Football injuries relapse
We all love our favorite sport. Some like basketball, baseball or soccer but the obvious biggest sport in every age group in the U.S. is American football. Since it took over baseball in the 1950s, it shows no sign of stopping. However, recently there has been much debate over high school football; many say that they consider it too dangerous.
According to Rausch Physical Therapy, high school football has the highest rate of injury in school sports, at 12 per 1,000 students. The rate is over two times that of the next highest sport, girls soccer, at five per 1,000, and three times of the overall average in school sports, that is around four per every 1,000.
Of these football injuries, 28 percent are head injuries and 14 percent are knee injuries. The most common high school injury is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear which carries through with most other sports like soccer and basketball in all major levels.
In the 2015 high school football season there were 11 reported fatalities. This caused protest as people lost loved ones to one of America’s largest pastimes. Many called it the end of high school football because most high schools can’t afford the big budget medical equipment of larger leagues like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Football League (NFL).
In defense of high school football, if the players couldn’t play high school football, they’d just play in a different league, with possibly fewer safety measures and far less attention to injuries. High school sports also allow people to be able to form stronger friendships as they see their fellow teammates in school.
To prevent injuries, many simply suggest playing flag football. The risk is cut in more than half for head or neck injuries, with the only part not really changing being the ACL injuries.
The idea was still criticized for stunting future college players’ abilities as they wouldn’t learn how to play in college rules assuming that flag vs. tackle would be a regional divide and not a national schooling policy.
Many say that simply changing some rules and adding better safety equipment would allow for a safer game in a future where parents don’t have to worry about injury. As CVHS head football coach Denny Molzen put it, “Football is constantly evolving as new technology is introduced with safety equipment, i.e. helmets. Also new rules have been implemented over the last five to eight years that have tried to make the game safer.” In this new direction one can certainly hope for a safer future.
According to OrthoInfo, there has been a gradual decline in terms of brain injuries and deaths in high school football. It’s still very much not perfect as unfortunately, three high school players died on the field in the 2022 season.
From the standpoint of a parent, high school football seems too dangerous. I know many parents who will not let their children play high school tackle football. While I love to play football I’m sure that I would play more and worry less if it was less dangerous. In the high school sports world, football is clearly the odd one out.
I heard tackle football is considered as most dangerous sport because it is a combat using your whole body. There is no wonder protests arise so the loved ones will not be injured or disabled permanently just because of playing a sport in school. However, high popularity on the tackle football which makes the case complicated and there will be dilemmas whether or not to ban tackle football. The advancement of technology to make the sport itself safe might be a solution but the injury is not 0, and I thought it there will be resist against the tackle football from those who could not tolerate the risks of getting the injury forever. Although I don’t play football itself, I agree with you that if the sport became less dangerous, we would play more oftenly, and I hope the advancement of technology would improve the safety of every sport that has the risk of injury.