Why Head Injuries are Affecting the Future of Football

 By Tyler Salisbury

Stonehill News Staff Writer

Concussions in boys' football rank highest among youth sports, leading some parents to keep their children away from the game and prompting calls for changes in the way teams approach the problem.

According to a recent report, “America’s Most Divided Sport: Polarization and Inequality in Attitudes about Youth Football,” a study written by Andrew Lindner, The rate of concussions for boys’ high school football is 9.7 per 10,000 AEs(games or practices where there is a possibility of sustaining an injury), more than triple the rate for soccer (3.14), and well over six times the rate for basketball (1.46), and baseball (1.35)

A big reason children get head injuries is the lack of information parents have on head trauma. athletic trainer Evan Chandra had a lot to say about the fact that parents aren’t informed enough about the risk and negative effects of brain trauma. 

Chandra currently works at East Bridgewater Jr/Sr High School, where he has been an athletic trainer for eight years. He evaluates concussions and head injuries, monitors signs/symptoms, refers them out to doctors and helps athletes return to play safely by following concussion protocols.

 

“I believe more education should be given to youth coaches/parents on what a concussion is and how to determine if someone has one. Coaches and parents need to ditch their “old school” attitude and pay more attention to head trauma,” he said.

Concussions are a really big issue for many different reasons. In Lindner’s study, out of 111 deceased American Football players, 99% of them were diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy(CTE). CTE is a progressive brain condition that's thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussion. Negative effects of CTE consist of the progressive decline of memory and cognition, depression, suicidal behavior and eventually dementia. These are the effects that are causing parents to pull their children from playing football.

“I was always afraid of letting my son play football, because of the risks of him injuring his head and not being the same. The constant collisions to the head were the main reason I never allowed him to play,” Katie Ronayne said.

Ronayne is the mother of her son Colin Ronayne. She did not let Colin play football because she believed that her son would end up with a head injury, and that is something she did not want to risk. Some parents all across the world think the same way as Katie which has caused a trend. The trend is that concussions are causing parents to not let their children play the sport anymore.

“I believe football will always be around due to the money that it brings to towns. There might be some modifications in the future but I believe football will be part of high school sports and continue to be relevant in professional sports as well,” Chandra said.

Football will never be shut down, but it is important that coaches and parents take the necessary precautions when it comes to brain injuries to prevent football from gaining a bad reputation. Chandra doesn’t think children should be allowed to play football until seventh or eighth grade. He says that coaches need to train their players properly to avoid concussions. 

Chandra doesn’t believe that children should be able to play football until seventh or eighth grade because that is when they become more physically developed and have a better understanding of the game. Those reasons alone can help prevent head trauma and the risk of injury. 

“I would feel much more comfortable letting my child play football if they properly trained technicians and had the right equipment,” Ronayne said.

Although coaches teach their players how to tackle and avoid injury at a young age, they don’t spend enough time focusing on avoiding head injuries according to Chandra. If young children are allowed to play football, then it is important that they learn at such a young age that they need to protect themselves, or else they may end up with consequences.

People should care about this issue because concussions can have a great impact on someone's life and can affect people outside of sports. Chandra says that it is an invisible injury, which means that it can go unnoticed without medical personnel to evaluate the athlete. If an athlete returns before a concussion is fully healed, it can lead to brain damage or brain bleeding which could be catastrophic. 

“I am aware that concussions and head injuries are bad, but I don’t know all of the negative effects they can have on a person. I believe that researchers and other experts could do a better job educating us parents on the risk of head trauma,” she said. 

Although the trend is making football look worse, there is a way to prevent this. Chandra believes that football also brings positives. He says that football is like any other sport, there will always be a risk of injury but it’s the education that matters. 

“If parents/coaches understand what a concussion is and how it presents itself and coaches teach kids how to properly tackle and use proper helmet fitting, I believe football can be a safer sport,” he said. 

Ronayne also believes that if she was more informed on the topic at hand, then she would definitely reconsider letting her child play football. She thinks that other parents should make themselves more aware of the risk of head injuries when it comes to football. This could help change parents' decisions on letting their children play because they would be more aware of how to treat a concussion their child gets and ultimately how to help their children avoid it.