Why you should let your young kid play tackle football
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Anonymous
LOL what do you mean, angry? I was simply asking what other sports and wanted to know the reasoning. What's angry about that? Sheesh. |
Anonymous
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“If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.”
That is the goal. I grew up in an area where football is huge. From little kids through college and pro. I will never let my kids play. It is a terrible community. |
Anonymous
| Try Flag Star football. The organizers and coaches played college football and they take football really seriously but there is no chance of concussions. My DS got a lot out of it and played multiple years. I wish they continued with teams through high school.Of all the sports my DS played, who all said "We're just in it for the kids to have fun" Flag Star and summer swimming -- we lucked out with a great team and seasoned, fun coach -- were the only ones who actually meant it. It's a great organization. They're really in it for the players. Highly recommend!! |
Anonymous
This. A lot of the anti-football sentiment is just classism (and honestly, a little raciscm). People who have never attended a youth football practice talk about how dangerous it is, but sign their children up for hockey or lacross or softball, where head injuries can also occur. They don't like football bc they associate with Red countries and bigotry. But here's the truth: any sport that has athletes sharing space and running at top speed has risk for injury. And the other truth they don't want to hear: football is the absolute BEST way to get your child exposed to other kids, cultures and races. My son's baseball team is 100% white. His basketball team had 3 AA boys. His football team: too many different cultures and races to count: Latin, AA, Asian, White. Half the people on this board think its either a poor person's sport or a racist redneck sport. It is neither. It is a wonderful way for boys to get exercise, build character, and grow friendships |
Anonymous
PP again. I just got an email from them about upcoming "Promo days" -- days they are training new coaches and need players. So your kid can basically play for free to check them out. I couldn't find it on their website but you can contact them. http://www.flagstarfootball.com/ There is nothing "classist" or anti-football about playing flag football. It's for parents who WANT their kids to play but also don't want them to be in a sport with, let's be honest here, an huge chance of concussion. Come on. Be honest. |
Anonymous
Yes, but any sport has athletes sharing space and running at top speed DIRECTLY AT EACH OTHER has a HIGHER risk for injury. What basketball team is your kid on that there are only 3 AA players? That is highly unusual. |
Anonymous
For many of us who don't want our kids to play tackle football in elementary or middle school, a major reason is that we don't want them to play in high school where the risks go up, and we're afraid that they'll fall in love. So, "let them play or they might never end up playing" is a feature, not a bug. Amen. This is exactly why my DC will never play. I don’t want them to be good enough to make the team in high school. |
Anonymous
I played football through high school. I'm not sure what other sport would have me launching myself at a player mid jump with the hope of hitting them hard enough that they dropped a ball or have a coach explaining that if I hit a 220 pound ball of muscle barreling forward low enough then I'll be able to take them to the ground. Most other sports, that's some kind of penalty if not an ejection. My kids play flag football and if they after ask to play tackle, the answer will be no. |
Anonymous
Well, that does happen in hockey and lacrosse, but you're assuming that's the only way to get a concussion. How about 2 players sprinting towards the ball both with the intent to strike the ball with their head? That's why Girls Soccer is actually the second most dangerous sport when it comes to concussions. I'm not arguing that football isn't dangerous; it is. But the narrative that its dangerous and kids should player other sports to play is safe is exaggerated. Any sport where the athletes can occupy the same space carries an inherent danger. If you're worried about your kids getting a head injury, you should really remove football, soccer, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, etc. Which is fine. Your kids can play tennis. But it often feels like "safety" is a convenient cover for people to hate on football because they just don't like the people that play it |
Anonymous
You keep listing basketball, when the rate of concussions in basketball is less than half that in football. |
Anonymous
| My kid has played hockey for 12 seasons. He has had a couple of close calls, but fortunately has never had a concussion as far as I know, but he knows a decent number of kids who have suffered from concussions. So its a real problem, but in my experience the coaches are good about pulling kids from games/practices when there is a suspected/possible concussion, and making sure they are OK before letting them back on the ice. I doubt that HS level football is much worse in terms of concussion risk. As you move into college, the fact that virtually every play in a football game includes heavy collisions raises long-term risks - in my view - but garden variety HS football just doesn't have the same level of size/strength/violence as college football (with the possible exception of very high level HS teams, of which we have a few in this area). |
Anonymous
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Yes you can get injured or concussion with other sports but tackle football ,the percentage of getting serious injury is too high .
So nah , I’m not letting my kids play. No racism here or whatsoever!!! |
Anonymous
Sure. But the point people are making is that people say stuff like you just said, but let their daughters play soccer, or their sons play basketball. Basketball athletes are the most likely to go the ER. Female soccer athletes are the second most likey to get a concussion. I'm not saying football isn't dangerous; it is. But people act like youth football is thunderdome or the hunger games. Its not |
Anonymous
Basketball is almost entirely lower body injuries. I"m fine with my kids taking that risk. I played safety and started for three years in high school. I also played basketball through junior year. Looking back, I'm fairly positive that I had at least three concussions from football. My worst basketball injury was a sprained ankle. |
Anonymous
Here's the thing though. Lifelong CTE doesn't come from just concussions. Why football is so pernicious Is the constant rattling of your head around in the helmet from drills even. I personally don't think anyone should play the sport, but the research shows not before 12 at all because of this issue |