
Noted astrophysicist and TV science star Neil deGrasse Tyson recently wrote: “A 250 lb. football player running 15 mph has more kinetic energy than the force of a bullet from an AK-47.”
Football is a violent game. The NFL and big-time college football programs are the ultimate sports ATM machine, leader of butts in seats and TV ratings. If you want to see the definition of the types of hard hits that cause concussions, brain damage and other nasty long term bodily harm, there are plenty of "hard hits and trucks" clips on YouTube of human T-boning sure to rearrange body parts, connective tissue and vital organs -- including the one and only onboard computer inside the skull.
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland’s retirement in March of 2015 at age 24 hit his team, the NFL, and football players of all ages harder than any of his team-leading 107 tackles during a spectacular rookie season. Borland told ESPN: “I’m concerned that if you wait till you have symptoms, it’s too late.” His concern has parents of young footballers rethinking their position on signing those permission slips to let their sons play the most popular contact sport in America.
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The Borland bombshell refocused attention on the NFL and its football feeder network. The league clearly understands the potential damage to its future players, fan bases and sponsors. They are taking proactive steps to improve what has been an uneven history of proactively dealing with head injuries. The NFL’s actions will assist all contact sports that are dealing with injuries to the most important part of the human body. The constant drumbeat is clearly focused on the NFL but the business impact of head trauma is being felt at all levels of contact sports in America.
[RELATED: NFL demands NY publication retract concussion story]
There are an estimated 300,000 sports related traumatic brain injuries in the 15-24 age range. The proportion of these concussions that are repeat injuries is unknown, but there is increased risk for subsequent TBI (traumatic brain injuries) among people that have had at least one previous concussion. The medical condition is termed “second impact syndrome” first characterized by doctors in 1984. Doctors say that once a person suffers a concussion, they are four times more likely to sustain another one.
THE BUSINESS OF BRAIN PAIN
Unless you are Dr. Bennet Omalu, the discover of CTE, or have an encyclopedic knowledge of CTE, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig’s disease or other life-altering and life-ending conditions linked to cumulative head trauma, it is impossible to completely understand the massive issue facing millions of athletes, parents, coaches and medical personnel.
News
But we can understand the economics.
Above and beyond safety concerns, which are paramount, many youth sports are dealing with economic challenges. Athletic budgets at high schools and middle schools are shrinking and the cost of equipment is being passed along to students and parents through “pay-to-play” programs. The massive cost increases could further shrink participation in youth sports programs.
POP WARNER FOOTBALL
Recently, Pop Warner youth football league took action by instituting new rules relating to full contact. The youth football organization announced that it was banning head-to-head hits and limiting contact in practice to 40 minutes a day. Pop Warner has more than 400,000 players ages 5-14 participating in 43 states and international markets.
“The impact of head-to-head contact causes the most severe concussions," said Julian Bailes, chairman of the Pop Warner medical advisory board. "We felt it was imperative that Pop Warner take a proactive approach and limit contact in practices. We’re trying to take away all at once the head-to-head contact in practice."
IVY LEAGUE FOOTBALL
In an unprecedented move, the Ivy League recently decided to do away with full contact drills during football practices for the upcoming 2016 regular season. While football student-athletes would be unable to hit or tackle fellow student-athletes, they would still be allowed to use pads and tackling dummies during practice. This policy was approved unanimously by the eight football coaches within the conference and is expected to be adopted formally once the ADs and university presidents have the chance to review and vote on the matter.
The latest statistics from NSGA (National Sporting Goods Association) show that participation in youth football declined from 7.9 million in 2007 to 6.2 million in 2013.
According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the most dangerous sport for youngsters is football, followed by soccer, wrestling and girl’s basketball. The growth of youth lacrosse and hockey adds additional concerns to the parents of multi-sport athletes.
SOCCER
United States Soccer announced a brand new series of initiatives designed to reduce the number of concussions suffered by youth soccer players, including the limitation and/or outright banning of heading the ball for players under the age of 13. Per the new protocol, children 10 and under will be barred from heading the ball during any official session, practice or game while players ages 11 to 13 will have heading limited during training sessions.
Looking at soccer by gender, girls suffer higher concussion incidents than boys according to a study by the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Soccer concussions are directly related to heading the ball or head-to-head contact.
As a parent of twin daughters who played soccer from age seven through college, I think back to all the practices and games with waterlogged balls and opponents twice their size on fields throughout Northern California and beyond. Many of those headed balls probably weighed more than their noggins. I never thought through the potential for damage.
LACROSSE
Last month, Florida became the first state to require high school girls lacrosse teams to wear protective headgear.
Girls, who play by vastly different rules than boys, generally forbid contact and have historically spurned most protective gear. In Florida, where lacrosse is a new sport, state officials instead reasoned that all lacrosse players are at risk for head trauma and defied the sport’s traditionalists by mandating a soft form of headgear for everyone in a girls lacrosse game or practice. (Goalies in girls lacrosse have worn helmets for several decades.)
But proponents of the rule point to data that shows that girls lacrosse has the fifth-highest rate of concussions in high school sports. Only football, ice hockey, boys lacrosse and girls soccer rank higher.
United States Lacrosse, which writes the sport’s rule book authorized by the National Federation of High School Associations, asked Florida officials to delay their vote because US Lacrosse was hoping to propose its own specifications for standardized and lab-tested headgear for girls. It would then recommend voluntary use.
HOCKEY
Most youth ice hockey concussions were suffered by players aged 12-14. This range differs from many other youth sports where concussion rates increase as players get older. Research showed that 40 percent of the concussions to young skaters were caused by illegal hits, especially those from behind the players.
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Playing for the sheer fun of it is disappearing for many young athletes in our society. Elite athletes are being groomed at ridiculously early ages. Pay-to-play programs are taking over youth sports. Physical education programs in K-12 grades are as rare as kids making up new stick and ball games. Research shows that play is essential to a child’s development.
The complex information that is being discovered, debated and litigated every day on the effects to the brain caused by full-contact sports is a challenge to all of those who want our future generations to be safe while playing sports they love.