I don’t know what sports, if any, my two year-old boy will want to play but it makes me sad that I don’t think I can responsibly let him play football. I’m even a little concerned about soccer. I played all kinds of sports and the only concussion I ever got was while water-skiing. I guess I got another in high school when some punk sucker-punched me. I was seeing weird squiggly lines for my whole eighth period. But that wasn’t too bad. The water skiing wipeout had me in bed for two days and lethargic for a week. Part of me thinks that football and soccer are awesome team sports that I loved playing. Part of me doesn’t want my kid getting dementia in his sixties.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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Why are you concerned about soccer? I was a goalkeeper and I played until I graduated college. Granted, you can’t touch us without getting a red card, but we are going to be the most physical at times. The worst injury I sustained was a broken rib my senior year because when I dove on top of the ball the player kicked me in the ribs. I’ve seen people break their collar bones a few times, but usually because they’re being stupid (attempting bicycle kicks at practice).
Plus, your chances of going pro are already slim to none, but they’re really slim with soccer; their benches aren’t that long.
I have played soccer since 1967 and remember first heading a ball when I was 7 or 8 in 1960, when we lived in Germany. I played in high school and a little in college. As I graduated from high school in 1970, there was no high-school soccer, just clubs that played a little. I have headed the ball many times. I feel that soccer is a very good game for small children, and allows them to run like crazy.
I also have reffed some and coached for 10 years while my kids were in elementary and junior high. Unfortunately in this country, in high school, you are either on the high school team or you don’t play. It’s very unfortunate. My girl’s team was just learning how to pass and score when they finished 8th grade – not a single one played soccer in high school, even the talented ones.
Have the kid play soccer!! He’ll enjoy it.
I did injure myself playing goalie, where we were in a tie-breaking shoot out deal. the opponent would start at midfield and make a run. I decided to go hard, and go the absolute crap kicked out of my thigh, which was blue and black for a week. The most painful thing I can ever remember happening to me. Dumb approach on my part, but I did save the goal.
I guess the objection is that there are a lot of concussions occurring in soccer too, or that’s what I keep hearing. I found this and this in a quick search, and it looks like while the numbers are significant for soccer, football is still about 3 times as likely to result in concussion. I guess heading the ball is a factor, or maybe some players are just getting kicked in the head every now and then. Lacrosse is a high risk too, in case that’s on the table (we’d never even heard of it when I was in high school).
Surprisingly, wrestling appears to result in as many concussions as soccer. I wonder what that’s about.
I guess heading the ball is a factor, or maybe some players are just getting kicked in the head every now and then.
Head injuries in soccer usually result from players colliding with each other or with goal posts while they keep their eyes on the ball and don’t watch out.
Which reminds me: as a goalkeeper, I also accidentally dove into the goalpost one time diving backwards. Made the save, but went unconscious for a few seconds. No concussion or injury.
If you were unconscious by definition you had a concussion — with apparently little side-effects.
Another example of why concussions are so hard to diagnose and judge when you are ready to play again.
I’ve been away from your great site for awhile. I come back to see a topic we just discussed. Visiting an excellent neurosurgeon (just checkup.) Got to talking about PTSD and football. He said that when he was a kid, his own father (a doctor) said that if he played football he’d “cut his legs off.” The upshot: This is a “gladiator sport” where people watch young men endanger not only their current safety but their brains for decades to come.
The jury’s out on headers….. The American Academy of Pediatrics in particular is on the fence. (Link to PDF…)
i’d be more concerned about football than soccer. Heading the ball isn’t so good for the ol’ bean, but it’s an optional thing for most players I would suspect.
In contrast, the tackle is a necessary function in football, and anyone who plays is going to be subject to it at some point.
Our son is 42 years old. When he was a teen, he dearly wanted to play football. He Mom adamantly refused to allow that to happen.
She is a wise lady.
Wait and see if he is actually interested in sports. It would be sad if he engaged in activity he didn’t like because “Dad would like me to do it.”
You never know what a child will like, and what they will be good at. Having two children both involved in various sports over the years, I think it is worthwhile to let them set the pace, as much as you can stand it.
We sort of discouraged hockey because we didn’t want to spend our winter freezing in rinks at 6 am practices and dealing with other screaming parents. Luckily, neither of the kids ever said they wanted to play hockey so they didn’t. Our son was too tall and thin for football so he was never interested in that sport either.
A good sport for the winter from the parent’s point of view is basketball — its indoors and requires virtually no investment in equipment, and is good for their social life with the other kids at school.
A good sport for spring and summer is baseball — a difficult game for kids to learn initially, but it allows a variety of sizes and skill levels to enjoy playing together and baseball isn’t played when its raining (unlike soccer).
Track is also good for competitive kids who like to run and enjoy individual achievement even though they are playing with other kids.
And it helps if you live in a city with a variety of sport options, instead of a small town where “everybody” plays hockey, say, or football.
Long time lurker. MD. I love football. Played it through high school. I won’t let my son play. This is a popular article, but it’s a decent summary of the risks.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7443714/jonah-lehrer-concussions-adolescents-future-football
Soccer is stil a question mark in my mind. But if you want to teach toughness and perseverance, cross country and swimming seem like good bets.
Touch football, baseball , basketball, there are plenty of sports that don’t require random hits to the head. I’m glad my son didn’t want to play pop warner football, and focussed on baseball instead. Its not just the head injuries in football either. Seems like kids are popping knees and breaking arms and legs all the time. Love to watch the pros have at it, but no way I want my kid endangering himself.
Accidental hits to the head are much more dangerous than headers, and those are a problem in baseball and basketball, too.
Playing football is about the best thing I have ever done. I loved it and would still be playing if I wasn’t an old fart.
And I’m certain that I’ve had waaaay too many concussion. I recall six serious concussions but probably had three times that. And I never reported it or saw medical staff.
Having coached Pop Warner, I had to take training on concussion. I was shocked to learn with each concussion you have a much better chance of future concussions — especially if you aren’t completely healed.
Also, linemen are likely to be slightly concussed most of the season due to repeated shots to the head while blocking. That’s one of the reasons the trend is to eliminate most contact during practice.
The IMPACT system is awesome and allows each player to be baselined at the beginning of the season. And produces empirical evidence that you are actually healed.
Oh, one of the inventors, Mark Lovell, went to Northern Michigan University and like me was a psych major.
Kinda makes me laugh that a couple of commentators think touch football is a whole lot safer than tackle. Block a grown man with no helmet for three hours and then tell me about it.
Yep.
Touch and flag football just means the ball carrier is safer.
I played center most of my playing days and I loved it because I got to hit someone every play — usually with my head, in an effort to knock the defender clean off his feet.
That routinely gave me more problems with my neck than head though.
Football is an amazing sport. And I’ve witnessed how it has turned around lots of boys and turned them into responsible men who put aside fear and serve something bigger than themselves. A good coach can be truly transformational.
Now I am not entirely buying it but there are serious people who believe US citizen soldier GI’s defeated the Japanese and Germans because they played HS football and the Germans and Japanese did not.
Well maybe not, but I still think football could be a great choice for Finn if he wants to play.
Not to mention that the NFL eliminated 40% of concussions last year simply by moving the spot of the kickoff up five yards. A huge percentage of concussions come on kickoffs and we used to do that without helmets. I admit to finding each and every kickoff to be absolutely terrifying. That’s probably why I sucked at them, while you seemed to get the carrier every single time. Running full speed at other men who are running full speed at you, and then smashing into them, is not a great idea without a helmet.
It’s true that not having to tackle helps eliminate a whole host of aches and pains, but anyone who thinks flag football isn’t physical and a major risk for concussions hasn’t watched it, let alone played it.
Honestly, the worst concussions I saw were from people getting decleated and hitting the back of the head on the turf. I saw a few twitchers from that, and even had one experience myself where I didn’t get a concussion, but I was in pain.
You guys are talking about a different more dangerous version of flag football where you can knock down people while blocking.The kinds of hits you describe are simply not allowed in the league in which my son played middle school flag football. Much safer, though maybe not as ‘fun’.
“Its all in good fun until someone looses and eyyyyye”
Yes, the kid flag game is much different and what kids 7-8 play. It is fine for kids.
There are geezer leagues like that too. To me that feels like playing basketball with a football. It is just not the same sport.
What I played until I was forty, especially the last 15 years or so, was a highly competitive travel league that played weekend long tournaments.It was made up mostly of former college players in their 20s.
So here’s the thing. I didn’t even start playing organized football until I was 11, then played for 29 years.
I see far too many kids get started in sports way too early and by the time they HS they are burned out on it. Personally, I think the benefits of sports are pretty minimal for a 5-8 year old but pretty important for character development and lifetime health for teenagers.
The football we played was regular football with no tackling and no pads. And instead of five offensive linemen, we had three. Andrew played center. I played offensive tackle, defensive end, and linebacker. A linebacker has to take on a pulling lineman running full speed with no pads. Some of these linemen were only a year or two out of colleges like Auburn. Not good enough for the NFL but good enough to clobber the crap out of me. I’m about 5’11” 205 lbs. A decent size for a strong safety, but not for taking on 300lb. linemen.
Nevertheless, what could be more fun? Competing against athletes like that and beating them because they’re too slow? Who cares if it’s Wednesday before you can walk again?
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"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."My nephew, who is just fourteen, sustained a terrible broken wrist last fall playing football for his school team. The medic wouldn’t let my sister-in-law see it because his hand was at an angle away from the rest of his arm.
It was set with pins and because he’s young, they believe it will heal completely, but that injury coupled with a couple of concussions he sustained over his football playing history would make me pull him from the sport. But not them.
It is definitely NOT overprotective to steer your son away from a sport that is primarily coordinated violent assaults between rival gangs and can result in long-term brain damage. For that “team spirit” experience start him in T-ball to see if he likes the boredom of baseball. As an outlet for possible aggressive tendencies, get him into kid karate classes. He’ll learn more physical coordination and self-control from martial arts than any team sport. And frankly, it will prepare him for real life. Most of us don’t travel in packs anymore and have to rely on our own wits.
Andrew has taken a great interest in track and field lately and wants to play baseball, but I think his dad missed the deadline to sign him up. Living in Canada, everybody plays hockey – but not in my house. The equipment is too expensive and too many dads living vicariously through their sons.
My nephew is 17. In his first year of high school football, in his first game, he got a bad concussion. After being out for a few weeks, he got another concussion right out of the gate. Then, after a few weeks, a buddy gave him a “leroy jethro gibbs” head slap, and that was concussion #3.
It seems pretty obvious to me that the first concussion left him very vulnerable. He is a very smart and amazing young man, but now he is struggling in school.
Of course, the school never did any of the baseline testing that would allow proof of resulting brain injuries. If they were serious about this, they would do baseline testing to every kid who starts to play, and soon there would be plenty of data to prove this one way or another.
After this experience, I would NEVER let me kids play football. Ever. Even if they hated me for it.
I work with a group that evaluates kids with concussions. We use several approaches – cognitive tests, balance tests in several conditions, subjective evaluations (“Are you feeling mentally ‘foggy’?”)
It is amazing how many different ways kids get concussions. Of course, football is important. But so is cheerleading. In football, you do stuff with a helmet. In cheerleading, some of the same activities (almost) are going on, no helmets. Kids are at the top of a tower of 3, with heads 17-18 feet off a hardwood floor, and sometimes no spotters. We see cheerleading concussions. Also basketball (big guys are 12-18 ” taller than little guys, and that puts heads right at elbow level). Also track. Also soccer. Also waterskiing – no earthly notion about that one.
It’s better that kids are active in some activity, however. Sports are good. My kids were in soccer for as long as possible. None play today.
The thing is that helmet keep you from breaking your skull. It does little about acceleration/deceleration forces that are the primary cause of concussions.
I have probably three concussions from a blow to the head. The rest were just big “slobberknocker” hits to the body. The “whipping” action to the head as the body is nearly removed from underneath is what causes concussions. That’s what I’m seeing more in football, hockey and lacrosse.
But isn’t this pretty much like the flying analogy? You always hear on the news about the ones that go down in flames. You never hear a lead story stating, “25,000 flights landed today without incident”. How many tens of millions of kids play soccer and football every year without a serious event? Almost all of them.
Living is dangerous. Playing is dangerous. That’s part of the deal in our human animal kingdom.
On at least one level, it’s not at all like plane crashes. When a plane crashes it is reported every single time. We know who died and who was injured.
What we’ve been learning about football is that the injuries are often unreported. The damage doesn’t manifest itself until later when people become depressed or can’t concentrate or get early onset Alzheimer’s.
And it is a lot more widespread than people thought.
It’s more like the cancer-causing effects of smoking than plane travel.
Good point. Like so many things, it will take years to get a good handle on how serious the problem is. In the meantime, being a parent to a kid involved in contact sports will continue to be a nail biter; and in many more ways than previously thought. Good luck with that, BooMan. Maybe Finn will lean toward less risky activities and save you and CG a bit of worry, anyway.
Yeah but politics can be a contact sport too. đŸ˜‰
Back to the plane analogy.
How many people do not fly for whatever reason.
They`ll never get to crash, or not.
Now, how many people never played football nor soccer & live a perfectly full life.
Equipment for a sport like skiing, swimming, bicycling, Karate, or for the arts like music, painting, writing, photography etc. will always be less expensive on a child, physically, psychologically & be less strain on the parents also, especially since in the single person sports I mention, the object is not to pummel your opponent, but to challenge one`s self.
Gang sports are for group thinkers I believe.
Single person sports (I forgot tennis & golf) tend to develop a young person much better than one who is simply part of a team where the top percenters are the quarterback, then going down the line into lessers & lessers.