In March 2011, Governor John Hickenlooper (Colorado) signed the Jake Snakenberg Youth Concussion Act into law, which will take effect on January 1, 2012. The law will require:

• Coaches who coach children, between the ages of 11 to 18, to undergo a yearly training program in the recognition and management of concussions in young athletes.
• Any young athlete suspected of having a concussion be immediately removed from play or practice.
• Any young athlete who has sustained a concussion to obtain written authorization from a medical professional before returning to practice or play.

The law is named for 14-year-old Jake Snakenberg, a Colorado high school freshman, who sustained a presumed concussion but never sought medical attention. Jake returned to the football field before symptoms from his presumed concussion had resolved and collapsed on the field after a second concussion. He passed away shortly thereafter.

The goal of this law is to hopefully prevent losing another young athlete to a concussion, and to prevent possible further neurological complications from developing later in life in these vulnerable student athletes.