Sports Your Kids Play

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Flag football was huge for my 11 year old too. Great that he has a big love of football now that we can bond over. Unfortunately he has started asking about tackle, my wife and my numerous concussions from high school are against it.

Get him playing rugby, it is safer.

[Garbs]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Get him playing rugby, it is safer.

For Jnr rugby i thought they had an option to do a year of non-contact at some of the lower levels as well to get used to the game and learn positioning before jumping straight into tackle.

U11 is where they start having some tackle games and its waist down only. Coaching U9 right now and all the boys want to tackle right now.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Garbs

For Jnr rugby i thought they had an option to do a year of non-contact at some of the lower levels as well to get used to the game and learn positioning before jumping straight into tackle.

U11 is where they start having some tackle games and its waist down only. Coaching U9 right now and all the boys want to tackle right now.

Yeah I think U11 is the start of contact, but no rucks or mauls. Been a long time since I coached that level.

What club are you coaching with?

I still stand by my statement on the safety of rugby

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Get him playing rugby, it is safer.

What does the data say?

When it comes to concussions, research conducted by Complete Concussion Management in 2018 revealed that of all sports, men's rugby had the highest rate of concussion for people over the age of 18, with a rate of 3.0 concussions per every 1,000 players per game. Football comes in second with 2.5 concussions per every 1,000 players per game.
For players under the age of 18, rugby was also number one, at 4.18, while football was third at 0.53. As far as injuries in general, a study performed by doctors Nienke W. Willegenburg, James R. Borcher, and Richard Quincy of Ohio State University in 2016 showed that collegiate rugby players suffered injuries at a rate of 15.2 per every 1,000 players per game, while collegiate football players got injured at a rate of 4.9 per every 1,000 players per game.
Conclusion

The data would suggest that rugby is indeed a more dangerous sport in the sense that a player is more likely to get hurt while playing. However, the severity of injury is likely higher in football, considering the nature of the collisions to be at a greater speed and with less control. Both sports lend players to a greater risk of long-term health issues than other sports, but are also continually making improvements year in and year out to make their respective games safer.

https://www.florugby.com/articles/67...more-dangerous


Uh, they are both really bad. Particularly for concussions.

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Yeah I think U11 is the start of contact, but no rucks or mauls. Been a long time since I coached that level.

What club are you coaching with?

I still stand by my statement on the safety of rugby

Wait, you are serious?

High school rugby was my son's best sports experience by far, but it seemed like there was a concussion every other game. His only concussion came in Rugby, after having played hockey for 10 years.

Community hockey was the worst experience, but Quadrant was a positive experience overall, other than a disappointing draft in the final year of Midget.

He did one year of rowing at University, but it was a huge time commitment and the cardio was cutting into his gainz.

He is all about the gym now, and has met most of his friends at Uni that way.

[kermitology]

My eldest (12) is a competitive swimmer. She's at the pool 6 days a week for 2 hours each session.

I love swimming as a sport for her. While there's obviously competition between swimmers, it's mostly a sport where you compete with yourself to improve.

One of my favourite things is when you have a kid obviously swimming their first longer distance (200m+) and everyone watching cheers them on to finish.

The chase to drop tenths of a second is so real.. my daughter is currently working on trying to qualify for provincials in either 50 or 100m free. Needs to drop about 1.7s and 3.2s respectively.

Swim meets suck so much though. It's so long, and so much noise. Our club doesn't require fundraising, just volunteering. We're hosting the Canadian Swim Trials next weekend and I'm looking forward to watching Summer McIntosh in person. She's swimming with our club's national team and those kids are SO excited.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://www.florugby.com/articles/67...more-dangerous


Uh, they are both really bad. Particularly for concussions.

Most things worth doing have risk.

30+ yrs of playing and I only have minor CTE

The data would suggest that rugby is indeed a more dangerous sport in the sense that a player is more likely to get hurt while playing. However, the severity of injury is likely higher in football, considering the nature of the collisions to be at a greater speed and with less control.

Originally Posted by Nancy

Wait, you are serious?

High school rugby was my son's best sports experience by far, but it seemed like there was a concussion every other game. His only concussion came in Rugby, after having played hockey for 10 years.

Community hockey was the worst experience, but Quadrant was a positive experience overall, other than a disappointing draft in the final year of Midget.

He did one year of rowing at University, but it was a huge time commitment and the cardio was cutting into his gainz.

He is all about the gym now, and has met most of his friends at Uni that way.

Much if the injuries in High School come from poor coaching and frankly playing surfaces. Numerous high school fields are hard as rock and poorly maintained.

We have had zero head injuries this season. Proper coaching and technique greatly reduce the instances of concussion.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Swim meets suck so much though. It's so long, and so much noise. Our club doesn't require fundraising, just volunteering. We're hosting the Canadian Swim Trials next weekend and I'm looking forward to watching Summer McIntosh in person. She's swimming with our club's national team and those kids are SO excited.

I can agree with that statement. My kids only did one year when they were young, and it was the worst sports parent experience! Our meets are all outside mid summer in 90+ degrees. The pool deck is packed with parents, and the meets were 3+ hours just to watch your kid swim for a minute or two! Half of the meets had a thunderstorm delay where we'd all have to wait in our cars for an hour as well.

It made them strong swimmers for life though, so it was totally worth it.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Most things worth doing have risk.

30+ yrs of playing and I only have minor CTE

Much if the injuries in High School come from poor coaching and frankly playing surfaces. Numerous high school fields are hard as rock and poorly maintained.

We have had zero head injuries this season. Proper coaching and technique greatly reduce the instances of concussion.

I'm not sure "I only have minor brain damage" is the selling feature you think it is.


Good for your team for having proper couching, but is that universal across all teams? Doubtful, given the concussion rates for rugby.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I can agree with that statement. My kids only did one year when they were young, and it was the worst sports parent experience! Our meets are all outside mid summer in 90+ degrees. The pool deck is packed with parents, and the meets were 3+ hours just to watch your kid swim for a minute or two! Half of the meets had a thunderstorm delay where we'd all have to wait in our cars for an hour as well.

It made them strong swimmers for life though, so it was totally worth it.

I volunteered for a neighbors kids swim meet. I have done hockey evaluations for 15 years of reams of terrible players but nothing holds a candle to the hell that was that swim meet. That smell and boredom and not being able to leave is prison.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'm not sure "I only have minor brain damage" is the selling feature you think it is.


Good for your team for having proper couching, but is that universal across all teams? Doubtful, given the concussion rates for rugby.

The CTE was a joke.

After my 30 years playing I don't have any lingering "brain injury".


You are correct the coaching is insufficient and it bothers me greatly.


I can only control what I can control. I ensure my athletes are properly coached and prepared. It makes a massive difference.

We have only had 1 injury and that was a knee 2 games ago.


Coaching truly matters.





https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...22437521000852

I haven't read all the study yet.

[Fuzz]

Look how safe Dirt biking is! LOL. Wouldn't have thought that.


Injuries are injuries though, and can be pretty varied in their severity and impact. Concussions are for life.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

The CTE was a joke.

After my 30 years playing I don't have any lingering "brain injury".

Who wants to tell him?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Look how safe Dirt biking is! LOL. Wouldn't have thought that.


Injuries are injuries though, and can be pretty varied in their severity and impact. Concussions are for life.

You do you.

and frankly playing rugby is the least of the poor decisions/activities I subjected my body to

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Wandering here...One thing my uncle once said about his daughter--and it was a quote that stuck with me for decades... When in a conversation about what a pain in the ass it is to drive kids around to sports, his response was simply it's the best quality time he gets to spend with his daughter one-on-one. She would have been mid to late teens then and was a pretty competitive gymnast/tumbler.

Same experience for me. I coached my daughter's hockey teams the last few years of her minor hockey life and we spent hours together driving to practice, games etc. It was some of the best hours of my life. My son played community hockey (and stopped after grade 10), I did not get the same experience with him.

[jroc]

My 6 year old is a big sports nut, and has wrapped up spring hockey and has one month left in lacrosse and community soccer.

I would love to get him into 1 or 2 things for July-August, but it seems most sports run April-June, then take the rest of the summer off. My google skills have let me down so far, but does anyone have a suggestion for tee-ball/football/basketball etc? Looking for something a bit more advanced then just SportBall.

[Boblobla]

Both my boys play hockey. In the summer my older one does ball and younger does rugby. I coach everything and run the junior program at my rugby club. I also play hockey and rugby. I have zero free time.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Both my boys play hockey. In the summer my older one does ball and younger does rugby. I coach everything and run the junior program at my rugby club. I also play hockey and rugby. I have zero free time.

What club ?

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

What club ?

Rams. I play for the thirds team. First game of the season for me tonight. My back is sore thinking about it...

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

You do you.

and frankly playing rugby is the least of the poor decisions/activities I subjected my body to

Brain science moves slowly, and the trickle down into everyday sports culture moves even slower.

CTE wasn’t officially recognized until the 2000s, and it still can't be diagnosed in living people. Two athletes can take the same hit and have completely different outcomes - that's what makes brain injuries so unpredictable.

The issue in youth/high school/university sports is that we’re often dealing with policy lag; coaches, parents, and institutions are working off outdated or incomplete info, while science is still uncovering the basics of how the brain responds to trauma. As someone whose life was derailed by a brain injury (or ruined, depending on the mood I'm in,) I've developed a strong interest in brain science. I wouldn’t stop kids from playing sports. I think we're generally moving in the right direction with safety, but let’s not kid ourselves: certain sports--rugby, football, dirt biking--carry far higher risks. That said, you could fall during a game of badminton and crack your skull. Life is dangerous. You manage risk, not eliminate it.