My boys' high school just dropped football

[Delmar]

A school of 1500 students in Ellicott City, Maryland, Centennial High School, will not play varsity football this year. They can't field a team.

This is what's up ahead. Fear of CTE is going to radically change the sport. Parents are not going to tolerate the risk of brain damage for their children.

I'm listening to ESPN commentary on youth football right now with no serious consideration of CTE. The NFL is in complete denial about this.

Baseball is about to experience a renaissance.

 

[GFTakedown]

Interesting study found that soccer players and wrestlers are more prone to concussions than football players.

Is the high publicity due to the fact there are more athletes in football compared to the others? Or more famous athletes?

Is the reason because football players have a longer lifespan in the sport than the others so more likely to receive multiple concussions?

Is the reason because soccer players and wrestlers are taken out of the sport after signs of multiple concussions occur?

 

[Delmar]

Interesting study found that soccer players and wrestlers are more prone to concussions than football players.

Is the high publicity due to the fact there are more athletes in football compared to the others? Or more famous athletes?

Is the reason because football players have a longer lifespan in the sport than the others so more likely to receive multiple concussions?

Is the reason because soccer players and wrestlers are taken out of the sport after signs of multiple concussions occur?

Good questions, all.

Another issue with soccer is the amount of cancer reported because of artificial turf. That black stuff you see kick up during a tackle in football? That's a carcinogen. There is a high level of leukemia being reported with soccer player --particularly with girl goal tenders.

Nonetheless, the CTE findings will have far-reaching repercussions in households making decisions about what sports their children will play.

 

[Toga]

 

[Delmar]

The dude abides.

 

[sufandu]

Interesting study found that soccer players and wrestlers are more prone to concussions than football players.

Is the high publicity due to the fact there are more athletes in football compared to the others? Or more famous athletes?

Is the reason because football players have a longer lifespan in the sport than the others so more likely to receive multiple concussions?

Is the reason because soccer players and wrestlers are taken out of the sport after signs of multiple concussions occur?

It could be the frequent jarring of the brain that doesn't quite lead to a concussion. The leading researchers on CTE have emphasized that it isn't concussions alone that lead to CTE.

 

[retro44]

Steroids...today even lot's of high schoolers are juicing because they don't test for it. Players are getting jacked and so is the hitting. Players from the late 80's on back were never this big as a group.

Wrestlers are juicing big time too as parents will tell Docs. there kids are not growing as fast as they should and the rest is now known...First hand from a group of kids wrestling at the state tourney who were using the same gym as I when prepping and hitting the steam room to make weight.

Where they threatening the budget to cut? Oswego is playing again after taking a year off and they should be around the same size?

 

[AZOrange]

It's not just CTE and brain damage. Football takes a tremendous physical toll all over the body.

 

[Delmar]

Steroids...today even lot's of high schoolers are juicing because they don't test for it. Players are getting jacked and so is the hitting. Players from the late 80's on back were never this big as a group.

Wrestlers are juicing big time too as parents will tell Docs. there kids are not growing as fast as they should and the rest is now known...First hand from a group of kids wrestling at the state tourney who were using the same gym as I when prepping and hitting the steam room to make weight.

Where they threatening the budget to cut? Oswego is playing again after taking a year off and they should be around the same size?

Centennial (my boys' high school) is saying they are planning to return to varsity football next year. We'll see. One of the reasons they dropped it was fear for the safety of the players who did want to play varsity. Maybe Centennial is just low on steroids? (Although I am sure some performance-enhancing drugs are in the building. With the cost of education, and scholarships to be had, some parents will put their children's health at risk to get them into college.)

 

[temery]

It could be the frequent jarring of the brain that doesn't quite lead to a concussion. The leading researchers on CTE have emphasized that it isn't concussions alone that lead to CTE.

Is there a football position that is more or less likely to have CTE later in life?

 

[rocklloyd]

Is there a football position that is more or less likely to have CTE later in life?

Kicker?

 

[elimunelson]

Football in the northeast will be dead in 10 years. We barely put a pop warner team together for 7th grade. It's dying up north.

 

[sufan4eva13]

It is worth pointing out that as of 2014 football was still the most popular youth sport for boys. I don't know how much that has progressed since, but I was coaching in 2014 and we were talking about the numbers decline then. I think football is affected more than other sports, but that it is genuinely a trend which crosses many different sports. Kids these days (Good lord, I'm 25 and already saying that) aren't as physically active as kids used to be. When people my age were kids we weren't as physically active as our parents. Our parents were probably not as physically active as their parents. Technology keeps making it easier to sit on your backside and reap the rewards of football (who wants to put in grueling hours when you can become a stud at the video game in no time?).

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Football in the northeast will be dead in 10 years. We barely put a pop warner team together for 7th grade. It's dying up north.

In some places it's already died off. See Rutgers.

 

[cuseincincy]

My son played football for 9 years. He wrestled for 1 year. The only concussion he ever got was during wrestling season.

My other son has had 2 concussions. Both during basketball season.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

A school of 1500 students in Ellicott City, Maryland, Centennial High School, will not play varsity football this year. They can't field a team.

This is what's up ahead. Fear of CTE is going to radically change the sport. Parents are not going to tolerate the risk of brain damage for their children.

I'm listening to ESPN commentary on youth football right now with no serious consideration of CTE. The NFL is in complete denial about this.

Baseball is about to experience a renaissance.

No. The soccer boom will continue

 

[TheCusian]

No. The soccer boom will continue

Yep. Not baseball.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

It's not just CTE and brain damage. Football takes a tremendous physical toll all over the body.

My doctor says my cervical and shoulder arthritis is FB related. I'm 55. Only played HS. No Pop Warner.

 

[Finwad32]

Football won't die off, the way it is played will change. Kids shouldn't and hopefully won't put on pads until the high school level.

Soccer booms will only go so far as one high school team can only field so many kids. You can have 97 youth programs. Only 15-20 kids are playing varsity soccer. It's just numbers. Same thing with baseball, once you get to school level, only so many kids can participate.

Although some schools are dropping football in CNY, other schools are seeing significant increases in participation at the Modified and JV Level.

Football is not going anywhere. The way it's organized and played may and should change. But, it's not leaving.

 

[Hoo's That]

Demographics also a factor at Centennial (it's 37% Asian). They finished last season with less than 22 players on the roster per the WaPo article on Saturday. Centennial is the most affluent catchment area in Howard County. There will be more and more districts like Centennial's that will slowly but surely switch over to the other football. Soccer in Howard (where Centennial is) and Montgomery (closest suburb to DC and probably the most affluent) are extremely strong. I know for a fact that freshman tryouts for soccer at one of the strongest programs in Montgomery is by invitation, with "walk-ons" discouraged.

Late edit: The ritzy boarding school north of C'ville has gone to 8-man football due to falling participation numbers.

 

[TexanMark]

Imagine in CNY...lacrosse will continue to thrive. Just enough contact to feel macho but not enough to scare off most parents.

 

[justgold315]

Maybe the school will start a fidget spinning team

 

[Bayside44]

Imagine in CNY...lacrosse will continue to thrive. Just enough contact to feel macho but not enough to scare off most parents.

Lax is booming in my part of suburban DC, baseball making a strong comeback - thank you Washington Nationals.

Reality is even if a kid shows decent ability the though of sticking with football only to have him get wrecked by some VT recruit at DeMatha isn't worth it. No upside in football.

 

[Atlcuse44]

Lax is huge here in the Atlanta suburbs as well. Football is still king down here though.

 

[Nahson]

Honestly? Good. I've played football from pop warner into college. Great experience between the comrodary and the college girls but ultimately, all it left me with is a broken down body. I wouldn't stop my kids from playing Football, but I think I'm going steer towards baseball, golf, lacrosse.