Safety Information on Youth Football

Is Football Safe for Kids?

by Kent Hannon: Sports Illustrated for Kids'

With proper coaching and equipment, the risk is minimal.

Ray McEwen is one of the men in charge of Sanford Stadium, where the University of Georgia Bulldogs play football.  Over the years, he has seen college players dish out many head-jarring tackles, the kind that sports shows love to include in their highlight films.  But the collision that scared McEwen the most was one that involved his son Brent.

At the time, McEwen was the coach of an age-group football team.  Brent, then 10, played linebacker.  "One day in practice, a ball carrier shot through the line and Brent collided with him, helmet to helmet," McEwen says.  "Both kids went down and didn't move.  I remember someone saying, 'Those kids are really hurt."

Though Brent's helmet slit in half, neither he nor the ball carrier was injured.   Brent, who went on to play football through college, never suffered a serious injury.  In fact, he sustained his worst football injury one day after practice.   Brent and some friends were playing catch with a Nerf football when Brent tripped over his own helmet, fell, and broke his arm.

Three Safety Factors

Three factors helped prevent Brent from being seriously hurt when he collided with the other player.  Those three factors explain why age-group football -- when taught and managed correctly -- is actually less dangerous, statistically speaking, than soccer.

1.    Proper equipment minimizes the danger of serious injuries.  "Brent was wearing a water-and-air-bladder helmet that was certified for college use," McEwen says.  "He did split the helmet, but the helmet took most of the blow for him."

2.    Proper technique helps kids avoid getting hurt.  "Brent was taught that he should never use his helmet to make a tackle," says McEwen.  "You lead with your shoulder.  Even though this ball carrier surprised him, Brent was turning his head away at the time of the collision.   That probably saved those boys from a concussion -- or worse."

3.    FORCE = mass x acceleration, and kids don't generate much force.  "Neither kid weighed one hundred pounds," says McEwen.  "And they couldn't run very fast.  So it wasn't like Lawrence Taylor crashing into Emmitt Smith."

Surprisingly Few Injuries

Experts believe that as many as one million kids play age-group football in the United States.  (There is no national body that oversees age-group football.)  Some 170,000 kids play Pop Warner, which is similar in organization to Little League baseball.   Pop Warner, which is for kids ages 7 to 16, has very strict safety rules against which all youth football programs should be measured.

"Safety is always a concern in our program," says Ralph Dumican, who is in his eleventh year of coaching Pop Warner teams in North Attleboro, Mass.  "Our coaches attend several clinics each year, and they're well versed in coaching, conditioning, and safety.  Frankly, many more of our kids get hurt riding bikes, climbing trees, or in-line skating than they do playing football."

Pop Warner has never had a player fatality in its 67-year history.  And studies show that most youth football programs are relatively safe.  In a recent study, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission examined athletic injuries on a sport-by-sport basis.  It found that organized football 5-to-15 year-olds had 12 % fewer injuries per capita than organized soccer for the same age group.  Football also had 50% fewer injuries than bike riding and 74% fewer than skateboarding.

Good Equipment is the Key

"Kids do get hurt paying football," says McEwen.  "But if you put a kid in the right equipment, teach him proper techniques, and play him against kids who are the same age and weight, it's a pretty safe sport."

Fortunately, football equipment for kids has never been better.  The same companies who manufacture equipment for the colleges and pro teams make equipment for kids.  Beyond the standard helmet, pads (shoulder, knee, thigh, hips, tailbone), and rubber cleats, Pop Warner requires that players wear vests to protect their ribs and long Lycra girdles over all the padding to keep the pads from slipping.

"We use helmets that carry the NOCSAE (National Operating Committee for Standards for Athletic Equipment) seal of approval," says Dumican.  "We send the helmets out each year to be reconditioned, pressure tested, sanitized, and re-certified."

"In the end, what coaches have to remember about age-group football," says McEwen, is that it's all about providing recreation for kids in a safe environment.   The score doesn't matter."

 

FOOTBALL SAFETY FACTS & INFORMATION:

In Pop Warner Football, there is “an absence of catastrophic head and neck injuries and disruptive joint injuries found at higher levels.”

The injury rate in Pop Warner Football is:

• less than one-third the injury rate in high school football
• less than one-fifth the injury rate in college football
• less than one-ninth the injury rate in professional football

• Pop Warner's age-weight schematic protects younger, lighter players, who do not have higher injury rates.

• Organized football among 5 – 15 year-olds has 12 percent fewer injuries per capita than organized soccer in the same age range

• Organized football among 5 – 15 year-olds has 50 percent fewer injuries per capita than bicycle riding in the same age range.

• Organized football among 5 – 15 year-olds has 74 percent fewer injuries per capita than skateboarding in the same age group.

• Injuries in youth football are normally mild, and older players have a higher injury rate than younger players.

•  The Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma in New York completed a Pop Warner injury survey in 71 towns covering over 5,000 players in 1998. The injury experience of 5,128 boys (8 to 15 years of age, weight 22.5 to 67.5 kg [50 to 150 lb]) participating in youth football revealed an overall rate of significant injury of 5%, with 61% classified as moderate and 38.9% as major injuries. That's about 1.33 per team per year. No catastrophic injuries occurred, and it was rare for a permanent disability to result from any injury.

What Age To Begin Playing Tackle Football

Former Cincinnati Bengal Pat McInally is the only Harvard graduate to have played in both a Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl and is the founder of Good Sports for Life. The GoodSports program is dedicated to helping parents improve youth sports by promoting meaningful participation, improved performance, personal growth and creating positive experiences for kids playing sports.

By Pat McInally, Director of PacifiCare's GoodSports Program

Parents, especially moms, are constantly asking what the "proper" age is for kids to begin playing tackle football.

While there is no one, indisputable age, let's look at the many other factors which are much more important in the decision to let youngsters go out on the gridiron.

First, a youngster should have a strong desire to play. The physical, mental and personal development which football can uniquely deliver requires discipline, willingness to fit into a team, physical exertion and the absorption of discomfort and pain because of the contact and conditioning necessary. Don't let that scare you, the rewards are all worth the effort, but only if your child really wants it. Yes, hard work should be enjoyable and rewarding, especially in today's world of obesity and video games.

Next, make sure your child has extensive experience in team sports. Having played soccer, baseball, basketball or other sports can have a tremendous impact on handling the challenges football presents. Having already absorbed the concepts of sharing coaching time (not being the center of attention), working with other personalities, developing eye-hand coordination, competing in front of crowds, suffering defeats and failures, as well as the highs of success and victories, are crucial. Football is much more complex and challenging physically and mentally than any of the other team sports, so having as much experience as possible can help in understanding and absorbing the greater challenges the sport presents.

The physical maturity and conditioning of a youngster should be closely considered also. It's up to the parents to understand and make sure that their boy is in good enough shape to handle football's pre-season camp. Even on the youth levels, teams will typically practice every day for two weeks before the season begins to install the offense and defense, teach and hone the fundamentals of tackling and blocking and condition the players for games. This is challenging for youngsters. They will come home with bruises, be tired physically, drained mentally and need your support to get through it. Coming into this challenge by having studied their basic play books and having prepared with extra conditioning will definitely help them get through these aptly named "hell" weeks.

Mental and psychological maturity are also important. The ability to listen, absorb and learn new concepts, particularly in a group will impact the first year experience in football tremendously. Has your child been able to adjust to different coaching styles, varying levels of competition, playing with more talented and less talented teammates and opponents? How has he handled adversity in the past? Has he been able to absorb new ideas and techniques at school and in sports? These are some questions which you might consider because football does require learning skills, toughness to push through fatigue and the ability to think through strategies and challenges under stressful conditions. These are not inherent, by the way, and needn't be fully developed. Part of the greatness of football, is these will be gained through the experience. Just make sure your child is ready for the learning curve ahead.

After you've assessed your child's enthusiasm and desire to play, his preparation physically and mentally, and over-all athletic experiences, make sure YOU ARE prepared to help him or her take on football. The sport is expensive to some (but well worth the investment, if possible), definitely time-consuming and never to be misconstrued with a baby-sitting venue (as is, sadly, so often the case in many other youth sports). Your job begins before that first day of practice and will continue throughout the season, as we shall see.

Your child needs to be prepared, by you, before ever stepping on the football field. Understanding the basic rules and strategies of the sport before trying out is critical. Coaches will not have time to explain first downs, huddles, scoring, or penalties such as off-sides or clipping. That's your job. Get books, tapes and watch games on television, or even on the youth or high school levels. Explain the sport to them, do not assume they understand what the announcers are talking about. They really must have an overall "feel" for the game before signing up to play.

Coaches simply don't have the time to do this. With such limited time and such varying levels of skills and experience, they must focus on teaching things such as proper tackling and blocking, installing plays and defenses and making sure the players are conditioned and ready to play. Remember, too, that they are volunteers, not professionals and all the support and help you can offer can help immeasurably.

Also, as the season progresses, it's up to you to work with your child away from practices so that he will continue to improve in the areas he needs to work on. This is a big reason for attending some practices, as well as the games, to see what your son really needs to work on and how he is developing against the progress being made by his peers. It also allows for opportunities to ask the coaches what he needs to work on most and how he is progressing in general.

Understand this. There will never be enough repetitions in practice or games for individuals to reach their potential. You have to provide those extra repetitions for immediate and future success. And success (or even improvement) is hugely impactful in confidence, performance and enjoyment of an activity. We all like what we do well.

So, as you can see, the question of what age is right for tackle football, isn't the right question, is it? It's really about your child and when he or she is ready to play. No coach will know your child as well as you (or at least we should hope not), thus it's up to you to assess their willingness, preparedness and how much you're willing to put out to help them enjoy their experience.

Tackle football is different, the kids who play it are different and the parents who support it are different. Thank goodness, because it's worth all of the dedication, physical demands and mental challenges, especially in these times.

Article taken from National Pop Warner Website.