Will you let your son(s) play football?

[Anonymous]

Mine plays flag football. It's growing in popularity as more kids opt-out of tackle.

[Anonymous]

no

[Anonymous]

No way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No on football. Concerned about soccer, need more info.

My dh has been working on this issue. They are both bad. No to heading the soccer ball.

Oh come on, there's no way you can put football and soccer in the same basket. Football's intent to knock players down. Just one look at the equipment tells you that. My 12 year old has been playing soccer for 2 seasons a year since he was 5. That's a lot of games. Never had a concussion or been injured on the field, nor have I seen this with any of his teammates. Is there a chance of something happening, and do kids get hurt playing soccer? Yes, of course they do. But it is not even in the same ballpark as football.

Not the PP, but of course it's in the same basket. I played football for about 10 years and never had a concussion or knew anybody who had. It does happen, absolutely, but it's not the pandemic you get watching eyewitness news....

Soccer players do not wear helmets and a head collision can have the same effect. (or bean balls in baseball, sticks in lacrosse, hockey, martial arts, bicycle riding, etc.) The only injury my kids have had in sports is my son busted his head on the edge of the pool on the swim team. So swimming is bad?

Just be careful, watch closely, and use good equipment.

A bigger problem is childhood obesity. All the folks who are afraid of sports are leading their kids to a lifetime of inactivity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just went through this discussion with ds who is in 7th grade. He is a excellent athlete who plays soccer in the fall and spring and basketball in the winter. He lobbied us the last 2 weeks to join the school football team. He said kids were recruiting him to be a kicker. We resisted our knee-jerk response of "no" and genuinely listened. We said we wanted to talk with the coach and find out more information. In the meantime, he talked with older relatives about joining the team. Without any prompting from us, my dad, who played all through high school and some college, shared his concerns about concussions and injury and the reports coming out now. I think that was a turning point for ds because the next day he decided he didn't want to pursue it.

It was a pretty awesome parenting moment--our tween saved us from having to say no.

Very cool. And Yay Grandpa!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rugby?

Similar health concerns. Some people have suggested that the concussion problem in football is exacerbated by the extra protections, especially helmets, because it allows the players to hit so much harder, and thus they've suggested that rugby is a good alternative. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No on football. Concerned about soccer, need more info.

My dh has been working on this issue. They are both bad. No to heading the soccer ball.

Oh come on, there's no way you can put football and soccer in the same basket. Football's intent to knock players down. Just one look at the equipment tells you that. My 12 year old has been playing soccer for 2 seasons a year since he was 5. That's a lot of games. Never had a concussion or been injured on the field, nor have I seen this with any of his teammates. Is there a chance of something happening, and do kids get hurt playing soccer? Yes, of course they do. But it is not even in the same ballpark as football.

Not the PP, but of course it's in the same basket. I played football for about 10 years and never had a concussion or knew anybody who had. It does happen, absolutely, but it's not the pandemic you get watching eyewitness news....

Soccer players do not wear helmets and a head collision can have the same effect. (or bean balls in baseball, sticks in lacrosse, hockey, martial arts, bicycle riding, etc.) The only injury my kids have had in sports is my son busted his head on the edge of the pool on the swim team. So swimming is bad?

Just be careful, watch closely, and use good equipment.

The point about obesity is an important one and should be part of the larger discussion. That said, I don't think you're acknowledging what current research is showing-- that the danger is not just from a real, detectable concussion or series of concussions, but from the accumulative damage of constant, small hits. Doctors have dectected brain damage in players that are younger and younger, without any history of actual concussions. I think this is the truly scary issue, especially for parents contemplating their child's participation in the game. (And hey, I'm from a Big 10 school. I love football.)

A bigger problem is childhood obesity. All the folks who are afraid of sports are leading their kids to a lifetime of inactivity.

[Anonymous]

Never and I have a son that is off the charts tall and a big kid. Not happening.

[Anonymous]

My son plays HS football. He started in 9th and as a senior is weighing several D1 options including Stanford. He is very bright and he is HUGE, I'm talking 6-3 and 295lb of solid muscle.

I look at some of the other kids on the field and agree with the PP who said she would be ok with football if her kid was big. I see some of these kids that are half my sons size and think "no way" would I let my kid play at that size. They are average size kids but look downright spindly compared to others.

My DS would never intentionally hurt someone but if he takes your 150lb kid down, it's gonna hurt... And the chance of injury is more than concussive. This is a sport where the backs are 200lbs and the line is pushing 300.

Do I worry? Of course I worry but I also worry when DS drives, goes to school dances and on dates. I worry but not going to bubble wrap him either. He lives to play football but we have limited it to HS season only. Off season he's on the wrestling, golf and baseball teams.

IMO, it's too much for them to play year round and unless your kid is pretty big I wouldn't do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Driving is riskier for teens than football. Guess your kids will never drive either.

Yeah.... they'll just play football instead if driving? Great logic Einstein.

Anyway I won't let my son. Football is on it's way out in a few decades.

Your reading comprehension is poor, you missed the point. Driving injures and kills far more teens than football.

[Anonymous]

Just be careful, watch closely, and use good equipment.

The point about obesity is an important one and should be part of the larger discussion. That said, I don't think you're acknowledging what current research is showing-- that the danger is not just from a real, detectable concussion or series of concussions, but from the accumulative damage of constant, small hits. Doctors have dectected brain damage in players that are younger and younger, without any history of actual concussions. I think this is the truly scary issue, especially for parents contemplating their child's participation in the game. (And hey, I'm from a Big 10 school. I love football.)

A bigger problem is childhood obesity. All the folks who are afraid of sports are leading their kids to a lifetime of inactivity.

This pp is correct. This is what the research is showing. It's also why I wish heading the ball would be phased out of soccer, because practicing headers also causes consistent smaller hits. Both are hard on the knees and ACL. My kids are soccer fanatics, both girl and boy play on elite travel teams. I am not sure what to do. Our girls league says they are aware of the knee risk and are teaching players to stay low to the ground. No one wants to talk about head injury.

[Anonymous]

It is a shame that so much of the discussion here is based on anecdote. Data suggest concussion rates are not equal between sports. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 2012 published rates of concussion among high school athletes in 20 sports. Football is by far the highest (6.4 concussions/10,000 athlete exposures (a game or practice)). This was followed by boys ice hockey-5.4, boys lax 4.0, girls lax 3.5, girls soccer 3.4, wrestling 2.2, girls basketball 2.1, boys soccer 1.9. Very low incidence sports were track, swimming at ~0.2.

So it is not true that all sports are the same. Football has nearly 3x higher incidence compared to boys soccer. The risk is not shown to be decreased by equipment, training in tackling technique or athlete size. Recall that Dave Duerson and Junior Seau were pretty big guys too.

Lastly, part of the reason that some of the boys are so set on playing football is based on modeling. If the parents watch NFL and act like football players are the pinnacle of American athletics, then of course the kids are going to want to play.

[Anonymous]

"Fooseball is the devil"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son plays HS football. He started in 9th and as a senior is weighing several D1 options including Stanford. He is very bright and he is HUGE, I'm talking 6-3 and 295lb of solid muscle.

Good luck to your son at Stanford. My cousin was also being recruited by them, but went somewhere else. He just graduated and started his first job. I think it is great for the bright big kids that can do it. It is fun listening to the stories from my cousin about the not so bright kids (of course that is all relative when you are looking at good schools). Playing football in college is a great experience for kids who aren't using it as a ticket to go pro.

I come from a huge family, and no I won't let my kids play football. But they also have no interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son plays HS football. He started in 9th and as a senior is weighing several D1 options including Stanford. He is very bright and he is HUGE, I'm talking 6-3 and 295lb of solid muscle.

Good luck to your son at Stanford. My cousin was also being recruited by them, but went somewhere else. He just graduated and started his first job. I think it is great for the bright big kids that can do it. It is fun listening to the stories from my cousin about the not so bright kids (of course that is all relative when you are looking at good schools). Playing football in college is a great experience for kids who aren't using it as a ticket to go pro.

I come from a huge family, and no I won't let my kids play football. But they also have no interest.

Thank you, that's kind of you to post... DH and I are not sports fans. I do credit football with giving a really smart but unmotivated kid the structure, discipline and motivation to succeed. Coach suceeded where we did not. His grades went from meh to straight A's practically overnight. He will likely sign with Stanford or UVa on decision day.