High school football game ends after 9 players suffer head injuries
Coach of École L'Odyssée’s Olympiens says team was forced to forfeit due to safety concerns
I think we're starting to see the beginning of the end of grass roots Canadian Youth football.
Parents aren't going to read articles like this one and rush out to register their kids to play the game.
Too many coaches don't believe in and aren't teaching their kids safe contact. They take the course so they can continue to coach, but they can't be bothered to teach it because they want their kids playing old school helmet first football.
The various Football associations don't do enough to enforce it and the referees are either too inexperienced or two intimidated by coaches to call it.
Even watching the pro games like the CFL and NFL we have players coming into tackles heads down and you know something, they're not doing youth football any favors at all.
Instead of leading the way, the pro's are just throwing dirt on the grave.
I would expect that less and less kids come out to play football and peewee and bantam and midget and high school ball becomes a fringe sport.
Sitting there and saying 9 concussions are within the game? Come on man, I doubt that.
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The coaches are supposed to take the safe tackling courses and then work on it with the kids in every practice.
All of the Canadian football bodies need to crack down on it and at the very least enforce the rules
1) Groups like Football Alberta and others need to utilize the refs to go and do snap inspections of practices. first off to make sure a set amount of time is being done with safe contact drills. Drills like King of the mountain, and Oklahoma and head to head pit if seen need to be removed from practices.
2) At the start of every game the refs needs to remind coaches that a UR penalty on a dangerous hit or helmet to helmet will result in a warning to the player and the coach. If a second UR penalty occurs with the player and its a head hit then the player and the coordinator are ejected from the game and suspended for the next game. If a second UR penalty for example is called on a different player, then the player is again warned and the coordinator is ejected and suspended.
3) If a coordinator is suspended more then once then he is suspended for the rest of the season.
4) Refs have to call the rules and know what safe contact looks like at a game level. If the Ref notices that teams are tackling using the Seahawks technique for example, then the ref has to warn the bench, if it continues then the head coach is ejected from the game and suspended for the game.
Like I said amateur football can't just look like they're doing something with the coach training, they have to enforce the safe contact technique.
I stayed after our game and watched several others and saw several helmet to helmet shots where the ref didn't throw the flag, maybe because they're not getting trained properly to recognize it, maybe because they're scared that if they start throwing the flag they're going to take abuse from the coaches (That's a whole other story).
We can't pay lip service to this anymore, there are lots of problems with kids football, but this is a huge safety issue and its driving kids away from a good sport to other sports.
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I hope it is the start of changing how the game is taught specifically the tackle and use of the head in tackling.
I would be interested in seeing numbers on concussions in high school football v rugby.
While I am the first to admit these sports aren't too similar they are in as much as each sport requires an individual to tackle another individual. The way the tackle is carried out in football is, IMO, poor.
Football is a good game that needs to take a look at the basic skills of the game and how these skills are taught.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
4) Refs have to call the rules and know what safe contact looks like at a game level. If the Ref notices that teams are tackling using the Seahawks technique for example, then the ref has to warn the bench, if it continues then the head coach is ejected from the game and suspended for the game.
.
Educate me on "Seahawks Technique" please.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
I hope it is the start of changing how the game is taught specifically the tackle and use of the head in tackling.
I would be interested in seeing numbers on concussions in high school football v rugby.
While I am the first to admit these sports aren't too similar they are in as much as each sport requires an individual to tackle another individual. The way the tackle is carried out in football is, IMO, poor.
Football is a good game that needs to take a look at the basic skills of the game and how these skills are taught.
Yeah, but you know what the issue is in football because you play(ed) rugby. It's the pads. I played rugby and right when scrum caps and shoulder "pads" were coming into the game I tried each at practice along with a couple other teammates. You just feel invincible! And I hesitate to use the word pads here, because they're super thin and basically take out the abrasion, but not much else. Just with that thin layer you feel like you can run into a wall!
On top of this, tackles in rugby aren't as bad because no one else has any pads either. There is a sort of mutually assured destruction in operation there. It creates a competitive respect for your opponents in some ways.
The tackling in football is much more ballistic, partly due to the pads and partly because it has to be. In rugby we rarely need to stop the opponent in his tracks. It happens, but not as frequently. Football is about doing just that. So you have these high speed, ballistic contacts and the body is just not designed for that kind of impact.
Yeah, but you know what the issue is in football because you play(ed) rugby. It's the pads. I played rugby and right when scrum caps and shoulder "pads" were coming into the game I tried each at practice along with a couple other teammates. You just feel invincible! And I hesitate to use the word pads here, because they're super thin and basically take out the abrasion, but not much else. Just with that thin layer you feel like you can run into a wall!
On top of this, tackles in rugby aren't as bad because no one else has any pads either. There is a sort of mutually assured destruction in operation there. It creates a competitive respect for your opponents in some ways.
The tackling in football is much more ballistic, partly due to the pads and partly because it has to be. In rugby we rarely need to stop the opponent in his tracks. It happens, but not as frequently. Football is about doing just that. So you have these high speed, ballistic contacts and the body is just not designed for that kind of impact.
I was actually thinking move about the use and safety of the head. Pads or no pads isn't really the issue so much as head placement. In rugby the tackler is taught to protect their head when making the tackle in football often the head is used as part of the tackle.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
I was actually thinking move about the use and safety of the head. Pads or no pads isn't really the issue so much as head placement. In rugby the tackler is taught to protect their head when making the tackle in football often the head is used as part of the tackle.
I agree totally, but the truth is if you take off the helmet, that stops virtually instantly!
So it is agreed, end football and transform all into rugby players.
I would be interested in Rugby League Stats v Football stats.
League has near identical requirements of the tackler to "stop the man in his tracks".
Its differnt though in that in football you can go for the big hit and rely on your team mates if you miss the tackle or he slips past. Rugby a lot of times you are defending your line and the tackle is much more important. The guy can also pass the ball. A lot more responsibility on making the tackle yourself IMO.
Seahawks tackling was the old way of teaching tackling which was head to the side tackling and using your shoulder pads. Your head and your shoulder would be basically horizontal.
The problem with it is multi-fold.
when you lower your helmet you lose visibility on your target.
You're still leading with your helmet, so if the running back lowers his head you get the battering ram.
while your head is supposedly at the side, your helmet is still potentially striking.
What we've being told to teach is safe contact which is break down, wrap first point of contact is the chest plate which keeps the head our of the tackle.
Coaches like Seahawk because you can basically absolutely level a kid on the tackle because you are a ballistic object. The problem is because your head is down you can miss tackles, but if you catch a kid in the lane you can absolutely cleat him.
However with safe contact if you teach it right its tough to miss a tackle, and you can still tackle with intent, your just not sitting a kid out with a concussion for two weeks.
The parents have to take a role in this two. If every parent went on registration day and asked "Do you teach safe contact" and the coach said no and the parent said we're out, this game would change in a hurry.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Seahawks tackling was the old way of teaching tackling which was head to the side tackling and using your shoulder pads. Your head and your shoulder would be basically horizontal.
The problem with it is multi-fold.
when you lower your helmet you lose visibility on your target.
You're still leading with your helmet, so if the running back lowers his head you get the battering ram.
while your head is supposedly at the side, your helmet is still potentially striking.
What we've being told to teach is safe contact which is break down, wrap first point of contact is the chest plate which keeps the head our of the tackle.
Coaches like Seahawk because you can basically absolutely level a kid on the tackle because you are a ballistic object. The problem is because your head is down you can miss tackles, but if you catch a kid in the lane you can absolutely cleat him.
However with safe contact if you teach it right its tough to miss a tackle, and you can still tackle with intent, your just not sitting a kid out with a concussion for two weeks.
The parents have to take a role in this two. If every parent went on registration day and asked "Do you teach safe contact" and the coach said no and the parent said we're out, this game would change in a hurry.
I have to be honest the second video you posted doesn't seem like a better option for the head.
I would like to see some video of that technique at full speed. You don't seem to go into the contact point in a strong position.
These couple of videos break down the tackle well.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
What is the future of tackle football?
