Help! -- Teen wants to start playing football

[Scrapr]

Soccer also has a lot of concussions. Are you going to be consistent?

 

[ckelly78z]

My son is now graduating college, but attended a small high school (graduating 50 students) where he was playing both sides (offense, and defense) during most of every game. He started playing organized football in the 3rd grade, and developed strong friendships, and work ethic through constant conditioning, and is a better person because of it.

My son only had 2 concussions his whole career, and only 1 broken finger (more likely to happen riding his dirtbike) I would sign the paper, and support his decision.

 

[ivinsfan]

My son is now graduating college, but attended a small high school (graduating 50 students) where he was playing both sides (offense, and defense) during most of every game. He started playing organized football in the 3rd grade, and developed strong friendships, and work ethic through constant conditioning, and is a better person because of it.

My son only had 2 concussions his whole career, and only 1 broken finger (more likely to happen riding his dirtbike) I would sign the paper, and support his decision.

Your kid, your decision but for those of us who had kids that took the 4-H, music, arts and non-contact sports route, I'll point out all the things you listed as positive can be gained without endangering your brain.

 

[Aerides]

OP here. Thanks for all your responses. We just had the conversation with him and decided against letting him play. We're all pretty somber about it right now, but we know we're doing the right thing. We simply have to put his health first and foremost while he's under our care. I think he understands our reasoning, and with time it'll get easier to accept. Again, appreciate your thoughts.

Thank you for updating us. While the risk is a wild card for most, given your son already had two concussions at a very young age, the chance for him to sustain more injury is greater than most. I have to think that many of the "eh let him play" responses missed that detail in your follow up post.

Any other kid getting one concussion for the first and only time at 16 might be fine. Yours with his history might have a much more difficult outcome.

 

[ivinsfan]

Thank you for updating us. While the risk is a wild card for most, given your son already had two concussions at a very young age, the chance for him to sustain more injury is greater than most. I have to think that many of the "eh let him play" responses missed that detail in your follow up post.

Any other kid getting one concussion for the first and only time at 16 might be fine. Yours with his history might have a much more difficult outcome.

I don't know if people are still in denial about concussions or what.. When someone say their kid had two concussions in HS and is fine that tells me they don't really understand the later life issues that can present over concussions. IMO the school rules should be one concussion and you are done with contact sports.

I've got one DN who played every contact sport hard. Multiple concussions, one resulted in a trip to the ER. oh darn he had to sit out ONE WHOLE game over that one.

Still doing well but the guy seems to have a hair trigger temper over the smallest things. This has been getting more pronounced as he ages towards his 40's

 

[Bigdawg]

Like hundreds of thousands of other kids, I played football from peewee through college. It’s a rough game...so is riding your bike down the street or skateboarding, skiing the long list goes on.
There is a lot for a child to learn on a sporting field like football, lacrosse, hockey etc.
Sixteen is close to eighteen, I’d let him play. He is almost an adult.
Cars kill more teenagers than organized sports.

+1

 

[RunningBum]

All you people who said they played football and are fine...how did your autopsy come out? Because that's how CTE is diagnosed. Otherwise you just don't really know. Yeah, no headaches or memory loss is certainly a good sign that you're ok. I played contact football for four years total, all as starting running back, so I took some shots. I think I had a concussion once. I don't seem to have issues, but I do have some absent mindedness and inability to focus at times. Normal aging, or possible brain trauma signs?

For a kid who's already had two concussions, I think the OP made absolutely the right decision. Tough to do, and I'm sure he's not happy, but you can't just cave because he wants to do something that's not healthy for him.

 

[Bigdawg]

https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20170315/which-high-school-sport-has-the-most-concussions

"Between 2010 and 2015, the concussion rate was higher in girls' soccer than in boys' football, the findings showed. During the 2014-2015 school year, concussions were more common in girls' soccer than in any other sport in the study."

Let us know how the conversation goes when you tell your son he can no longer play soccer.

 

[ivinsfan]

https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20170315/which-high-school-sport-has-the-most-concussions

"Between 2010 and 2015, the concussion rate was higher in girls' soccer than in boys' football, the findings showed. During the 2014-2015 school year, concussions were more common in girls' soccer than in any other sport in the study."

Let us know how the conversation goes when you tell your son he can no longer play soccer.

Yes this jumped out at me too...the OP thought they picked the lesser evil, but that was an incorrect assumption.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Since you asked: Club soccer is probably just as bad with zero head protection but nobody follows up on low-profile sports and athletes for long-term effects.

Now he won’t see his best friend for weeks at a time during the high school years.

How did he take your decision? I would have hesitated to sign too but if my kid really really wanted to do something at 16 I probably would have let him and hoped the boys who had played youth club football would see all the playing time vs a newbie to the sport.

 

[marinauser]

I don't really understand the concern about football when there was no apparent concern over soccer and getting hit in the head repeatedly by the soccer ball I suspect. If CTE were a huge impact on high school football players, we would see a far greater impact on the adult population given the millions of kids that have played high school football the past 50 years. Is there a risk, sure - but I suspect the risk of an ACL injury is far greater than the CTE risk and that risk is probably no less in soccer. Let him play but monitor the situation.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I don't really understand the concern about football when there was no apparent concern over soccer and getting hit in the head repeatedly by the soccer ball I suspect. If CTE were a huge impact on high school football players, we would see a far greater impact on the adult population given the millions of kids that have played high school football the past 50 years. Is there a risk, sure - but I suspect the risk of an ACL injury is far greater than the CTE risk and that risk is probably no less in soccer. Let him play but monitor the situation.

yep - some guys I played with had a concussion or two in high school but it was the ACL injuries that ended careers. We played all of our games on astroturf so that may have contributed to it.

 

[ivinsfan]

I don't really understand the concern about football when there was no apparent concern over soccer and getting hit in the head repeatedly by the soccer ball I suspect. If CTE were a huge impact on high school football players, we would see a far greater impact on the adult population given the millions of kids that have played high school football the past 50 years. Is there a risk, sure - but I suspect the risk of an ACL injury is far greater than the CTE risk and that risk is probably no less in soccer. Let him play but monitor the situation.

To quote Running Bum CTE is diagnosed by autopsy by examining the brain. Do you know an autopsy can run several thousand dollars. Autopsy is not even required on former NFL players...the NFL should be offering to pay for this on every deceased player. They'd rather sweep it under the rug.

 

[NanoSour]

Once again OP here to answer some remaining questions and let you know how the conversation went.

In addition to replies from this forum, I obviously consulted Dr Google, after all it is 2019. Also, discussed this issue at length with my 75 year old father who raised 6 kids and several athletes including myself. I was a fairly accomplished HS athlete in both Basketball and Baseball. Football ended after two-hand touch league in Elementary school. Dad was for letting him play until I brought up the two previous ER visits for concussions. That ended the discussion.

DW and I sat down and made a list of all the events in his life thus far that give us real cause for pause about letting him play. They were:

1) Preschool collision that led to headaches and vomiting and a trip to the ER.
2) Age 6, sledding accident concussion where he could not stand up and I rushed him to the ER trying to keep him awake for fear he may slip in to a coma. This was a pretty scary event from where I sat.
3) Frequent night terrors from age 7-10. Normally 2-4 per week, 30 min to 1 hour after going to bed. We knew if he didn't have one in the first hour, we were in the clear. He appears to have outgrown this and has only had one in the last 6 years. If you are not familiar with night terrors, I can tell you they are not fun and I'm glad they are over.
4) He had his first Ocular Migraine headache about 3 years ago and has had a couple since then. Fortunately, they are pretty rare and he knows when he is about to get one. Seem to be related to dehydration.
5) Last summer he took a pretty good spill on his bike where he came home and went right to his bed because he said he didn't feel good.

As we laid these events out, I could tell our concerns were making sense to him and he accepted our decision. Yes, he is sad, but we have a great and loving relationship and this turned out to be a minor blip on the road of parenting.

As for the soccer, he knows we frown big time on heading the ball, especially in practice. He's a pretty good defender and a big Pique fan for those who know other game of football. Coach voted him Most Inspirational on his team this past year and there are no plans to pull this rug out from underneath him.

 

[ivinsfan]

It's OK to be sad even when you know your parents made the right call for your welfare. Hopefully that will pass and he will focus on what he does have which seems to include two loving concerned parents.

 

[Jerry1]

I just wonder if he would have even got clearance from a dr given his history. You might not have had to be the bad guy, but it sounds like he is accepting the situation. Given his history, I’d consult a dr or two to get an idea of the risk you’re taking with him playing soccer. Dr google doesn’t count.

As for football, I’ve been a fan for decades. Unfortunately, it gets more difficult to be a fan. About 10 years ago, I got season tickets. I’m very concerned at how many guys are taken off the field injured. It’s definitely increasing. It’s hard to enjoy a game where so many are getting injured. Maybe it was always bad, but it’s hard to ignore it when you see it. The NFL will have to address injuries but I’m not sure how. I went to a fundraiser and the players were there. It’s hard to describe how big and muscular those guys are. Can’t imagine what getting hit full force by one of them does to you even if you are similarly built.

 

[haha]

Their were times I held my breath after a hit, but as Gallager points out any sport has its risk....but so does life.

True for sure, but these risks are at the very least additive.

I vote minimal unpaid risk acceptance!

Ha

 

[MissMolly]

NanoSour - for what it's worth, I think you made the right decision. I would have done (and did) the same. Our job as parents is to protect our children - not be their friends. They have enough friends. They have only 2 parents. Making the best decisions are often the hardest decisions. You son's brain is not yet fully developed. He still has years to go before that happens. It is up to you to make the wiser choices.

 

[RetMD21]

I think you made a good decision. I think cross country is the best high school sport. CTE is serious and I think we'll see a lot of changes in attitudes as people come to accept this.

 

[Teacher Terry]

This is the only sport I wouldn’t let my boys play.

 

[brucethebroker]

Tough one. The two priors bothers me also. Granddaughter received two playing HS lacrosse-both as goal keeper-then quit. Even baseball and basketball are not 100% free of the issue.

Not letting kids play organized sports is a hard choice...but two prior concussions...boy oh boy!

 

[akck]

Based on your his medical history, you definitely made the right choice. One thing to think about for his future play in soccer, is that it gets much more competitive as that age. While he can avoid heading while younger, sometimes the only way to stop a scoring play is with your head. In addition, kicks are much harder with older players and heads do get in the way of fast moving balls. As a former soccer coach/referee, I’d think long and hard about it.

 

[Beer-man]

I’d say let him play but come up with a mutual agreement to monitor the situation and revisit if concussions occur. Another thought since he is such an accomplished soccer player is encourage him to be a kicker/punter.
I was a high school soccer/football player and played D1 football for a few years. At least 1 absolute concussion and probably a few that were undiagnosed.
My High school football days are some of the most memorable and meaningful for me.

 

[nhcycling]

This is a decision that every family has to make for each child. For my 6 year old grandson my daughter and SIL right from when he was born have said no to football, hockey and any other contact sport. My SIL was a tremendous hockey player right through college. My middle daughter and her husband and their almost 1 year old haven’t said anything yet either way but I suspect that’s because my granddaughter is so young.

 

[JDARNELL]

Well I never let my boys play football even though they were both pretty athletic and now play college baseball. They both do wear chest protectors on the ball field.