The American Heart Association and the Houston Texans trained nearly 100 youth sports coaches in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use on May 30 at the Houston Methodist Training Center, as National CPR Week (June 1–7) begins. The initiative aims to address a critical gap in emergency preparedness: when sudden cardiac arrest strikes a young athlete, immediate CPR can double or triple survival chances, yet many coaches lack the skills to respond.
Youth sports coaches from the Texans Showcase League and Spring Branch Memorial Sports Association participated in hands-on training to recognize cardiac arrest and respond quickly. Without immediate CPR, more than 90% of people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital do not survive, according to the Heart Association. The 2026 American Heart Association Statistical Update reports that more than half of youth under age 18 participate in sports, and nearly 40% of sudden cardiac arrests in this age group are related to sports activities, making it a leading cause of death for student-athletes.
The training is part of the Texans’ commitment to improve bystander CPR and support the American Heart Association’s work to double the survival rates of cardiac arrest by 2030, the goal of the Nation of Lifesavers movement. Each participating coach received a CPR Anytime Kit to share the training with other coaches, parents and volunteers, helping extend these skills across youth sports programs. The Houston Texans also donated three AEDs to the F.U.N. Football League, this year’s Texans Showcase League, to support emergency response readiness.
“When seconds matter it is important to have people nearby who are confident and capable of beginning CPR. Through our collaboration with the Houston Texans, we’re empowering coaches with the skills to act in a cardiac emergency,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. “Through this effort, youth sports coaches are gaining the confidence and skills to act quickly and help protect the athletes in their care.”
The American Heart Association is the worldwide leader in resuscitation science, education and training, and publishes the official scientific guidelines for CPR. With nearly 3 out of 4 cardiac arrests outside of the hospital occurring in homes, knowing how to perform CPR is critically important. Hands-Only CPR, also known as compression-only CPR, is effective for teens and adults in the first few minutes of an emergency and is as simple as calling 911 and pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest. More information is available at www.heart.org/HandsOnlyCPR.
In 2023, the NFL launched the Smart Heart Sports Coalition in collaboration with founding members including the NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, NCAA, the American Heart Association and others. The coalition aims to advocate for all 50 states to adopt evidence-based policies to help prevent fatal outcomes from cardiac arrest among high school students. Implementing these simple, cost-effective strategies across all 50 states can save lives.
