Kids playing football

[Colorado]

I'm pumped for the start of the football season. However, I've been seeing more and more news stories about football players and head injuries. There's the story of Chris Borland retiring from the NFL very early in his career. There is this story about Derek Sheely and unknown circumstances around his death. These are just a couple of stories that I've read this week (I'm sure they're timed with the beginning of football seasons starting up). I could go on and on.

I'm a parent of a middle-school girl. I don't have to make a decision on whether or not she can play tackle football. I posted something on my fb page saying that it would be a very tough decision to make if I had a son and he really wanted to play. The only people that responded said they wouldn't let their sons play or wouldn't unless things drastically change in the next few years (his son was a toddler).

I'm not anti-football. (I played it in middle school but I was too small and didn't care for it. Wrestling was better for someone my size.) I'm coming at this from the perspective of a parent. Adults can make up their own minds about how they risk their bodies, IMO. I also think most sports are dangerous in many ways. I ride my bike thousands of miles a year on open roads and on gnarly mountain trails. I understand the risk of head injuries and have friends that have suffered concussions and worse while riding. The difference with football, I think, is the constant risk of permanent head/brain injuries. Every single play in football involves some sort of collision with the head.

I'm curious what other parents think about their children playing the sport. Is it worth the risk, in your opinion? Does your club/team/school do enough to protect the kids from these types of recurring injuries? Are you confident that at the end of their playing career they won't have injuries that last them for the rest of their lives? I've even heard talk that if player safety doesn't improve, it could ruin the sport for good. There's so much money at the higher levels that I'm not sure if this is the case or not. Thoughts on the long-term effects of brain injuries on the game itself?

 

[ISUKyro]

Football is about the only sport that we will not let our son play. For all the reasons you mentioned.
He is welcome to sign up for it after he is 18 and on his own.

 

[isufbcurt]

No boys, but have a stepdaughter in college (don't want kids of my own). But if by some chance I did have a kid they are free to play whatever sport they desire (except soccer) whether it be football, go kart racing, etc.

I have had multiple concussions but only 2 from football (1 in high school that was a bad one and 1 in college that was a mild one) and I am as healthy as can be.

Go down doing what you love, don't go down living in a bubble, is what I say.

 

[carvers4math]

My kids all played through middle school and decided on their own not to play in high school due to the time commitment and other activities.

Feel lucky none of them were injured just in middle school. One of their friends had three concussions by the time he got out of middle school, although he got one of them while in elementary playing soccer.

 

[jbindm]

Football is about the only sport that we will not let our son play. For all the reasons you mentioned.
He is welcome to sign up for it after he is 18 and on his own.

That's about where my wife and I are with our son. I love watching football so I guess it might come off as hypocritical, but I just don't want my son put at that kind of risk.

And truth be told, the more we learn about the potential long term effects of playing football, the less enthusiastic I get about watching the sport. That Chris Borland link the OP provided was a captivating read. I think Borland is a high profile example of what a lot of fans are feeling about the sport right now. Can you reconcile your enjoyment of the game with the carnage that you know you're seeing on virtually every play?

 

[3TrueFans]

If when my boys are in high school and interested in playing I'd entertain the idea and have a discussion with them about it. But they start tackle football in 3rd grade in Ames which is most definitely not happening, soccer is my oldest son's sport of choice but even if he were into football I wouldn't do it. Too young, too many risks, too much to lose and nothing to gain.

 

[Cybirdy]

I have all girls, too, but still worry about concussions especially since she is a catcher. Just read Mike Mathey's book this summer and concussions definitely happen to catchers very frequently. I also have a friend with a daughter who had a severe head injury from soccer at age 11.

I was talking to a friend who has boys in 5th grade and their dad is a former player. They won't play tackle until they are in middle school or later. I know the young boys in our neighborhood can't wait for football, I think they start playing with pads/tackle in 3rd grade.

 

[Hoiball92]

If when my boys are in high school and interested in playing I'd entertain the idea and have a discussion with them about it. But they start tackle football in 3rd grade in Ames which is most definitely not happening, soccer is my oldest son's sport of choice but even if he were into football I wouldn't do it. Too young, too many risks, too much to lose and nothing to gain.

Have him play flag football or something and if he likes it let him play tackle in like 5th or 6th grade. That's what I did.

 

[ISUKing]

My son is 3, can't wait for him to get into football, though, all signs right now are pointing toward baseball.

I don't downplay the existence of injuries, but for every 1 or 2 that have life changing events, aren't there 100's if not 1000's that don't? You can say that about anything, there are risks in everything we do as humans, do what makes life fun (and legal) for you.

 

[CYCLNST8]

I played all kinds of sports throughout school. Football was my favorite sport by far and I was consistently the smallest player on the field. Probably had a few un-diagnosed concussions because I had a kamikaze playing style. My brother tore his ACL. We'd both go back and do it all over again. Mom & dad weren't the type to shelter me or my brother. I would've hated them if they told me I couldn't play. I needed the sport to channel my adolescent aggression. I'll always love it because it's a true team sport. In basketball one player can take over. In baseball one pitcher can shut the game down. In football you need eleven guys working together.

 

[3TrueFans]

Have him play flag football or something and if he likes it let him play tackle in like 5th or 6th grade. That's what I did.

He played flag 1 season, we pretty much figured out it wasn't his sport, but I still wouldn't let him play in 5th or 6th grade.

 

[CyFan61]

I played eight seasons of tackle football from 5th-12th grade and I can't really imagine my life without that experience. In fact, most of my friends started in 4th grade and I remember being angry with my parents for not letting me join the tackle football league that early.

The facts about injuries are concerning, but it's my understanding that the likelihood of serious injury is multiplied when the players are larger and faster, i.e. at higher levels like college or NFL. For players who end their football careers in high school, I don't know how many experience lifelong issues related to the sport. It can't be that many. I think I would let a son of mine play football if he wanted.

 

[Gossamer]

I struggle with this as well. My son is 7 and I deliberately signed him up for soccer again this fall instead of football, despite the fact that I played for a couple years in college. That being said, soccer isn't a cake-walk either...but can't be compared to the brutality of football.

The reality is that all sports have risks and they can be debilitating. For me, no kids need to have their heads beat on. What age is appropriate? I don't know. I played one year of high-school football and then played two years at the DIV. III level. I minimized my risks by virtue of the time I played...but I cringe when I see other kids my sons age suiting up for pee-wee league.

As a parent, I spend more time thinking about my kids future and what their "real future" holds for them...and without fail, none of them are going to be professional athletes. Based on statistics alone, I can safely say this.

If my son was adamant about playing football during his high-school years, that would be a decision my wife and I would make with him. But right now, at 7, he has no business beating his head on someone else. Flag football is fine with me right now...tackle, no.

Funny how different I am with my kids than I was with myself. I'd still suit up and play if given the opportunity...nothing better than being on a football field.

 

[Hoiball92]

He played flag 1 season, we pretty much figured out it wasn't his sport, but I still wouldn't let him play in 5th or 6th grade.

It'd be stupid to let him play in HS and not middle school.

 

[jj-cyclones]

Just got married and no kids yet but it boggles my mind that some won't let their kids play football. Maybe it was just where I grew up but that what everyone did, football/basketball/track/baseball rinse and repeat. Some kids don't like sports and that's fine, they don't have to play.

In the end it will be up to them if they want to play or not but if it is an option for them I'm not going to tell them no.

 

[3TrueFans]

I think for as little as we know about what head injuries do to developed brains we know much less about what they do to brains that are still developing. I find it hard to believe that someone would get some kind of special experience from playing football that they wouldn't get from playing baseball, soccer, basketball etc. I personally don't see there being some innate benefit that football would have over another team sport with less risks involved.

 

[3TrueFans]

It'd be stupid to let him play in HS and not middle school.

Explain.

 

[isufbcurt]

I think for as little as we know about what head injuries do to developed brains we know much less about what they do to brains that are still developing. I find it hard to believe that someone would get some kind of special experience from playing football that they wouldn't get from playing baseball, soccer, basketball etc. I personally don't see there being some innate benefit that football would have over another team sport with less risks involved.

I don't see it as getting benefits from one sport over another. I see it as not letting something risky dictate how you live your life. It's like the movie "Along Came Polly", where the Ben Stiller guy tries to live his life mitigating risks on everything he does and then realises he is missing out on a lot of great things.

 

[Hoiball92]

Explain.

If he starts in 9th grade I bet he wouldn't touch the field because he has no experience.

 

[heitclone]

So they parents that won't let their kids play football also plan to keep their kids from driving as well right? Just like everything in our society, people overreact and treat the exception as the rule when it comes to anything controversial. I'd guess most ppl who keep their kids from contact sports didn't play them themselves and don't really know the risks. They only know the negative stories. Heck this is only a few posts long and there are things said that just totally aren't true.