Why you should let your young kid play tackle football

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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!!!

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

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.

Actually read the studies. Much more effort has gone into proving that football is bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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).

Some professional soccer players have already indicated that they will donate their brains to science after their death so that the type of research done on NFL players can be done for other athletes. There is much we don’t know yet about the prevalence of CTE among professional athletes from boxing to soccer to hockey, and about how it affects men and women differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do some research- CTE is not just a problem with football. It’s pervasive in soccer, hockey, basketball, (lacrosse - TBD). Do you really not let your kids play any of those sports?

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

You are completely ignorant.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-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.

Did you even read the article or the study? If that’s what you got out of it, you should try to read it again more critically. What someone did was study a group of people who were exhibiting signs of CTE and then prove that a certain percentage of them actually had CTE. That’s like saying out of 100 people who have symptoms of heart disease, 95 of them actually have heart disease. Not a big surprise.

They had no control group. They did no analysis of the number of football players that didn’t exhibit symptoms, etc. it was really a horrible study and was picked up by the media to prove that football was bad. And a lot of dumb people fell for it.

[Anonymous]

I’m not a moron. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

Some professional soccer players have already indicated that they will donate their brains to science after their death so that the type of research done on NFL players can be done for other athletes. There is much we don’t know yet about the prevalence of CTE among professional athletes from boxing to soccer to hockey, and about how it affects men and women differently.

More cases are showing up in rugby, and more mothers are refusing to allow their kids to play rugby. Yesterday I happened to be watching Commonwealth Games coverage and they showed some boxing. I can't believe that kind of violent activity still exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do some research- CTE is not just a problem with football. It’s pervasive in soccer, hockey, basketball, (lacrosse - TBD). Do you really not let your kids play any of those sports?

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

You are completely ignorant.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-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.

Did you even read the article or the study? If that’s what you got out of it, you should try to read it again more critically. What someone did was study a group of people who were exhibiting signs of CTE and then prove that a certain percentage of them actually had CTE. That’s like saying out of 100 people who have symptoms of heart disease, 95 of them actually have heart disease. Not a big surprise.

They had no control group. They did no analysis of the number of football players that didn’t exhibit symptoms, etc. it was really a horrible study and was picked up by the media to prove that football was bad. And a lot of dumb people fell for it.

People will believe what they want to believe

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787601?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=123021

Saying no to football makes them feel like good parents, but they refuse to admit that saying yes to the other sports carries a similar risk profile.

Its called denial

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is really funny, to any of us who have had sons go through the Vienna program. VYI is one of the most impressive programs around when it comes to strict safety protocols. I’m not sure when this was or what team you are referring to, but I never saw a lot of injuries in any of our years. As for Hooters, where is the Hooters in this area? That’s a first. I laughed out loud at that one. If it was true, what’s wrong with the parents for driving them there?

During my son’s last year in 8th grade, he would have loved it if a coach suggested that. Nothing similar ever happened. There were some potluck tailgates after practice organized by parents but that’s about it.

Check out VYI and look at their safety protocols yourself if you live in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

Some professional soccer players have already indicated that they will donate their brains to science after their death so that the type of research done on NFL players can be done for other athletes. There is much we don’t know yet about the prevalence of CTE among professional athletes from boxing to soccer to hockey, and about how it affects men and women differently.

More cases are showing up in rugby, and more mothers are refusing to allow their kids to play rugby. Yesterday I happened to be watching Commonwealth Games coverage and they showed some boxing. I can't believe that kind of violent activity still exists.

First PP here. I agree, and I think we'll know much more over the next 10 years or so as more athletes agree to have their brains examined. The current research isn't limited to football players but I think there are various reasons why thus far only football players' brains have been examined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is really funny, to any of us who have had sons go through the Vienna program. VYI is one of the most impressive programs around when it comes to strict safety protocols. I’m not sure when this was or what team you are referring to, but I never saw a lot of injuries in any of our years. As for Hooters, where is the Hooters in this area? That’s a first. I laughed out loud at that one. If it was true, what’s wrong with the parents for driving them there?

During my son’s last year in 8th grade, he would have loved it if a coach suggested that. Nothing similar ever happened. There were some potluck tailgates after practice organized by parents but that’s about it.

Check out VYI and look at their safety protocols yourself if you live in the area.

This is the perfect example. People hear some crazy anecdote (an adult taking kids to Hooters?) and then quickly get up in arms about the dangers of football.

No, that's the danger of a bad coach (if the story is even true).

And especially, after the last 2 decades, the focus on safety in youth football is crazy. Not just in equipment, but in the enforcement of proper tackling techniques.

I think, as these safety trends continue, coupled with the same scrutiny as other sports, we'll see that modern day youth tackle football is only marginally more dangerous than other youth sports.

In fact, that JAMA article above already highlighted that trend.

Now, D1 and Pro football is a whole different situation, with 350lb men hitting each other. But youth? I just don't think the risk is high enough to warrant denying the experience to a kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do some research- CTE is not just a problem with football. It’s pervasive in soccer, hockey, basketball, (lacrosse - TBD). Do you really not let your kids play any of those sports?

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

You are completely ignorant.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-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.

Did you even read the article or the study? If that’s what you got out of it, you should try to read it again more critically. What someone did was study a group of people who were exhibiting signs of CTE and then prove that a certain percentage of them actually had CTE. That’s like saying out of 100 people who have symptoms of heart disease, 95 of them actually have heart disease. Not a big surprise.

They had no control group. They did no analysis of the number of football players that didn’t exhibit symptoms, etc. it was really a horrible study and was picked up by the media to prove that football was bad. And a lot of dumb people fell for it.

People will believe what they want to believe

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787601?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=123021

Saying no to football makes them feel like good parents, but they refuse to admit that saying yes to the other sports carries a similar risk profile.

Its called denial

DP. It's not the same risk profile across sports, though. And science and medicine don't yet know why some people get CTE while others who engaged in the same activity don't. You're unlikely to ever have a control group for any CTE study any time soon because it would mean that healthy people would need to donate their brains when they die. But that doesn't mean it's "denial" or a bad study that should be ignored. Head injuries and CTE among football players aren't new problems.

It's not about making ourselves feel like "good parents" by saying no. The potential risk of serious brain damage isn't worth it for a lot of families. You don't know if your kid will be fine or if his brain will get rattled one too many times playing football and end up with a host of issues by the time he's 20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do some research- CTE is not just a problem with football. It’s pervasive in soccer, hockey, basketball, (lacrosse - TBD). Do you really not let your kids play any of those sports?

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

You are completely ignorant.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-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.

Did you even read the article or the study? If that’s what you got out of it, you should try to read it again more critically. What someone did was study a group of people who were exhibiting signs of CTE and then prove that a certain percentage of them actually had CTE. That’s like saying out of 100 people who have symptoms of heart disease, 95 of them actually have heart disease. Not a big surprise.

They had no control group. They did no analysis of the number of football players that didn’t exhibit symptoms, etc. it was really a horrible study and was picked up by the media to prove that football was bad. And a lot of dumb people fell for it.

People will believe what they want to believe

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787601?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=123021

Saying no to football makes them feel like good parents, but they refuse to admit that saying yes to the other sports carries a similar risk profile.

Its called denial

DP. It's not the same risk profile across sports, though. And science and medicine don't yet know why some people get CTE while others who engaged in the same activity don't. You're unlikely to ever have a control group for any CTE study any time soon because it would mean that healthy people would need to donate their brains when they die. But that doesn't mean it's "denial" or a bad study that should be ignored. Head injuries and CTE among football players aren't new problems.

It's not about making ourselves feel like "good parents" by saying no. The potential risk of serious brain damage isn't worth it for a lot of families. You don't know if your kid will be fine or if his brain will get rattled one too many times playing football and end up with a host of issues by the time he's 20.

The denial comes in when they think they are doing anything substantial to really reduce the risk by making the kid play soccer instead of football.

Yes, a very slight reduction in risk. But marginal.

A lot of the anti-football sentiment is really against the culture, but disguised as concerns about 'safety.'

And in reality, the culture of football is amongst the best and most welcoming. I would put it at the top of the list. And competitive baseball at the bottom

[Anonymous]

There is no way I would let my kid play tackle football at any age whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do some research- CTE is not just a problem with football. It’s pervasive in soccer, hockey, basketball, (lacrosse - TBD). Do you really not let your kids play any of those sports?

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

You are completely ignorant.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-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.

Did you even read the article or the study? If that’s what you got out of it, you should try to read it again more critically. What someone did was study a group of people who were exhibiting signs of CTE and then prove that a certain percentage of them actually had CTE. That’s like saying out of 100 people who have symptoms of heart disease, 95 of them actually have heart disease. Not a big surprise.

They had no control group. They did no analysis of the number of football players that didn’t exhibit symptoms, etc. it was really a horrible study and was picked up by the media to prove that football was bad. And a lot of dumb people fell for it.

People will believe what they want to believe

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787601?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=123021

Saying no to football makes them feel like good parents, but they refuse to admit that saying yes to the other sports carries a similar risk profile.

Its called denial

It's not SIMILAR. It's a risk, but it is not a SIMILAR risk for my kid to play basketball. It's just not. Stop wasting our time with your ridiculous argument that not wanting to play tackle football is virtue signalling. You're being an idiot. We all know it's MORE dangerous. Just give it up, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

Some professional soccer players have already indicated that they will donate their brains to science after their death so that the type of research done on NFL players can be done for other athletes. There is much we don’t know yet about the prevalence of CTE among professional athletes from boxing to soccer to hockey, and about how it affects men and women differently.

More cases are showing up in rugby, and more mothers are refusing to allow their kids to play rugby. Yesterday I happened to be watching Commonwealth Games coverage and they showed some boxing. I can't believe that kind of violent activity still exists.

First PP here. I agree, and I think we'll know much more over the next 10 years or so as more athletes agree to have their brains examined. The current research isn't limited to football players but I think there are various reasons why thus far only football players' brains have been examined.

Because not as many people play rugby in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do some research- CTE is not just a problem with football. It’s pervasive in soccer, hockey, basketball, (lacrosse - TBD). Do you really not let your kids play any of those sports?

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

You are completely ignorant.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-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.

Did you even read the article or the study? If that’s what you got out of it, you should try to read it again more critically. What someone did was study a group of people who were exhibiting signs of CTE and then prove that a certain percentage of them actually had CTE. That’s like saying out of 100 people who have symptoms of heart disease, 95 of them actually have heart disease. Not a big surprise.

They had no control group. They did no analysis of the number of football players that didn’t exhibit symptoms, etc. it was really a horrible study and was picked up by the media to prove that football was bad. And a lot of dumb people fell for it.

People will believe what they want to believe

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787601?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=123021

Saying no to football makes them feel like good parents, but they refuse to admit that saying yes to the other sports carries a similar risk profile.

Its called denial

It's not SIMILAR. It's a risk, but it is not a SIMILAR risk for my kid to play basketball. It's just not. Stop wasting our time with your ridiculous argument that not wanting to play tackle football is virtue signalling. You're being an idiot. We all know it's MORE dangerous. Just give it up, PP.

This thread is about youth football. A poster shares an article by JAMA (literally a journal of medicine) finding no relationships between brain injury and youth football.

But you just KNOW its more dangerous.



Honestly guys, go to a youth football practice or a game. You'd be shocked by how timid and non-violent they are. Your kids get more head injuries on the playground at this age

So yeah, maybe its not virtual signaling. But if its not virtual signaling, its just stupidity then.