After reading Clay Farr’s Feb. 10 Community Voices article, “Ban youth tackle football and keep our kids CTE-free,” I felt compelled to separate fact from fiction for readers.
For well over 50 years now, youth tackle football has been a cornerstone of Kern County athletics. It’s steeped in rich tradition and local history and it positively impacts the lives of thousands of young athletes.
On the heels of the recently released movie “Concussion,” and through personal anecdotal experience, Farr was quick to criticize youth tackle football coaches and to point out his concern for the safety of our children by referencing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
Although I share his concern for the overall safety of all youth athletes who participate in contact sports, I was a bit taken aback by his assertion that players under the age of 13 years should simply not be allowed to participate in youth tackle football, and our community should take steps to “ban it.”
In fact, The American Academy of Pediatrics, representing over 64,000 primary care physicians and other health care professionals, sets no limits as to when our children should begin playing tackle football and realizing its rewards, so long as important standards are in place.
It is clear that there is an inherent risk of injury in all types of physical activity such as bike riding, cheerleading, soccer, lacrosse, and yes, flag and tackle football, among many others.
Regardless of the activity, proper teaching of safe and proven fundamentals is paramount to injury prevention and safety as a whole.
Over the past five years, there has been tremendous growth in the number of local youth tackle football coaches certified through USA Football’s Heads-Up Tackling Program, and our community is seeing that benefit come to fruition.
USA Football and its local affiliates have really helped reshape our local youth tackle football landscape through their comprehensive, progressive instruction and certification model.
In addition, research from the Datalys Center published in the Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine in July 2015 found young football players are less likely to be injured or sustain a head injury when their coaches are trained in teaching proper tackling fundamentals.
Leagues that took part in Heads-Up Football had a 76 percent reduction in juries. Furthermore, leagues that adopted the Heads-Up Football program had a 34 percent reduction in concussions during practices and a 29 percent reduction of concussions during games.
In 2015 nearly 6,500 youth tackle football leagues around the country registered through USA Football’s Heads-Up program, a number that equates to about 70 percent of all U.S. youth tackle football leagues.
Farr’s polarizing attempt to somehow draw a connection between what he may have seen on the Esquire Channel’s “Friday Night Tykes” vs. what actually occurs in the majority of youth tackle football settings is a bit reckless and inaccurate, and it detracts from what progress has been made in the sport both locally and on the national level.
Inflammatory generalizations can discredit individuals who generously give their time to benefit children in a wide range of sports.
To be fair, there are obviously youth coaches in all sports that have no business serving as mentors to our children and, quite frankly, give coaching a bad name at all levels.
What is often underreported is how the sport of football, regardless of age, positively impacts and changes lives, instills self confidence and citizenship and promotes physical and mental fitness.
With the continuing advancement in protective equipment, injury prevention and early recognition, as well as consistent, proper teaching techniques, combined with continued coaching education, it is my belief that youth tackle football is safer now than it has ever been.
Ron White is the Executive Director of Golden Empire Youth Tackle Football. He has more than 30 year experience in this field as a coach, administrator, league president and board member. White is a former youth, high school, and junior college tackle football coach and former player.