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Topic: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Topic: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

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Pataskala
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OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/17/2014 4:46:03 PM

A Dispatch article examines why fewer kids are going out for football from youth leagues through HS. Main reasons: kids aren't willing to make the year-round commitment; increased participation fees; fear of serious injuries; kids spread themselves too thin with other activities.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

Alan Swank
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/17/2014 5:20:31 PM

Pataskala wrote:

I found this quote from a coach to be very interesting.

“High-school football still is an institution and a way of life for many people and communities across America. We have to fight to keep it that way.”

JSF
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/17/2014 11:16:57 PM

Alan Swank wrote:

"High-school football still is an institution and a way of life for many people and communities across America. We have to fight to keep it that way.”

Why?

"Loyalty to a hometown or city is fleeting and interchangeable, but college is a stamp of identity."- Kyle Whelliston, One Beautiful Season.

My blog about depression and mental illness: https://bit.ly/3buGXH8

Deciduous Forest Cat
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/17/2014 11:38:22 PM

JSF wrote:

Alan Swank wrote:

"High-school football still is an institution and a way of life for many people and communities across America. We have to fight to keep it that way.”

Why?

Well, obviously because we don't emphasize sports enough in this country.

Ryan Carey
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 3:07:23 AM

I've been on the board for our local youth football organization for the past 6 years, mainly running the website and a registration system I've created. Here are the historical numbers of our 6th/7th grade tackle league:

Year	Player Count
2009	162
2010	153
2011	115
2012	110
2013	86
2014	80

From what I can tell, it's mostly kids focusing on one sport and an increase in concussion fears. It also probably doesn't help our HS won the state championship in basketball in 2010 and just won the 2014 state championship in baseball. Both those programs seem to be on the increase, as well as an increase interest in lacrosse.

Ryan M. Carey
BBA 2001

Bcat2
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 7:15:35 AM

When Terry Bradshaw is going public that soccer offers the same benefits for kids with much less risk of serious injury I take notice. Also there are fewer type AAAAAA volunteer coaches in the other sports.

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men." JFK

The Optimist
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 10:35:24 AM

There needs to be some revolutionary helmet tech ASAP.

I've seen crazier things happen.

L.C.
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 11:12:30 AM

What bothers me in that article is not the kids giving up football because of fear of head injuries, and not the kids givign up football in favor of other sports, but the ones giving up football because practicing outside is too much work, and because they'd rather be inside paying video games.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

GoCats105
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 12:25:38 PM

The Optimist wrote:

There needs to be some revolutionary helmet tech ASAP.

At some point helmets have limitations. Repeated blows to the head while wearing anything is going to cause brain trauma.

Ohio69
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 12:53:46 PM

We've discussed this before on here. Just like many former NFLers, my son is not going to play football. His parents are going to prevent it. Does that make sense? Maybe not. After all we watch a lot of football. But, its gonna happen. There's plenty of other things for him to do. Such as solve the US National Team's problems at left back by 2030 or so.....

Can somebody hit a pull up jumper for me?.....

Bobcat Grad 86
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 3:21:18 PM

Bcat2 wrote:

A separate study also revealed that soccer-related concussions accounted for 15 percent of all sports concussions. Girls' soccer was second only to football for sports-related concussions, accounting for 8.2 percent of these head injuries, the study found.

http://consumer.healthday.com/cognitive-health-information-26/brain-health-news-80/heading-soccer-ball-can-damage-brain-study-says-684615.html

giacomo
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 3:40:37 PM

I thank my lucky stars my Mom wouldn't let me play football back in the day.

rpbobcat
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 3:43:06 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

There needs to be some revolutionary helmet tech ASAP.

At some point helmets have limitations. Repeated blows to the head while wearing anything is going to cause brain trauma.

My wife is a nurse with a lot of experience with patients with head trauma.

From what she says,no matter how good the helmet,the impact to the head can cause the brian to move hitting the skull resulting in concussions or other damage.

Until they find a way to fill your skull with foam,concussions will remain a problem.

The Optimist
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 4:03:33 PM

Yep, there is very much a limitation to how much helmets can solve. Even if future helmets could drastically cut concussion rates, you still have things like spinal cord injuries often caused due to weird/fluke collisions.

Uphill battle would be a massive understatement.

edit:
And speaking of filling your brain with foam, humans do have a liquid area between the brain and the skull filled with a fluid called CSF. That stuff helps cushion your brain from a lot of the impacts you take over the course of your life. If doctors can figure out how to make that into foam to make it even more effective, we are in business!

Last Edited: 8/18/2014 4:13:29 PM by The Optimist

I've seen crazier things happen.

SouthernCat
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 4:19:10 PM

The Optimist wrote:

There needs to be some revolutionary helmet tech ASAP.

It happened in 1896. Leather helmets will do more than any plastic one you can invent.

PhiTau74
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 4:56:07 PM

giacomo wrote:

I thank my lucky stars my Mom wouldn't let me play football back in the day.

Wow, playing football was one of the greatest things my mom ever made me do. Taught me character, how to be a team player, how to play through adversity and never give up. I attribute playing football in highschool and walking on at OU to helping me in business and in managing people. Taught me to not give up and be tough when the going gets tough.

Last Edited: 8/18/2014 4:56:43 PM by PhiTau74

Mike Johnson
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/18/2014 10:15:06 PM

PhiTau74 wrote:

giacomo wrote:

I thank my lucky stars my Mom wouldn't let me play football back in the day.

Amen.

This past weekend I had the welcome opportunity to spend time with two of my high school coaches. They are 82 and 78. They taught me much and reinforced values that I had been learning from my parents.

I suffered one reasonably serious concussion - in baseball. Kept me out of action for a week.

In football my bell was rung two times - in the same game - and those two "rings" might have been minor concussions.

Knowing what we know now about repeated blows to the head and were I young again, I still would play football. And, yes, I'd let my sons play. To me, the benefits outnumber the risks.

Now, let me qualify the foregoing. What I said applies to youth, high school and college ball. But the NFL? Even if were good enough, I'm not sure I would play. Why? The hits are a hell of a lot harder than in college or high school or youth ball AND the pros play 20 or more games a season. And those hits build on any head blows incurred in college, high school and youth football.

http://www.facebook.com/mikejohnson.author

Ohio69
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 11:07:29 AM

PhiTau74 wrote:

giacomo wrote:

I thank my lucky stars my Mom wouldn't let me play football back in the day.

I'm sure this is true. But, many other sports do the same thing.

Last Edited: 8/19/2014 11:07:51 AM by Ohio69

Can somebody hit a pull up jumper for me?.....

Bcat2
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 11:12:34 AM

Mike Johnson wrote:

PhiTau74 wrote:

giacomo wrote:

I thank my lucky stars my Mom wouldn't let me play football back in the day.

With you except I don't support youth football. I don't think youth are physically developed enough for full contact sport. Also there can be a huge physical disparity between the kids on teams. I started in high school. My son started in 7th grade. His high school lifting program put thirty pounds on him that melted away when he graduated. High school is what college used to be, college is more advanced than the pros used to be.

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men." JFK

C Money
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 11:13:14 AM

SouthernCat wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

There needs to be some revolutionary helmet tech ASAP.

It happened in 1896. Leather helmets will do more than any plastic one you can invent.

Agreed. I'll add though that mouth guard and neck/spine support are just as much a part of the equation as skull protection.

Pataskala
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 11:22:16 AM

SouthernCat wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

There needs to be some revolutionary helmet tech ASAP.

It happened in 1896. Leather helmets will do more than any plastic one you can invent.

You're probably right. Although leather helmets don't have the cushioning of plastic helmets, they probably don't need it. A big reason for concussions and neck injuries is that plastic helmets are about 10 times harder than the human skull. Although players wear protective helmets, there's probably not any technology that can effectively counter the impact from a plastic helmet, especially when a player comes in at full force. With leather, you basically have one human head hitting another, so the impact isn't as great.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

colobobcat66
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 11:22:57 AM

I would back off on football under 12 or 13, shorten schedules and tackle practice.
I'd like to see it stay forever, but the lawyers will finally kill it some day.

Bcat2
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 11:44:33 AM

colobobcat66 wrote:

I would back off on football under 12 or 13, shorten schedules and tackle practice.
I'd like to see it stay forever, but the lawyers will finally kill it some day.

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men." JFK

Bobcat Grad 86
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 11:57:21 AM

Being the father of only one child, a 17 year old daughter, I have not had to consider the question about a child playing football.

My daughter is a pole vaulter which is a very dangerous sport. Olympic Champion Jenn Suhr suffered injuries to her ribs, wrist, neck and hands after her pole snapped recently during a training jump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbWVoCac_-Y

Penn State pole vaulter Kevin Dare was killed during a meet in 2012 when he became disoriented during a jump.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/stories/2002-02-23-dare.htm

My daughter (now a senior) first started jumping in 7th grade attempting heights of five feet and the thought of injury was not a great concern. She has now cleared 10 feet twice and is working at becoming inverted during the launch.

She has not been seriously injured vaulting although I would assume despite normally landing in the pit feet first she has probably jerked her head and neck a few times.

Her most serious injuries have been a broken hand playing field hockey, stress fractures from running during training and another broken hand when she went ice skating with one skate and one walking boot.

I do worry at times about her being injured vaulting, but my faith helps give me some peace of mind. My daughter trains year round for vaulting including during field hockey season (she is icing her leg right now between two-a-days for FH). Her passion for vaulting has given her discipline and has helped her to set goals both academically and athletically. Some of her best friends are in her pole vault club and their is a high level of mutual respect among pole vaulters even during competition.

Like golf, vaulting is very technical and can be very frustrating at times. Her junior year was not quite what she hoped for but she and her coach have a game plan for training and I could not be more proud of her perseverance. As others have mentioned about their experience playing football, the life lessons my daughter has experienced from pole vaulting and field hockey will serve her well in life. She hopes to vault in college but has the mindset that she is giving it her best effort and will have no regrets about the final outcome. As a parent, that is all you can hope for in various facets of life for your children.

As for football, hopefully young players will continue to be taught proper techniques for tackling which will not eliminate injuries, but hopefully reduce the number and severity.

Bobcatbob
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RE: OT: Fewer kids going out for football

Posted: 8/19/2014 2:23:09 PM

C Money wrote:

SouthernCat wrote:

The Optimist wrote:

There needs to be some revolutionary helmet tech ASAP.

It happened in 1896. Leather helmets will do more than any plastic one you can invent.

Agreed. I'll add though that mouth guard and neck/spine support are just as much a part of the equation as skull protection.

Going back to leather has long been my preferred solution for reducing injuries. I was barely past the age of single bar face guards myself when I first played football. In fact, my first hand me down helmet did not have an extended face guard at all.

You'll think long and hard about launching your head at someone if you aren't wearing a "protective" helmet and, especially, if you're likely to get a knee or elbow in your eye socket.

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