Despite its dangers, the NFL subsidizes youth tackle football , likely because it has data showing that 60 percent of its die-hard fans begin following the sport in elementary school. So while the industry fights to maintain the status quo, parents have to ask hard questions when their child wants to play tackle football to be like their NFL heroes.
Are the benefits of youth tackle football worth risking the lifelong health of your brain? A better question — can a child make that choice? Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding.
Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today to help us keep our work free for all. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.
By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Share this story Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share All sharing options Share All sharing options for: Youth tackle football will be considered unthinkable 50 years from now. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Nope, not happening. The number fell from about 7. In spite of the drop in participants, the number of schools that carry traditional man football teams rose.
For context, the average number of boys on a high school football team was 79 a decade ago. Now, the average is about From , the number of people of all ages participating in tackle football dropped from 8. The decrease began around the time that head injuries, like concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy CTE , came to the forefront of neurological medicine, specifically relating to tackle football. In , pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu published a study about CTE , a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated concussive and subconcussive blows to the head.
His findings are now internationally recognized. The increased awareness of head injuries had a significant impact on the game of football. Javier Cardenas, director of the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center in Phoenix and a member of the NFL head, neck and spine committee, said what is known right now is that it takes adolescents over twice as long to heal from a concussion as it does for an adult. The average time needed for an adolescent to heal from a concussion is three weeks as opposed to a fully grown and developed person, who takes anywhere from seven to 10 days, Cardenas said.
Not all forms of football are going by the wayside, however. Sullivan thinks, at least for now, that flag football is the right path. Of course, while trends in Super Bowl viewers are intriguing, as a business the NFL is very well insulated from any broader cultural shifts in attitudes towards football.
There are about a million kids playing football in high school and almost 30, players in Division 1 college programs. The pipeline of players that feed the NFL is robust, and will be if even it continues to shrink. However, some reasons behind the trends are more certain than others. As a consequence, it is clear from the data that parents are increasingly keeping their young children out of football and high school boys are choosing to play other sports.
Research shows increasing parental concerns about concussion risks and an increased desire to see age-based restrictions on physical contact in the sport. Evidence also suggests that football is becoming a more regional sport, with participation and interest most concentrated in the southeast, roughly characterized by the 11 states with universities in the Southeastern Conference SEC.
This regionalization can be seen clearly in the figure below, which shows U. Change in high school football participation by state to Data: NFHS. Of the 7 states that saw increases and the 8 with the smallest decreases 15 total in high school football participation from to , eight host universities of the SEC and one borders them Oklahoma. Only two states with SEC schools, Missouri and Arkansas, are at odds with this relationship, having seen considerably larger declines in participation.
Too old for outdoor activities? It would seem that children participate more often in outdoor activities than people of older age groups do. A survey found that 61 percent of the respondents aged six to 12 participated at least once in an outdoor activity in Meanwhile, respondents aged 45 and older amounted to less than 40 percent.
Loading statistic Show source. Download for free You need to log in to download this statistic Register for free Already a member?
Log in. Show detailed source information? Register for free Already a member? More information. Supplementary notes. Other statistics on the topic. Hobbies U. David Lange. Profit from additional features with an Employee Account.
0コメント