The hottest topic in football right now is not the deflated balls in New England (although we all think that's clever). The new champs and "the call" are easy to talk about, but what really stirs the pot is one word: concussions.
An article was written by Dr. Ed Riley, a physician and medical researcher at Stanford and brother to current Nebraska head football coach Mike Riley. (Link to article http://portlandtribune.com/lor/49-opinion/242681-109622-high-school-footballs-benefits-outweigh-the-risk). He played football growing up and when supporting his son's decision to play, was met with criticism because of the risk of head trauma and related injuries. The article explains his point very bluntly and considering his knowledge, background, and medical expertise, I think it's safe to say his points are valid and insightful.
The argument in today's society over football is whether or not a parent should risk his or her child's safety concerning the short and long term affects of concussions. Dr. Riley, not relying on his experience alone, did his research to make his decision. In his strongest point he writes:
"The key here is that high school football is not the NFL. The Mayo Clinic found that the risk of high school football players developing degenerative neurological diseases later in life is no greater than if they had been in the band, glee club or choir."
What!?! Glee Club?? So you're saying the risk is comparatively the same?
My advice to parents: DO YOUR RESEARCH and PREPARE YOUR CHILD PHYSICALLY! Let me tell you why.
In 2013, my first year as a head football coach, I had a lot to do to get my program and players up to par to compete at the 5A level (largest classification in Utah). Taking over a struggling program (approximately 50 players finished the 2012 season), we doubled in participants in large part because a new coach, staff, and agenda was in town. Many of those new players had never played before. Many had never weight trained properly. Many of the full-contact drills that carried over from the old regime, while not unsafe as a singular event, were executed in excess. For these reasons (and I'm sure more), we had a slew of injuries, not the least of which were head injuries and concussions. I must note that the injuries in 2012 were similar to the number of injuries in 2013. Regardless, I was disgusted with the numbers!
Flash forward to 2014, many changes occurred. I worked with my strength coach and our sports training staff to fix the problem. This including changing the drills and amount of time spent on specific drills that were high-risk for head injuries, changed how we taught and drilled tackling, and changing our off-season weight training, specifically strengthening the neck. More on these topics at a later date. In the end, as we met for our year-end banquet, I was please to report that our injuries had decreased by over 70% and our head and neck injuries, including concussions, decreased by 66%. All in all, it amounted to less than 1/2 head injury per game at all three levels (Varsity, JV, and Sophomore) for the season, including practice. That is huge considering how may players were in the program, how many practices, and how many collisions we saw over the course of a season!
In conclusion, I learned some great lessons. I needed to change the way we trained and practiced so that physically we were ready for 5A football. It wasn't perfect, but I feel confident that I did everything I could to prepare these young men to participate in the great, and violent, game of football. I agree with Dr. Riley when he wrote, "I believe the benefits of playing high school football are worth the risks... To all you parents who are keeping your sons from playing football, I say, “Let them play.”
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