Word: youth
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...when highly motivated, superbly conditioned athletes collide violently in pursuit of glory. The more we learn about the human cost of this quintessentially American sport, the more questions are being raised regarding the people who run it and play it. More than 3 million kids play football at the youth level, and an additional 1.2 million suit up for their high school teams. So football's safety issues reverberate far beyond the NFL. From within the NFL, and without, a consensus is emerging that reforms are needed to keep football from becoming too dangerous for its own good. (See pictures...
...Change youth football. Chris Nowinski is a former Harvard defensive tackle whose pro-wrestling career - he didn't want to sit in a cubicle - was derailed by concussions. He has since emerged as one of the country's most prominent advocates for football reform and has written a book, Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis. To illustrate his points, he pulls up a YouTube clip titled "Big Football Hit - Helmet to Helmet." In a drill supervised by the coaches, two 8-year-olds charge toward each other, heads down, as a woman yells, "Go! Go!" The tiny helmets collide...
...many of us, it turns out. To improve player safety, all youth coaches should be trained in a concussion-management program approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and be certified before strapping a whistle around their neck. Make coaches carry a concussion card that shows they're aware of the risks and aren't idiotic enough to unleash two 8-year-old heads on each other. "If you're going to coach football, you should be trained - like a lifeguard sitting over a swimming pool learning CPR," says Turley, the former NFL offensive lineman and concussion-prevention...
...Youth coaches must also rethink tackling technique. One method that has received positive reviews is the "Dip 'n' Rip," taught by a former UCLA defensive back named Bobby Hosea. Hosea instructs kids to wind back their arms and explode up with their hips while going in for a hit. Such a movement causes the head to rock away from oncoming traffic. One convert to Hosea's method is Mike Kulow, a veteran youth coach who says his Murrieta, Calif., Pop Warner league, which has 450 players, witnessed only one whiplash injury this past season. "Man, do I wonder...
...Lystedt Law, named for Zackery Lystedt, who as a 13-year-old played with a concussion during a 2006 game. Lystedt collapsed after the game. His brain hemorrhaged, he went into a monthlong coma, and he remains paralyzed on one side of his body. The law requires that all youth athletes suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury during a practice or game must sit out and may not return to play unless cleared by a licensed medical provider trained in concussion management. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Florida are among the states considering similar legislation...