MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK

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March 21, 2007

Bill to limit workouts in hot condition put on hold

Sen. Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee, has temporarily withdrawn a bill that would limit children practicing sports in unsafe hot conditions.

It seemed like a good idea. Garrison said doctors from Eastern Oklahoma requested the bill on the basis that younger children have greater difficulty dissipating heat. They are more vulnerable to medical problems including heat stroke, the doctors said.

In early February, the Committee on Health and Human Resources approved Senate Bill 451, to prohibit non-school-related sports programs for kids 13 years or younger from holding practice outside or in non-air-conditioned facilities when the heat index is at or above 95 degrees.

That prompted an adverse reaction from parents, coaches and sponsors, including an online petition titled “Let Oklahoma’s youth athletes play” that drew 2,257 signatures.

“There was so much negative public outcry that the bill has been pulled while we run an interim study,” Garrison said. “We want to meet with some of the soccer leagues from Oklahoma City and Tulsa and some of the sponsors and bring in some medical authorities.”

Garrison said he understands the perspective of many of the bill’s critics.

“I spent 40 years in education before I entered politics,” he said. “I used to be a coach. But we’ve had fatalities of kids, including a child at Ada who died.”



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