ATLANTA – Enclosed dugouts won’t be required for youth sports in Georgia, but they’ll be strongly encouraged.

Lawmakers passed a measure recommending protective covering on dugouts and training for players on dugout safety at the start of each season.

The vote in the state House of Representatives came a year after a Valdosta, Georgia baseball player, Colton Shaw, died from being struck in the head by an overthrown ball during a game in Moultrie, Georgia.

Shaw’s parents praised the move, saying it will prevent such tragedies from happening again.

“It ensures the safety of others in our precious Colton’s memory,” Clay and Gwin Shaw said in a statement. 

“It will not only honor Colton, but the protective fences and nets will also save the lives of young men and women. No family should have to through such a tragedy,” they added.

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of their 14-year-old son’s death. 

Colton Shaw was sitting in the visitor’s dugout, which had an open front, when a baseball flew past the first baseman between innings and struck him in the head. He died the next day.

In response to the accident, Rep. Dexter Sharper, D-Valdosta, wanted lawmakers to require fencing on all dugouts used for youth sports. He backed off that mandate amid concerns that it would create a financial burden on small districts.

As a resolution, the measure merely “encourages” local recreation departments and schools – including private and charter schools – to cover dugouts with netting or another protective material.

Safety instruction for players should include the importance of being aware of “high velocity baseballs” that may come into the dugout and staying alert, the resolution says.

Sharper said he plans to continue working with organizations and agencies, including the state Department of Education, to ensure the non-binding measure is taken seriously.

Safety instructions, he said, should become as commonplace as guidance on hitting and catching.

Valdosta-area Reps. Amy Carter, who serves on the Education Committee, Jason Shaw and John Corbett were co-sponsors.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.