Why you should let your young kid play tackle football
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Anonymous
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) Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive hits
CTE is not about single concussions. It’s the result of repeated concussions — and even head impacts that are not quite as severe — which can result in lasting structural changes in the brain. “The pain you feel [after a hit] is not necessarily an indicator of the damage that does to your head,” Philip Bayly AND A 2015 study found that former NFL players who began football before age 12 fared worse on cognitive assessments than those who started later in their teens. And this held true even controlling for number of years played. It suggests (though not conclusively) that playing football at ages younger than 12 is more dangerous for long-term cognitive decline than starting at an older age https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/2...l-brain-damage-youth |
Anonymous
My son got a concussion playing basketball. |
Anonymous
You keep confusing CTE statistics, which show that boxing and football are in a class by themselves in this country, and concussion rates. Yes, concussions are a concern in multiple sports. The one place I could find stats on CTE's though it was 66% in pro football players and 9% in basketball. That's an enormous difference. |
Anonymous
Yes, it's possible. But not as likely as when playing football. This is obvious. |
Anonymous
They think that even being exposed to loud bangs, like veterans exposed to explosions, can cause concussions. It's not just direct hits. Our brains are precious. We're useless without them, and life with CTE looks like hell on earth for the person suffering from it and their families. |
Anonymous
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My cousin played tackle football in the Vienna area. It think the league was called Pop something. I had honestly never thought about the risk of CTE in kids sports since I didn’t have kids yet. The kids seemed to be having fun, but the injuries were common. My dad coached my brother’s soccer team so I had that comparison point.
The most disturbing part was that the coach regularly took the boys to Hooters after games. |
Anonymous
The differences in sports aren’t as drastic as you are making it out to be. A 2019 study in Pediatrics regarding high school athletes: “Overall, the data showed that the three sports with the highest concussion rates were: Boys’ football, with 10.4 concussions per 10,000 athlete exposures. Girls’ soccer, with 8.19 per 10,000 athlete exposures. Boys’ ice hockey, with 7.69 per 10,000 athlete exposures.” And yet no one seems overly concerned about girls’ soccer. |
Anonymous
I don't understand your logic. The exchange was about basketball. |
Anonymous
Again, the discussion is about CTE not concisions. |
Anonymous
I watched a kid get carted off on a backboard with a neck brace when they collided with another kid in a flag football game. |
Anonymous
You are completely ignorant. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/ne...e-for-brain-disease/ 96% of NFL players and 79% of all football players examined have CTE (WHICH IS NOT A CONCUSSION). If your kid plays football for any length of time, he will probably develop CTE. |
Anonymous
How do you get that NFL players = CTE means that any length of youth football = CTE? You do know like 3% of youth football players even go on to play college and another 3% of those to NFL. Have you ever taken a stats course? What youth only football players have been examined for CTE for you to be able to make that statement? Just silly. |
Anonymous
Quite a few Maret, Sidwell, Potomac, St Albans, and Landon boys are recruited football players. |
Anonymous
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CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem, so we don't fully know how prevalent it is in football players relative to other sports or the general public. But what we now call CTE has been around for a long time. It used to be something called pugilist syndrome or punch-drunk syndrome and was primarily associated with boxing.
CTE can be caused by sub-concussive hits to the head, meaning it's not hard enough to cause a concussion but your brain is still rattling around inside your head. Once you get a concussion, you are more susceptible to having subsequent, and more severe, concussions. It doesn't take much for a young kid to get a concussion or a sub-concussive hit. CTE isn't the only brain disorder potentially related to concussions and sub-concussive hits. There may very well be some connection to Parkinson's and Alzheimers and dementia. Mood disorders, substance abuse, suicide, aggression and depression are also common complaints of former football players, including those who only played Pop Warner or up to college-level. This should be a concern for athletes of any high-contact sport, not just football. But it's more prevalent in football arguably because football is so rough and it's been a very common sport for like 70 years (i.e., more players). So no, I will never let my kids play tackle football. |
Anonymous
If only 3% of football players play after high school, then you have to assume that that 79% includes 97% youth only players. |