entremet
Member
CTE is more a risk factor due to subconcussive hits, which are way more numerous in contact sports.
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Footballs decline has some high schools disbanding teams
- Thread starter entremet
- Start date
CTE is more a risk factor due to subconcussive hits, which are way more numerous in contact sports.
MugiwaraCole
Member
There's nothing wrong with kids participating in athletics. You can excel in the classroom and be an athlete. That's not the problem here.
Violence Jack
Member
With all of the costs associated to kids baseball, AAU basketball taking over, travel, equipment, etc, I think we'll be encouraging our kid to join marching band and work his way up to drum major.
Rumblebones
Banned
Good.
Time for a baseball renaissance.
Time for a baseball renaissance.
Greedings
Member
The most boring sport of all.
AcademicSaucer
Member
The college scholarship system just doesn't work all that well in countries where education is free.
Mountain biking is a horrible high school sport as it is so equipment and land focused. Currently work at a shop that sponsors a top high school team in So Cal and see parents buying 14 yr old kids $3K-7K bikes they know will be out grown in 2 years. Never mind access to trails and transportation of kids and bikes make it even more focused on well off suburban kids. Sports like track, basketball, soccer, and swimming (in areas with the weather for it) are better for everyone.
Wish they could do something to reduce the head injury issue as a big thing with football is how many kids can be on a team.
Alex_Mexico
Member
Now's the time, USSoccer. Capitalize on this now!
djplaeskool
Member
Meanwhile in the South, I can barely drive near my apartment on Friday evenings because I live somewhat close to a major high school.
Alex_Mexico
Member
Pullistic could be that first international US Soccer star but y'all had to fuck it up by failing to score a tie vs Trinidad and friggin' Tobago and this not qualifying to the WC. That 19 year old's chances for world attention got squandered by the worst US team I've seen since 1998 (fun fact, that team did qualify tot he WC but finished in 32 out of 32 teams of that tournament).
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Might not be as pronounced, but it is also happening in the west at even some of the larger schools:
www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/01/due-to-lack-of-interest-marin-high-school-to-drop-varsity-football/
yellowjacket25
Member
Even in the south I hear from just about all newer parents that they would never let their kids play football. It will take longer here, but I do think the popularity of football will decline.
Just_myles
Member
This. I recently had to take concussion training and it's not so much helmet to helmet or even landing on your head that is bad... I mean they're bad but, it's in fact the physical blows to the body that rocks the brain stem. Football is pretty bad. Doing headers in soccer can also lead to concussions if the blows are sustained on a regular basis.
parrotbeak
Member
Hopefully this leads to better heavyweight MMA fighters down the line if football is less attractive to the bigger athletes.
Zoe
Member
But who will he be marching for if there's no football team?
LegendofJoe
Member
I don't think we'll miss the WC two times in a row, Pullistic will get another shot. And another thing to consider is the fact that population growth in the US is almost entirely driven by Latinos. They brought their love of soccer with them and passed it on to their children. A ton of them are coaching their kids in recreational leagues, and passing their knowledge on to other kids as well (my son included). They're changing the culture surrounding the game in a good way, that more than anything is why I strongly believe that soccer has the brightest future of any sport by far in the US.
My brother is a MLS referee and he is even more bullish on the future of US soccer than I am, despite the US men failing to qualify for the WC.
outunderthestars
Banned
Here in NJ the teams own the bikes and everyone races with comparable modestly spec'd bikes. That helps to keep the costs down and make it more approachable for people of various economic means.
Don't forget track or cross country (5k races) as an option. I ran XC in high school and it was really great for me. No injuries and taught me good discipline.
Edit: Swimming too
Most of the physical strain in basketball is on the knees and legs in general, which younger bodies are well-equipped to handle. So that's definitely in the "safe" category, certainly of competitive sports.
I'd put hockey squarely in the "not worth the risk" category, personally.
BobTheFork
Member
Yeah, the Ray Rice deal kind of made me feel too bad to watch the NFL as much and the CTE finding sealed it.
It's just a scummy business and I need something better to do with my time.
It's just a scummy business and I need something better to do with my time.
In our county most of the sports were becoming pay to play even when I graduated 10 years ago. Football was the only sport where you didn't have to put your money in or do fundraising during the whole season. I wouldn't be sad if football went away but I hope would-be players fall into other after school activities because it did really keep us out of trouble and made us hold each other accountable. There were plenty of times where "we could get kicked off the team" was the only barrier our teenage brains had to keep us from doing stupid stuff. Not because football was important but because you were basically sitting at home doing nothing while your friends were at practice, weightlifting, or whatever. Your friends that weren't on the team we're still probably in band, flagteam, or cheerleading getting ready for the football game too. When all of the parents of those students that participate on Fridays also get involved making meals, helping transport, and doing fundraising for other sports seasons, you get the phenomenon of football shutting down small towns and becoming a community cornerstone. It's not something that would translate easily to soccer or basketball because you can't have that same number of students participating.
Fulminator
Member
While I do think this is generally a good thing, I can't help but feel bad for players who are passionate about the sport.
I'm sure they will still find a way to play if they really want to though
I'm sure they will still find a way to play if they really want to though
RocknRola
Member
Man, you need a whole lot of stuff to play baseball, damn.
makingmusic476
Member
I have no doubt that Pulisic will play in both 2022 and 2026, assuming we qualify and nothing happens to him.
He'll only be 27 in 2026.
Not more than soccer.
PdotMichael
Banned
Just play rugby
lukeskymac
Member
Yeah, it's such child's play that you guys decided to skip the next World Cup to give a chance to everyone else. You know, because you were just tired of winning all the time.
I don't know how this is an opinion that can exist.
I mean bro, if you don't think Hockey is going to be affected by Concussion issues, you're kinda delusional.
Rugby isn't exactly the best either. Here in NZ we got stuff about concussions pretty often on the news.
Violence Jack
Member
John Urschel quit the NFL to pursue his PhD in Math at MIT.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amph...etires-from-nfl-to-pursue-phd-in-math-at-mit/
Razgriz-Specter
Member
LOL no, my highschools in Alabama had Golf teams but no Soccer teams.
The few games I tried watching, I nearly fell asleep. It's guys jogging back and forth for 90 minutes. I would rather watch track than that.
Kite
Member
Today I learned the world cup is going on (?), it's NFL and NBA time right now so about soccer.. ok.
I kinda assume at some point high schools and colleges will fear lawsuits enough to remove football from being affiliated with the schools. Dunno how you can keep promoting such a dangerous activity and not get sued into oblivion in the future.
On the local sports radio of course they get a lot of the callers with "it teaches da kids da discipline!" which is total crap. As if you can't get that from a less dangerous sport.
On the local sports radio of course they get a lot of the callers with "it teaches da kids da discipline!" which is total crap. As if you can't get that from a less dangerous sport.
Qualifiers are going on.
America wasn't able to qualify out of the easiest confederation in the world because we weren't able to tie Trinidad and Tobago.
Master Of Illusion
Member
Oh yes. PC, St. Joe's, and Dom Bosco are fucking huge when it comes to that (and possibly more aggressive now than when I was in high school not too long ago).
My take is still HS football's fine as long as they know what they're signing up for.
I kinda regret never trying out myself tbh.
vacantseas
Member
I dunno, I'm in my mid-30's and it seems most parents my age realize there are risks with youth football, but you wouldnt know it by looking at stickers of the local youth leagues on cars and local fields on saturdays. Every late july/early august around there there's elementary school age boys in pads running drills and coaches yelling at them and parents sitting on the sidelines watching their kids practice. This isnt even the south or traditional football hotbeds I'm talking about here, just chicago suburbs.
It might be declining, but it'll still be a while before high school football goes to a "club only" type sport.
It might be declining, but it'll still be a while before high school football goes to a "club only" type sport.
There aren't a lot of high school sports spots for overweight kids. Definitely not for the free sports in my area that would also introduce to you to an actual gym and workout routines. If you had the money you could golf.
That's a big part of why 7 on 7 isn't just a flat replacement.
This is going to be a generational process. One missed World Cup won't be the end of the world.
It already is. I believe it was Probert who they determined had CTE after he died.
Youth hockey at least minimizes it slightly as they don't allow hitting until they are teenagers, but hockey can at least be played without major (intentional) contact. Football by design, has significantly more chance of head injures for some positions at least.
As for youth football, as my sons have been in flag football for years now, I highly encourage it. It is fun for the kids and actually much more entertaining to watch as coaches/parents since most youth football just ends up being sweep runs left and right. With flag we encourage more throwing at a younger age, and in some situations it is required.
ZeezbruhTV
Member
Where was this when I was in High School...damn.
lukeskymac
Member
As opposed to guys standing still and occasionally sprinting for 180 minutes?