The Florida House on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill that will allow high school head coaches to use personal funds to support their players with things like food, transportation, physical therapy and rehabilitation services.
The bill (SB 178) was named after Teddy Bridgwater, who played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season after he was suspended from his coaching posistion at Miami Northwestern High because he paid for meals and rides for his players.
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"You coach people that are homeless; they have no place to stay. You coach people that have issues that sometimes people don't understand, and you don't share those issues with everybody," said Rep, Wallace Aristide, D-North Miami-Dade, qho supported the bill..
"So, you had a coach in Miami-Dade [that] decided he was going to help his players. He wanted to do something for his young men in his program because he understands his community."
Under the "Teddy Bridgewater Act," head coaches would be able to spend up to $15,000 on their players a year, with only one purchase per student athlete.
Also, the Florida High School Athletic Association must adopt bylaws to allow the coaches to support the players, require coaches to report the spending and specify that the money can't be used for recruiting.
The House voted 112-0 to pass the measure after amending the Senate's version to require parental approval and to limit the assistance to only by the head coach. That amended bill will have to head back to the Senate for another look.
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