State lawmakers revive push for task force on youth sports safety

A year after the tragic death of high school hockey player Teddy Balkind of New Canaan, legislation that failed to pass the General Assembly in 2022 is back and would create a task force to study and make recommendations on the issues of safety in youth athletics.

During a public hearing before the legislative Children’s Committee on Tuesday, the proposal won support from the Connecticut Recreation and Parks Association, and the head of orthopedics at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

“As a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, I care for many young patients who have sustained minor to significant injuries playing youth sports,” said Dr. Mark C. Lee of the medical center. “Youth sports can be a great way for children to interact with their peers, maintain an active lifestyle, and learn important life skills like team work and perseverance. Despite these positive attributes, we also know that playing sports can sometimes have health and safety risks.”

Lee said children require special treatments and suggested that the language of the legislation include pediatric physicians on the task force. “Pediatric clinicians also have a better understanding of what injuries and conditions child athletes may be more susceptible to at different ages and stages of their growth and development,” Lee said in prepared testimony.

The death of Balkind, a St. Luke’s student, occurred after an opponent in a junior varsity hockey game accidentally skated over his neck. The immediate reaction in the General Assembly was to support mandatory neck guards. But medical experts warned that some neck guards could hurt some young athletes, so during that year’s legislative process, the bill was turned into a broader look through the creation of a task force of experts to explore issues of safety for youth sports, intramurals and interscholastics.

“Our mission is to support the recreation and park profession and steward the future of public parks and recreational opportunities in Connecticut in order to promote active lifestyles, livable communities, and quality of life for all who call Connecticut home,” Valerie Stolfi Collins, executive director of the parks association, said in a prepared statement to the committee.

During live testimony on Tuesday, Diane Lauricella, a Norwalk environmental activist, warned that if the task force proposal, which failed to reach a vote in the state Senate after it passed the House of Representatives, succeeds this legislative session, members should research the environmental dangers in the so-called crumbrubber artificial athletic fields.

“From what I can gather from this, I am in favor of establishing a task force on protection of youth in interscholastic and intramural athletics, but I would ask that this committee very seriously consider expanding the agenda or the reach,” Lauricella said, noting Balkind’s death.