In ƵBƵ team youth football action on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 11, 2024, the Generals host the Eastern Kanawha County Cougars at the Winfield Middle School.
In ƵBƵ team youth football action on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 11, 2024, the Generals host the Eastern Kanawha County Cougars at the Winfield Middle School.
The death of a Boone County, West Virginia, middle school football player last month has drawn attention to the question of player safety. It also raises the question of whether children should play tackle football at all before they reach high school.
Despite the immaturity of both mind and body during the middle school years, for now most fans will answer that question Ƶyes,Ƶ but itƵs one that does need to be asked from time to time as long as games of strength and agility are played as a reminder of the risks involved in football.
According to the Ƶsociated Press, ƵProposals in individual states to ban tackle football for younger children during a critical period of their brain development have gotten little traction. At the same time, youth participation in tackle football has been declining for years, and efforts to steer young boys into flag football are growing.Ƶ
Tackle football is a huge part of American culture, and it is a big business at all levels Ƶ pros, college and high school. Even high school athletes in some states can collect NIL (name, image, likeness) money nowadays. It should be noted that West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky are not among those states. Football has a fan base that resists change. The NFL has put in place new rules regarding kickoffs that are designed to limit injuries. Ƶ with most drastic rule changes, a large segment of fans donƵt like the new rule, so thereƵs a chance it will be scrapped before the 2025 season begins.
Head injuries have always been a danger in sports, but many sports have been slow or reluctant to acknowledge that fact.
Major League Baseball didnƵt require players to wear batting helmets until the 1971 season, but players already in the majors could choose to wear a plastic liner under their cloth ball caps. Batting helmets have evolved over the years, and now players wear helmets that protect their temples and jaws.
The National Hockey League didnƵt require helmets until even later. Players who entered the league after June 1, 1979, were required to wear helmets. Players who had signed their first professional contract before that date could choose to not wear one.
People today would think wearing helmets would be the only reasonable choice for people dodging baseballs or hockey pucks, but attitudes toward these things were different in those days.
Life is full of risks, and we canƵt protect children from all risks. Learning which risks to take is part of growing up.
ƵI donƵt think we need to do away with football,Ƶ Ryan Craddock, the father of eighth-grade student Cohen Craddock of Madison Middle School, said after his sonƵs death from a head injury during practice. ƵA lot of people enjoy football, including myself. I just think we need to maybe put more safety measures out there to protect our kids.Ƶ
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