House Bill 2420, as amended, requires that collegiate coaching staff receive mental‑health training; the House Higher Education Subcommittee voted 9–0 to report the bill.

The bill’s patron described the measure as expanding existing obligations for resident assistants to include coaching staff and said the amendment gives coaches one year to complete an in‑person training program. The patron cited a student death in his district as motivation for the legislation and said universities and athletic departments supported the amendment’s additional time for compliance.

Multiple universities — Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, George Mason University, Radford University, Old Dominion University and James Madison University — testified in support, noting the amendment and the one‑year compliance window.

Student athletes and former coaches provided emotional testimony about coaches’ impact on players’ mental health. Cece Jacobs, a Division I lacrosse player, described being dismissed by coaches when she went to them for help and said the training was “crucial to both coaches and student athletes in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Another student, Caroline Stevens, credited a coach who supported her through trauma and said trained coaches “can have an outstanding impact on athletes.”

With the amendment in place and broad institutional support for the revised compliance timeline, the subcommittee voted unanimously to report HB 2420.