A day after Ohio became the 45^th state to allow high school athletes to strike name, image and likeness deals, a Republican state lawmaker said he’s working on a bill to ban that practice.

The members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association voted to allow NIL deals Monday. The bill Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) is hoping to introduce would prohibit NIL payments to high school athletes.

“When you see the impact that NIL has had on college sports, it’s not been to the benefit of of what college sports should be all about,” Bird said in an interview. “And I think that that we are very much in danger of going down a similar path that is not good for high school students in Ohio by allowing this to go forward.”

Bird hasn’t introduced a bill yet but is talking to other lawmakers about it.

Bird cited a study of college athletes that showed rates of death by suicide doubled over a 20-year period, and is now the second-leading cause of death in that population.

“There’s a lot of pressure for young people today and I think when you start giving them money because of their talent you’re adding to the pressure,” Bird said. “We should not be creating a system that has more pressure on these kids. They should be enjoying and learning and growing in a holistic way because of the experience that we give them in team sports and this is not going down the right path.”

Bird added that public dollars spent on high school sports is intended to help all students: “All of the investment that we make in these facilities and to make these things happen it’s not so that the student can make money. That’s not what it’s about. That’s not why we do sports in Ohio.”

And Bird said it’s his impression most schools don’t want their students to enter into NIL deals. Of the 815 members of the OHSAA, 55% voted for the bylaw change to allow NIL contracts. The rest voted against it or didn’t vote.

“The Ohio High School Athletic Association didn’t really want to do this,” Bird said. “This has all been generated because a temporary restraining order from a single Franklin County judge…has forced OHSAA to go down a path that it didn’t want to go.”

A vote on NIL deals was likely to happen in May, but a lawsuit filed by star wide receiver Jamier Brown of Wayne High School in Dayton pushed it up. Last month Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page had ordered a 45-day pause on the OHSAA ban on NIL deals and set a hearing for December. Brown’s lawyer said the family is dropping the lawsuit.

“I think the majority of our schools are not crazy about the idea of NIL at the high school level,” said Tim Stried with the OHSAA. “Neither is the OHSAA, but as we all know, the courts have spoken many times. We cannot prevent a person from earning money on their name, image and likeness.”

Stired said the OHSAA had expected to be sued by a different athlete earlier this summer, so the organization was ready for the vote. And he said when college athletes were allowed to do NIL deals starting in 2019, that set the stage for what’s happening now.

“A student can get paid for a lot of things that they do well. But athletics was not one of those, and now it is,” Stried said.

In the face of budget cuts, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is reducing its East Los Angeles youth orchestra program championed by outgoing star conductor Gustavo Dudamel by cutting staff and daily operations.

Last week, in an email to the students’ parents, the nonprofit organization announced that it would need to “significantly modify” the programming at the Esteban E. Torres High School site “due to unanticipated financial and funding challenges for the organization.”

The Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) has offered a free musical education to students ages 5 through 18 since 2007. Run by the L.A. Phil, students get access to free instruments and get the firsthand experience of being in a musical ensemble. YOLA currently operates out of Inglewood, East L.A., Rampart District and Westlake/MacArthur Park. The only location subject to cuts has been the Torres site in East L.A., which serves 165 students.

Under these changes, practices for students will be halved, moving from four days of instruction to two days of rehearsal. All the teaching artists at the site were laid off, leaving two conductors to lead what remains of the program. These modifications will only apply to the higher-level students, as programming for the younger pupils (known as the Sprouts and the Explorers) will be gutted, with the option of moving to another YOLA site.

Spearheaded by Dudamel, the program is modeled after El Sistema, the publicly funded program where he first learned music in Venezuela. The conductor, who has been with the L.A. Phil since 2009, will be leaving the orchestra in June 2026.

Jules Levy, one of the 12 laid-off teaching artists, says that with these adjustments, about 80% of the students’ learning will be reduced.

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel rehearses with young musicians from around the country participating in the L.A. Phil’s annual YOLA National Program at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2023.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

“There wouldn’t be any music theory, music history and no singing. They’re going to come in and play in an orchestra, and won’t have any coaches to teach them,” said Levy, who has been a YOLA instructor since 2019. “No more studio classes, no private lessons, no master classes, and no sectionals.”

At Torres, Levy worked as a double bass coach and taught students across all age groups. He is also an alumnus of the program’s first iteration, saying it’s “the reason I am a successful musician today, but I also think about how many kids we just took that possibility away from.” When he had to explain the situation to his students, he says he was greeted with a lot of confusion and many teary eyes — as the community undergoes another unprecedented change.

“This is a community where we have students from East L.A. Some of these students have had their parents, their cousins and other family members abducted by ICE recently. This is one of L.A.’s most vulnerable communities,” Levy said.

These revisions were also announced days before the teaching artists voted to unionize, under the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.

In a statement to The Times, the L.A. Phil said they are “doing everything possible to support impacted students and staff, including placement at other YOLA sites and providing transportation when possible.”

“Our mission has always been to bring people together through the power of music and live performance, and we remain steadfast in our dedication to the families, musicians and employees who create our YOLA community,” wrote an L.A. Phil spokesperson.

YOLA institute students perform on stage during a Gracias Gustavo Community Block Party at the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center in October.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

When Karla Juarez, a parent of two students at YOLA Torres, found out about these cuts, her first instinct was to rally people together. She created an Instagram page, under the name @saveyolatorres and has been sharing messages from the community, trying to revive the program.

“We cannot give up. We, as parents, will stay committed and united. We’re going to do whatever it takes to continue the program,” said Juarez. “Our main focus is to fight for our kids and their futures.”

She has two children in the program, her 8-year-old son who was a Sprouts percussionist, and her 13-year-old daughter, Romina Sanchez, a cellist in the symphony orchestra. Juarez says her daughter has always had an interest in music, but YOLA helped bring out a new sense of confidence within her.

“I was honestly so devastated [about the cuts] because I love music. YOLA is like our home away from home,” said Sanchez. “I’m also very devastated, because I have to turn in my instrument. I’ve been with my cello for three years now.”

The 13-year-old musician says she is coming up with a plan to save up for a new cello or to figure out where she can rent one. Juarez works two jobs in order to support her family and she says they still “can’t afford private music lessons.” To her, the fight is about holding onto this kind of access for her children.

“We understand it’s a free program. We are grateful for that. But they cannot use our kids if they don’t follow [through with] their mission,” said Juarez. “Unfortunately, they are tarnishing Gustavo Dudamel’s legacy. They fed the [kids] a dream of learning to grow in music, and now they’re snatching that dream away.”

The YOLA Torres site will continue to operate as usual until Dec. 12, when the cuts will go into effect.

TUCSON, Ariz. (Nov. 25, 2025) — Banner – University Medicine Tucson organized a 10-rider team for this year’s El Tour de Tucson on Saturday, Nov. 22, and partnered with El Grupo Youth Cycling to support youth sports.

As part of the partnership, Banner supplied El Grupo’s riders with functional cycling jerseys, which replaced the T-shirts youth athletes had previously worn on race day. The jerseys were modeled after the Banner University Medicine Tucson team design and inspired by the spotted pattern of the Gila monster.

Riders also received special treatment and shared a dedicated space with the Banner riders before and after the event to warm up, rest and enjoy post-ride pizza and refreshments.

“Our riders were excited to represent Banner – University Medicine with the custom jerseys, and they loved spending time at the Banner tent before and after the race,” said Jeff Cheever, programs and operations manager for El Grupo.

The El Grupo team included the 70 youth and coach riders who trained for three months and collectively rode more than 3,000 miles on Saturday.

This partnership aligns closely with Banner’s focus on healthy lifestyles and marked a meaningful collaboration between two local mission-driven, non-profit organizations dedicated to strengthening the community.

“El Tour de Tucson brought our community together around wellness, resilience and fun,” said Alison Flynn Gaffney, chief executive officer of Banner – University Medicine Tucson. “We are incredibly proud of our riders and El Grupo’s inspiring junior cyclists. We want our community to feel supported and encouraged to stay active for life.”

Banner Sports Medicine also supported riders along the course. Athletic trainers, sports medicine physicians, emergency medicine physicians and paramedics were stationed throughout the route to address race-day needs and ensure safe participation.

Banner University Medicine Tucson looks forward to continuing this partnership and supporting healthy lives in our community.

About Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and South

Banner – University Medical Center Tucsonand Banner – University Medical Center South are part of Banner – University Medicine, a premier academic medical network. These institutions are academic medical centers for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. Included on the two campuses are Diamond Children’s Medical Center and many specialty clinics. The two academic medical centers are part of Arizona-based Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit bannerhealth.com/universitytucson or bannerhealth.com/universitysouth.

 

 

For further information contact us at: [email protected]

Download assets from the story

Elt25

Elt16

RobertoAndAlex