Football and kids

[nfotiu]

I was kind of shocked to see that this kid was the 7th high school football player to die in the US this year.

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9...2-weeks-injury

I never thought I'd be the type of parent that would be all over-protective when it comes to contact sports, but I'm happy for now that my kids are very into soccer and haven't showed much interest in football.

It is kind of crazy what parents are doing to their kids around here. I know lots of 6-7 year olds playing full contact football with 4 practices a week and games on weekend. My son's 7 year old friend is in a wheel chair for 6 weeks after breaking his leg in several places. Another one had to go into surgery for a kneecap.

The long lasting effects of the head injuries, though, are what really would concern me if my kids started to want to play.

What are other parents thinking these days? Is hockey a concern in these areas too these days? I think I'd be a lot more comfortable having my kids play hockey vs football, but I don't know that it is actually safer.

[troutman]

I worry about that too. I think it is far more likely though that our kids will get hurt on their bikes or skateboarding or snowboarding

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I was kind of shocked to see that this kid was the 7th high school football player to die in the US this year.

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9...2-weeks-injury

I never thought I'd be the type of parent that would be all over-protective when it comes to contact sports, but I'm happy for now that my kids are very into soccer and haven't showed much interest in football.

It is kind of crazy what parents are doing to their kids around here. I know lots of 6-7 year olds playing full contact football with 4 practices a week and games on weekend. My son's 7 year old friend is in a wheel chair for 6 weeks after breaking his leg in several places. Another one had to go into surgery for a kneecap.

The long lasting effects of the head injuries, though, are what really would concern me if my kids started to want to play.

What are other parents thinking these days? Is hockey a concern in these areas too these days? I think I'd be a lot more comfortable having my kids play hockey vs football, but I don't know that it is actually safer.

I don't have a source, but I was at a coaching clinic this summer and I am seem to recall soccer being the second highest sport for concussion for kids. Again, I can't put my hands to a source, and am going from memory.

[zukes]

My son turns 7 in May. He wanted to play this year, but 7 is the age. It is a risk, but hopefully with the advancements in helmets and the awareness that they have now the concussion issue gets resolved. I played and I am.....oh look a butterfly

Like Troutman said, there are a million ways for a kid to get hurt.

[Resolute 14]

There was a story a couple days ago about how the largest minor football program in the US has seen a 10% decline in participation over the last two years. Pretty much for these reasons - excessive danger.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I don't have a source, but I was at a coaching clinic this summer and I am seem to recall soccer being the second highest sport for concussion for kids. Again, I can't put my hands to a source, and am going from memory.

I believe that Girl's soccer usually gets mentioned in those kind of stats. Still far below football, but way about boy's soccer for some reason.

http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams...y&newsID=15157

Concussion rates are increasing in high school sports.

The current rates per 100,000 athletic exposures (an AE is one athlete participating in one organized high school athletic practice or competition, regardless of the amount of time played), according to the two most recent studies8,10 are as follows:
Football: Between 64 and 76.88
Girl's soccer: 33
Boys' lacrosse: Between 40 and 46.6
Girls' lacrosse: Between 31 and 35
Boys' soccer: Between 19 and 19.2
Boys' wrestling: Between 22 and 23.9
Girls' basketball: Between 18.6 and 21
Softball: Between 16 and 16.3
Boys' basketball: Between 16 and 21.2
Girls' field hockey: Between 22 and 24.9
Cheerleading: 11.5 and 14
Girls' volleyball: Between 6 and 8.6
Boys' baseball: Between 4.6 and 51

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I believe that Girl's soccer usually gets mentioned in those kind of stats. Still far below football, but way about boy's soccer for some reason.

http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams...y&newsID=15157

I will be honest, both my kids play high risk sports:

Boy: hockey and lacross
Girl: hockey and rugby


I have never been too concerned about the risk. Risk is about mitigation, and todate, all their coaches has taken what I feel to be appropaite steps to mitigate the risk.

[Plett25]

I'll support my kids if they want to play football, but I have never and will never suggest or encourage them to play football.

As far as they're concerned, football is something you watch, be it on TV or at the stadium. That's completely different from how we approach other sports. Hockey? Grab your sticks kids. Basketball? Each kid has their own. Soccer? You're playing whether you like it or not!

And football is my favourite sport.

[CaptainCrunch]

As a coach, I can pretty confidently state that the reason for a lot of injuries is because of the old school mentally when it comes to hitting. Coaches love the big hit. But they don't spend a lot of time on safe or heads up tackling technique that protects the neck and back and head of the tackler for example. they spend way to much time on scheme and reads.

I also think that coaches fail to teach players how to absorb a hit safely.

I also think that coaches need to spend extra time with young and new players in terms of how their equipment fits, that their helmets are properly inflated to their heads.

The other big thing is getting players to understand concussion symptoms and the difference between hurt and injured.

I wouldn't have a problem with letting my kid play full contact full equipment football, I don't think taught properly that its more dangerous then lets say hockey or lacrosse or even soccer. With the right coaching.

http://usafootball.com/health-safety/how-to-tackle

For example with the girls I'm coaching a lot of them are novices. We are going to have a full day football safety camp that covers tackling, taking a tackle, injury symptoms, equipment usage, etc.

On top of that since we practice three times a week, we spend 15 minutes of every practice working on heads up tackling and tacking a hit properly. A old pro once told me it takes 1000 tackles to even start to get it right.

If we coach our kids properly then we can change the game.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by troutman

I worry about that too. I think it is far more likely though that our kids will get hurt on their bikes or skateboarding or snowboarding

Yeah, but it seems like it is far more likely they'll be living with some pretty distressing brain trauma for the rest of their life if they play football through high school. I also suspect that the kids play and practice more intensely and frequently in the US, which may contribute to more issues.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I believe that Girl's soccer usually gets mentioned in those kind of stats. Still far below football, but way about boy's soccer for some reason.

http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams...y&newsID=15157

According to the documentary Head Games (a pretty good documentary about concussions and their implications in later life), it has something to do with an anatomical difference between girls and boys where girls have less cushioning via cerebral spinal fluid than boys.

As for football or other contact sports like rugby (and maybe even hockey), my wife and I agree that when we have children we won't let them play these sports as the risk of head injury is too great to risk their future health. Yes, kids can get hurt in a plethora of ways but to me it is all about minimizing their risk.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

As a coach, I can pretty confidently state that the reason for a lot of injuries is because of the old school mentally when it comes to hitting. Coaches love the big hit. But they don't spend a lot of time on safe or heads up tackling technique that protects the neck and back and head of the tackler for example. they spend way to much time on scheme and reads.

I also think that coaches fail to teach players how to absorb a hit safely.

I also think that coaches need to spend extra time with young and new players in terms of how their equipment fits, that their helmets are properly inflated to their heads.

The other big thing is getting players to understand concussion symptoms and the difference between hurt and injured.

I wouldn't have a problem with letting my kid play full contact full equipment football, I don't think taught properly that its more dangerous then lets say hockey or lacrosse or even soccer. With the right coaching.

http://usafootball.com/health-safety/how-to-tackle

For example with the girls I'm coaching a lot of them are novices. We are going to have a full day football safety camp that covers tackling, taking a tackle, injury symptoms, equipment usage, etc.

On top of that since we practice three times a week, we spend 15 minutes of every practice working on heads up tackling and tacking a hit properly. A old pro once told me it takes 1000 tackles to even start to get it right.

If we coach our kids properly then we can change the game.

Having watched my nephew's practices in Denver (they are 7 & 10) this is 100% true.

I know in rugby there is significant time spent on both how to tackle and how to be tackled. Both are skills.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Cuz

According to the documentary Head Games (a pretty good documentary about concussions and their implications in later life), it has something to do with an anatomical difference between girls and boys where girls have less cushioning via cerebral spinal fluid than boys.

As for football or other contact sports like rugby (and maybe even hockey), my wife and I agree that when we have children we won't let them play these sports as the risk of head injury is too great to risk their future health. Yes, kids can get hurt in a plethora of ways but to me it is all about minimizing their risk.

Hockey is far more dangerous than rugby for concussions.

This is not a dick question, it is an honest one, what sports will you let your kids play?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Cuz

According to the documentary Head Games (a pretty good documentary about concussions and their implications in later life), it has something to do with an anatomical difference between girls and boys where girls have less cushioning via cerebral spinal fluid than boys.

As for football or other contact sports like rugby (and maybe even hockey), my wife and I agree that when we have children we won't let them play these sports as the risk of head injury is too great to risk their future health. Yes, kids can get hurt in a plethora of ways but to me it is all about minimizing their risk.

Girls also have weaker necks then boys if they don't work on it.

I can't tell you how many times I would be at practice last year and I would hear three sound tackle.

Sound 1 pad collision

Sound two ground collision

Sound three head bouncing off of ground collision.

There are too many times that players are getting concussions for no good reason, its one thing that I'm really emphasizing this year with my players is how to protect yourself without taking a step back in the game.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Hockey is far more dangerous than rugby for concussions.

This is not a dick question, it is an honest one, what sports will you let your kids play?

Not a dick question at all, quite a fair one to be honest. Likely we'll let them play soccer, baseball, basketball, sports with a relatively low risk of head injuries. IMO, getting kids involved with team sports teaches them invaluable lessons about teamwork, winning, losing, etc., but at the same time we don't want to be parents that are too over protective of our children.

Hockey is a tough sport to justify on the basis of head injuries alone, without factoring whether we would be able to afford it. I suppose a lot will depend on the child too as some are better suited for certain sports.

[CaptainCrunch]

I can't believe they counted cheerleading as a sport and there are that many concussions involved.

[Temporary_User]

This whole thread reads as what we here at CP like to call "the pansification of society"

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Girls also have weaker necks then boys if they don't work on it. .

This - women have weaker neck muscles result in less stability and increased head trauma as a result.

The other aspect is that women report symptoms with greater regularity than males. This may be changing as there is increased awareness of concussions but males are much more likely not to inform medical providers and coaches of concussions. This then places the young male at increased risk of the second impact concussion which are significantly worse.

There are many factors that increased concussion risk but those are two of the major reasons.

As for football, I don't know, I think it is a good sport, but the way that kids hit, they hit to hurt, same thing with hockey actually. I think that we need to move towards more respect on the part of coaches and players.

[Northendzone]

so football has a concussion rate of 64 to 77 concussions per 100,000 athletic events - so how many athletic events would we be talking about if one kid started playing football at the earliest possible age and played right thru to university.

12 yrs of playing x 5 months of football games/practice (AE's) x 5 AE's per week = 1,200 AE's....... so I think that equates to about 1 chance per 1200 that seems like risk management to me......I wonder what the numbers look like for activities like skateboarding or bicycling?

for those of you that are considering not allowing your kids to play certain sports, it will be interesting to see how your kids react to that over time as thier peer group has influence over them.

for the record, I think concussions in kids are scary things, as how do you tell a 10 yr old to sit in a dark room and do nothing for some period of time.......but I sometimes think the risk is a little overblown.......

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

so football has a concussion rate of 64 to 77 concussions per 100,000 athletic events - so how many athletic events would we be talking about if one kid started playing football at the earliest possible age and played right thru to university.

12 yrs of playing x 5 months of football games/practice (AE's) x 5 AE's per week = 1,200 AE's....... so I think that equates to about 1 chance per 1200 that seems like risk management to me......I wonder what the numbers look like for activities like skateboarding or bicycling?

for those of you that are considering not allowing your kids to play certain sports, it will be interesting to see how your kids react to that over time as thier peer group has influence over them.

for the record, I think concussions in kids are scary things, as how do you tell a 10 yr old to sit in a dark room and do nothing for some period of time.......but I sometimes think the risk is a little overblown.......

Been there done that, my first official concussion was at 9. I've had 9 documented since then and probably a bunch more that just happened.

I can say though that I only had one concussion in football, the majority in hockey and a couple from baseball. and one from trying to pick up a girl.

To me it wasn't as much about suffering through the concussions at the time, but the long term probable damage that i did to myself.

But I can say that equipment is far better today and I believe coaching is better then it was today, and injury prevention is really improving.

But it still has a ways to go.