Proposed bill in California would ban tackle football before HS

BMF

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Leave it to California. What an absolute f'ing joke...


Proposed bill in California would ban organized tackle football before high school

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/s...ia-ban-organized-tackle-football-high-school/

Has football become too dangerous for adolescent athletes? Some lawmakers in California believe the answer is yes.

This week in California, two lawmakers — Kevin McCarty and Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher — have proposed a statewide ban on organized tackle football until high school. Their reasoning for the proposed ban? They cite the health risks young athletes face when playing football during a time of their life when the brain continues to be developed.

“The science is clear: head injuries sustained at a young age can harm kids for the rest of their lives,” Gonzalez Fletcher said in a statement, according to Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times. “Developing skills through flag football before high school is sound public policy from a health and safety standpoint.”

The lawmakers also took note that several NFL legends, such as Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor, and Tom Brady, started playing football using non-contact methods. Given their success in college and the NFL, it stands to reason that development on the field isn’t stunted by beginning a tackle football career later in life.

No doubt this will be a controversial proposal moving forward in the state. The bill is expected to be voted on this year.
 

GatorJ

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I don’t have a problem with this. Young brains are at a higher risk for damage. 9th grade is plenty of time to start tackle football.
 

Swamp Donkey

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They are just trying to make Mexican ball the state sport.
 

Windy City Gator

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They are trying to do the same thing here in Illinois championed by Dave Duerson's son and Mike Ademle, former Northwestern RB and played for the Bears in the 70's and later became a sportscaster (American Gladiators, etc). Duerson took his own life and the autopsy revealed severe CTE. I think it should be the parent's decision, not the government's if they want their kid to play tackle football. I started playing tackle football at age 8....though I don't know if my brain if f-ed up from that or all the Gainesville Green....
 

Theologator

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Buddy of mine who is a pediatric ER doctor went to a seminar on concussions in youth and high school sports. He sent me a picture of the slide noting the frequency of concussions by sport. #1 was girls’ ice hockey. Boys’ and girls’ soccer were both ahead of football, which I recall as being 7th.

I’ve known dozens if not hundreds of men who played football into college or farther, including my dad. (I played into high school.) Not one of them has ever had a neurological issue.
 

Swamp Donkey

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Buddy of mine who is a pediatric ER doctor went to a seminar on concussions in youth and high school sports. He sent me a picture of the slide noting the frequency of concussions by sport. #1 was girls’ ice hockey. Boys’ and girls’ soccer were both ahead of football, which I recall as being 7th.
And yet:
att000061.jpg



You may be right. Soccer players have brain injuries.
 

Spurdog98

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I worked as the head ATC for a high school for about 3 years and I had more concussions with soccer and Lax than football.
 

TLB

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Buddy of mine who is a pediatric ER doctor went to a seminar on concussions in youth and high school sports. He sent me a picture of the slide noting the frequency of concussions by sport. #1 was girls’ ice hockey. Boys’ and girls’ soccer were both ahead of football, which I recall as being 7th.

Interesting boy's hockey wasn't up there...maybe the girls have less body control? The soccer doesn't surprise me so much as nobody learns how to properly head the ball, and it's often done in unsafe ways (ie, hitting the other player's head).

Here in PA, football is still very big across the state. However, tackle football for youth has seen continuously declining numbers over the years. What surprised me is how much flag football is growing - for both boys and girls. Co-ed for the kids, as there aren't typically enough girls to field a team, much less a league. But the flag football is definitely growing here, so kids are exposed to the basics of catching/throwing and route running as well as defensive angles and such. Not the same, but not a total abandonment of football.

For the soccer, I'm starting to see league rules implemented for younger ages where heading is NOT allowed at all. You simply have to wait for the ball to get down lower for you to touch it, and this avoids the majority of concussion concerns there. Broken legs are still a problem, however.
 

ATXGator

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I am a believer this should be the parent's choice. I also think this is a situation that will eventually take care of itself in a lot of states (maybe not here in Texas). I think more and more parents are not going to allow their kids to play tackle prior to 9th grade... and the leagues won't have enough people signing up to stay in business.
 

Oklahoma Gator

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The reason that I’m actually for this, is that concussions aren’t believed to be the primary factor in CTE as much as the repeated impact and minor hits to the head that doesn’t necessarily result in concussive symptoms yet accumulate over time to cause CTE. It’s hard to know if this would help with the cumulative effects but it may be worth it
 

Theologator

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Interesting boy's hockey wasn't up there...maybe the girls have less body control? The soccer doesn't surprise me so much as nobody learns how to properly head the ball, and it's often done in unsafe ways (ie, hitting the other player's head).

Here in PA, football is still very big across the state. However, tackle football for youth has seen continuously declining numbers over the years. What surprised me is how much flag football is growing - for both boys and girls. Co-ed for the kids, as there aren't typically enough girls to field a team, much less a league. But the flag football is definitely growing here, so kids are exposed to the basics of catching/throwing and route running as well as defensive angles and such. Not the same, but not a total abandonment of football.

For the soccer, I'm starting to see league rules implemented for younger ages where heading is NOT allowed at all. You simply have to wait for the ball to get down lower for you to touch it, and this avoids the majority of concussion concerns there. Broken legs are still a problem, however.

I’m not sure what the other 3 ahead of football were. Boys’ hockey may well have been one of them. I went to HS in New Hampshire and the hockey players were the meanest SOBs on campus. Tough, too.

That may be my second favorite live spectator sport (behind UF football games.)
 

Jack o' Diamonds

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I think this is probably a wonderful idea.....for California. They need all the help they can get...
 

rogdochar

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I worked as the head ATC for a high school for about 3 years and I had more concussions with soccer and Lax than football.

... and that's why any smart person like me should want tackling made against the rules in soccer. :confused:
 

Captain Sasquatch

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Buddy of mine who is a pediatric ER doctor went to a seminar on concussions in youth and high school sports. He sent me a picture of the slide noting the frequency of concussions by sport. #1 was girls’ ice hockey. Boys’ and girls’ soccer were both ahead of football, which I recall as being 7th.

I’ve known dozens if not hundreds of men who played football into college or farther, including my dad. (I played into high school.) Not one of them has ever had a neurological issue.
That's why you see a lot of youth leagues starting to ban heading the ball.
 

rogdochar

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Nerf soccer balls. Yep, the wind would reek havoc on the ball flights, but it's not like present-day soccer balls involve controlled predictive flight.
 

lizardbreath

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For me personally, the prospect of serious brain injury has never been much of an issue. No one would notice the difference anyway.
 

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