Bill Text: CA SCR151 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Awareness Month.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5)

Status: (Passed) 2026-06-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 87, Statutes of 2026. [SCR151 Detail]

Download: California-2025-SCR151-Chaptered.html

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Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 151

CHAPTER 87

Relative to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury Awareness Month.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  June 09, 2026. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SCR 151, Umberg. Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Awareness Month.

This measure would proclaim the month of May 2026 as Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury Awareness Month and encourage schools, youth sports organizations, athletic programs, and health professionals to promote evidence-based injury prevention education and training.

Digest Key

Fiscal Committee: NO  

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Bill Text

WHEREAS, It is the custom of the Legislature to recognize official months that are set aside to increase awareness of serious health conditions that affect the lives of the people of California; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to that concern and in full accord with its longstanding traditions, it is the intent of the Legislature to memorialize and proclaim the month of May 2026 as Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury Awareness Month in California; and

WHEREAS, California will host the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in the summer of 2026 in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, underscoring the state’s leadership in soccer and athletic participation at every level; and

WHEREAS, California is home to one of the largest youth soccer populations in the nation, with more than 320,000 youth participants, and soccer ranks among the most widely played sports in the state for both boys, with more than 53,000 participants, and girls, with more than 45,000 participants; and

WHEREAS, California leads the nation in developing athletes who compete at the highest levels of the sport, including Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League, and the United States national teams; and

WHEREAS, The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine recognizes that ACL injuries are common in youth and adolescent athletes, and that over 70 percent of these injuries occur through noncontact mechanisms, such as rapid direction changes, pivoting, cutting, and landing movements, which are typical of sports including soccer, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, and football; and

WHEREAS, ACL injuries are among the most common and debilitating musculoskeletal injuries affecting physically active individuals and youth athletes, constituting a major and growing public health concern; and

WHEREAS, An estimated 400,000 ACL tears occur annually in the United States; and

WHEREAS, ACL tears account for approximately 40 percent of reported sports-related knee injuries and frequently require surgical reconstruction followed by rehabilitation periods ranging from 9 to 15 months, resulting in lost educational, athletic, and career opportunities; and

WHEREAS, Individuals who sustain an ACL injury face a reinjury risk of up to 30 percent, and approximately one in four individuals will tear the same or opposite knee during their lifetime; and

WHEREAS, The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons reports that reconstruction of the primary ACL at a younger age and an early return to sport are associated with a significantly higher risk of secondary ACL injury among adolescent athletes; and

WHEREAS, ACL injuries significantly increase the risk of osteoarthritis in children and adolescents by up to 10 times, can result in chronic pain and long-term damage to cartilage and the meniscus, and make individuals up to 7 times more likely to require knee replacement surgery later in life; and

WHEREAS, The total lifetime medical costs associated with a single ACL injury are estimated to range from $38,000 to $88,000 or more, imposing substantial burdens on families and the health care system; and

WHEREAS, The economic burden of ACL injuries is substantial, with estimates indicating direct medical costs exceeding $7 billion annually in the United States, in addition to significant indirect costs related to lost productivity, long-term care, and diminished quality of life; and

WHEREAS, The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Physical Therapy Association recommend plyometric and strengthening exercises to reduce young athletes’ risks of being injured and encourages coaches and school sports programs to learn about the benefits of this kind of neuromuscular training; and

WHEREAS, Research demonstrates that 50 to 88 percent of ACL injuries in middle school and high school athletes are largely preventable through evidence-based neuromuscular training and injury prevention programs, particularly among youth, female, and soccer populations; and

WHEREAS, Female athletes experience a disproportionate burden of ACL injuries, with studies showing they are between 2.8 and 8 times more likely than male athletes to sustain ACL tears, particularly in sports such as soccer, basketball, and lacrosse; and

WHEREAS, The Hospital for Special Surgery and the Aspen Institute report that female high school soccer players who participate year-round face a 16 to 18 percent risk of ACL injury, and athletes in sports including basketball, lacrosse, and soccer face a 10 to 12 percent risk of sustaining an ACL injury during their high school years; and

WHEREAS, Emerging research indicates that hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle may influence biomechanics, motor planning, and injury risk in female athletes and that many training, injury prevention, and recovery programs have historically been designed based on male physiology; and

WHEREAS, Organizations including FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, the Union of European Football Associations, the National Women’s Soccer League, and institutions of higher education are investing in research on the relationship between women’s health, athletic performance, and injury prevention, reflecting the urgent need for improved data and targeted prevention strategies; and

WHEREAS, In December 2025, the University of California, Berkeley launched the Women’s Health and Performance Initiative, a first of its kind research initiative aimed at closing the significant gender data gap in sport science, which recognized that historically fewer than 10 percent of sports medicine research studies have focused on female athletes, despite well-documented differences in injury risk, including ACL injuries; and

WHEREAS, ACL injuries can have profound psychological and social impacts on injured individuals, including depression, anxiety, and reduced academic or occupational participation, particularly among youth athletes; and

WHEREAS, Injury prevention programs not only reduce ACL injury risk but also decrease overall time lost from sports participation and improve long-term physical, mental health, and performance outcomes for young athletes; and

WHEREAS, Evidence-based, neuromuscular injury prevention programs should be recognized as the gold standard for adoption by youth sports organizations and interscholastic athletic programs to effectively mitigate ACL injury risk; and

WHEREAS, The National ACL Injury Coalition, convened through Project Play, has established a nationally recognized, evidence-based framework to reduce ACL injuries among youth athletes across multiple sports by promoting standardized education, neuromuscular injury prevention training, and implementation resources for youth sports organizations, coaches, athletes, and parents; and

WHEREAS, An analysis conducted by the National ACL Injury Coalition of data from High School RIO (Reporting Information Online), a national sports injury surveillance system, found a 26-percent increase in the annual incidence rate of ACL injuries across 12 major sports from 2007 to 2022, including significant increases in girls’ sports, including lacrosse and volleyball, which saw rises of 83 percent and 96 percent, respectively; and

WHEREAS, California currently lacks a statewide injury surveillance system specific to youth sports ACL injuries, and national estimates used to inform public health policy may not fully capture the scope, demographic distribution, or sport-specific patterns of ACL injuries among California youth; and

WHEREAS, It is imperative that there be greater public awareness of ACL injuries as a serious and preventable public health issue with long-term health, economic, and equity implications, and that California promote education, injury surveillance, research, and evidence-based prevention efforts statewide; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims the month of May 2026 as Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury Awareness Month in California; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature encourages the State Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation to evaluate the feasibility of recommending or incorporating evidence-based neuromuscular injury prevention programs into the standard practice of school-sanctioned athletic programs statewide, with implementation guidance developed in consultation with certified strength and conditioning coaches, certified athletic trainers, licensed physical therapists, and licensed sports medicine physicians (Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine); and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature requests the State Department of Public Health, in consultation with the California Interscholastic Federation, the State Department of Education, and relevant medical associations to assess the feasibility of establishing a statewide youth sports injury surveillance mechanism to track ACL injury incidence, demographics, sport type, and prevention program adoption rates, and to report findings to the Legislature to inform future evidence-based policy; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature encourages schools, youth sports organizations, athletic programs, and health professionals to promote evidence-based injury prevention education and training, with particular attention to the disproportionate impact of ACL injuries on girls and women; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.