Quailman

February 9th, 2016 at 6:02 PM ^

A lot of youth soccer leagues/program actually do ban headers untl they reach a certain age.

In fact, the US Soccer Federation actually issued a new guidline that say that Children under 10 cannot head the ball in practice or games, while children 11-13 can head in practice but not games. 

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HL2VCTRS

February 10th, 2016 at 8:50 AM ^

Let's also not downplay the impact of those headers. It isn't just head to head impacts. I've headed a lot of balls (yes, yes... Insert joke here) over my life that have left me a little fuzzy afterwards. No contact other than soccer ball to head. Primarily things like punts from the keeper or hard shots. They can't be good for a person.

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DrewGOBLUE

February 9th, 2016 at 7:01 PM ^

Does flag football actually mitigate the risks all that much, though?

Maybe it's a bit different nowadays, but when I was in like 4th/5th grade, the coaches basically taught us to make a tackle by hitting the kid as hard as possible while simultaneously wrapping him up to yank off the Velcro flags. So there was definitely a lot of helmet-to-helmet collisions still.

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ScruffyTheJanitor

February 10th, 2016 at 9:34 AM ^

When I played flag football, we were taught to tackle with the switchblads we had taped to our hands, feet, and knees. And we didn't bother tackling the runner; we would usually tackle their closest family memeber over and over until the players will was broken, and they surrendured the field. 

So I don't know what sport you were playing, but it sounds like Pansy-ball. 

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mjv

February 9th, 2016 at 6:32 PM ^

There is an unusual benefit for large kids in holding off on tackle football until high school. Many (most?) youth tackle football leagues force bigger kids to wear a stripe on their helmet if they are over a certain weight, effectively forcing them into lineman.  

This wouldn't be an issue with a flag football league.  And these larger boys are the ones more likely to play football through high school, but they are limited in the positions available to them in youth football.

 

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buddhafrog

February 9th, 2016 at 4:55 PM ^

I'm fully in support of HS football, but I tend to agree about banning it for younger ages. Flag football works great and is enough.

On the other hand, I bet there is a ton more concussions at the HS level than for younger kids, so I don't know if my opinion is overly logical.



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FidelioHorelick

February 9th, 2016 at 4:58 PM ^

It's just too dangerous out there. Aside from the possiblity of getting physically hurt, they also risk their feelings.

Did Gregg at least include some sci fi in his article?

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cheesheadwolverine

February 9th, 2016 at 5:06 PM ^

This is a nice soundbite but there are actual data on this. It's in the article:

"[A Boston University study] finds that aging players who began playing full-pads tackle football before age 12 “performed significantly worse” on tests of mental acuity than those who did not don helmets until after age 12. For the latter group — those who waited till after age 12 to play tackle football — the sport was not especially damaging to later life."

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BoFan

February 9th, 2016 at 5:01 PM ^

I couldn't help but notice how every MVP introduced at the Super Bowl could barely walk. After reading about Joe Montana, they were all probably in incredible pain too.

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Kevin13

February 9th, 2016 at 5:02 PM ^

instead of banning it, use that young age to teach kids how to tackle properly and never lead with their heads. Start from a young age that the helmet is there to protect them and is not meant to hit with. You enforce that early and I think you can cut down on concussions later on in life, when these kids run faster and hit harder.

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DreisbachToHayes

February 9th, 2016 at 5:06 PM ^

way easier said than done though. I agree, this would be a perfect scenario, but most of the thousands of youth football coaches out there are just dads/volunteers/fans without a great deal of teaching knowledge and experience about the fundamentals of tackling without the helmet. After all, using the helmet has been the name of the game for years and years now. remember, we are only a a few years removed from the "he got JACKED-UP" segment on ESPN glorifying by-and-large concussing blows with the helmet.

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cheesheadwolverine

February 9th, 2016 at 5:07 PM ^

This article includes nuance.  Which is nice in a conversation that seems dominated by head-in-the-sand flamingos on the one hand and the "serves-no-purpose-and-should-be-banned" Malcolm Gladwell-types on the other.

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Rabbit21

February 9th, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^

I'm on the fence.  On the one hand I really don't see a need for tackle football at that young of an age as there is plenty of time to teach technique, on the other hand, what taught me how to tackle was playing no pads tackle football at recess and trying not to kill myself or my buddies while still getting the job done.  

I guess I'm in favor of keeping football at a young age as being flag football while trying to get the genie back in the bottle and letting boys be boys at recess.  

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