Relating to interscholastic athletic scrimmages between schools and nonaccredited home school sports organizations, and including effective date provisions

This bill relates to interscholastic athletic scrimmages between schools and nonaccredited home school sports organizations.13 to participate in interscholastic athletic scrimmages with nonaccredited home school sports organizations.13.13, an organization is a corporation, association, or organization that has as one of its primary purposes the sponsoring or administration of extracurricular interscholastic athletic contests or competitions. The bill defines “scrimmage” as a noncompetitive, practice-oriented interscholastic event between teams that simulates game conditions solely for the purpose of evaluating and developing team strategies, individual skills, and conditioning. The bill requires a written agreement between the school and nonaccredited home school sports organization be executed prior to the scrimmage. The agreement must contain the date, time, location, duration, and format of the scrimmage, safety protocols, and other conditions deemed necessary by either party. The agreement must be retained by each party for one year following the scrimmage. The bill provides that each school and nonaccredited home school sports organization shall ensure appropriate liability coverage and assume responsibility for its own participants in a scrimmage. Students participating in a scrimmage on behalf of a nonaccredited home school sports organization are not subject to the eligibility rules of an organization. Lastly, the bill requires that scrimmages do not count toward regular season records, standings, rankings, or postseason eligibility, must be voluntary, limited in duration and intensity, occur at certain facilities, and may not involve official scorekeeping, charging admission, play-by-play announcements, or pay for officials. The bill takes effect July 1, 2027.