Sente bill bans tackle football for Illinoisans under age 12

State Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills, filed House Bill 4341 Jan. 25. The bill would create the CTE Prevention Act, and ban children under 12 years old from playing organized youth football.

Tackle football would come to an end for kids under 12 years old in Illinois if a bill recently filed in the General Assembly becomes law.

State Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills, filed House Bill 4341 Jan. 25. The bill would create the “CTE Prevention Act” and bar children under the age of 12 from participating in any “tackle football offered by an organized youth sports program.”

The bill, however, would allow kids under the age of 12 to participate in flag and touch football.

Sente calls the bill the “Dave Duerson Act” after a Chicago Bears football player who committed suicide in 2011. After his death, it was determined Duerson was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

The bill has yet to be assigned to a committee.