, and most experts believe that pitch counts should also be kept for youth baseball pitchers;
c. A study conducted by the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) in 2002 showed there is a significant relationship between the number of pitches thrown in a game and during a season and the incidence of elbow and shoulder pain in youth baseball pitchers; the same study showed that youth baseball pitchers who threw curveballs or sliders also have an increased risk of elbow and shoulder pain;
d. In the opinion of ASMI and the USA Baseball Medical and Safety Advisory Committee, joint pain in youth baseball pitchers indicates the development of a potentially serious joint injury, and pitch count limits are recommended for youth baseball league players; and
e. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the State to encourage the coaches of youth baseball league teams to follow recommended pitch count standards for youth baseball pitchers in order to reduce the risk of serious arm injury and maximize the ability of younger baseball players to perform at their best and advance to higher levels of the sport.
2. a. A coach of a youth baseball team organized pursuant to a nonprofit or similar charter or which is a member team in a league organized by or affiliated with a county or municipal recreation department shall comply with the following recommended pitch count standards in order to minimize a youth baseball pitcher's risk for serious arm injury.
(1) A pitcher between the ages of nine and 10 shall not pitch more than:
(a) 50 pitches per game;
(b) 75 pitches per week;
(c) 1,000 pitches per season; and
(d) 2,000 pitches per year.
(2) A pitcher between the ages of 11 and 12 shall not pitch more than:
(a) 75 pitches per game;
(b) 100 pitches per week;
(c) 1,000 pitches per season; and
(d) 3,000 pitches per year.
(3) A pitcher between the ages of 13 and 14 shall not pitch more than:
(a) 75 pitches per game;
(b) 125 pitches per week;
(c) 1,000 pitches per season; and
(d) 3,000 pitches per year.
b. A coach of a youth baseball team shall not allow a pitcher between the ages of nine and 14 to throw a curveball, slider or other breaking pitch during a competition, practice or instructional event involving one or more baseball teams organized pursuant to a nonprofit or similar charter or which are member teams in a league organized by or affiliated with a county or municipal recreation department.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a coach of a youth baseball team organized pursuant to a nonprofit or similar charter or which is a member team in a league organized by or affiliated with a county or municipal recreation department, to comply with recommended pitch count standards, specific to the age of the youth baseball pitcher, in order to minimize a youth pitcher's risk for serious arm injury.
Under the provisions of the bill, youth baseball pitchers between the ages of nine and 10 shall pitch no more than 2,000 pitches per year, and pitchers between the ages of 11 and 14 shall pitch no more than 3,000 pitches per year, with specific limits established for the number of pitches a youth would be allowed to throw during a game, week and season.
The bill also prohibits youth baseball pitchers between the ages of nine and 14 from throwing a curveball, slider or other breaking pitch during a competition, practice or instructional event involving one or more baseball teams.
