How Much HS Football Is Too Much?

[OldSchoolLion]

Great article that fits with our discussions about playoff schemes. 

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/special-report-how-much-high-school-football-is-too-much

[Sharkbait]

My son just wrapped up his high school football career.  He has played varsity ball since the 8th grade at Franklin County where he was a two way starter here is a breakdown of his games including spring and kickoff classics.

8th grade Franklin Co.    11 games missed 3 with broken collar bone

9th grade Franklin Co     12 games missed 0

10th grade Port St Joe    15 games played first 2 games on JV for disciplinary reasons missed 1 game with knee injury

11th grade Port St Joe     12 games missed 2 with concussion

12th grade Port St Joe     14 games missed 0

So in 5 years he played in 56 out of 64 varsity games went to all practices except for 1 week his 10th grade year which is why he had to play 2 JV games.  I have seen the pain and physical toll it has taken on him yet he still plans to play college ball.  I often wonder if I made the right decisions regarding his playing but to see how much he and the other boys love this game i don't think I could have taken it away from him.  I am not trying to brag on my son although I am a very proud father,  I just wanted to give an example of what thousands of boys across the state are doing.

 

[OldSchoolLion]

11 minutes ago, Sharkbait said:

My son just wrapped up his high school football career.  He has played varsity ball since the 8th grade at Franklin County where he was a two way starter here is a breakdown of his games including spring and kickoff classics.

8th grade Franklin Co.    11 games missed 3 with broken collar bone

9th grade Franklin Co     12 games missed 0

10th grade Port St Joe    15 games played first 2 games on JV for disciplinary reasons missed 1 game with knee injury

11th grade Port St Joe     12 games missed 2 with concussion

12th grade Port St Joe     14 games missed 0

So in 5 years he played in 56 out of 64 varsity games went to all practices except for 1 week his 10th grade year which is why he had to play 2 JV games.  I have seen the pain and physical toll it has taken on him yet he still plans to play college ball.  I often wonder if I made the right decisions regarding his playing but to see how much he and the other boys love this game i don't think I could have taken it away from him.  I am not trying to brag on my son although I am a very proud father,  I just wanted to give an example of what thousands of boys across the state are doing.

 

I can understand the second thoughts.  I figured because I was "careful,"  the aches and pains later on would not be that bad...and would not start until I was 60 or so.  I really believed that as long as I was not experiencing injuries, I was not causing serious damage. 

BOY was I wrong.  I knew I would have to pay the piper when I was older, but I never dreamed it would be this bad.  

One needs not be a doctor to figure out that the more reps you play/hits you take, the odds of permanent damage rise, especially on young joints.  Look at how we restrict young pitchers now.  Guess the challenge is determining the sweet spot for young football players.     

 

[Sharkbait]

4 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I can understand the second thoughts.  I figured because I was "careful,"  the aches and pains later on would not be that bad...and would not start until I was 60 or so.  I really believed that as long as I was not experiencing injuries, I was not causing serious damage. 

BOY was I wrong.  I knew I would have to pay the piper when I was older, but I never dreamed it would be this bad.  

One needs not be a doctor to figure out that the more reps you play/hits you take, the odds of permanent damage rise, especially on young joints.  Look at how we restrict young pitchers now.  Guess the challenge is determining the sweet spot for young football players.     

 

The thing about it is they won't come out of the game when they are hurt and coaches don't really want them to.  If you can't play hurt you will be replaced, that is how football is and the way the real world is.  It really gets to me when you see them dragging their leg at the house unable to put weight on it all week and then see them being told " don't let me see you limp on my field" by their position coach.  I'm getting pissed off here thinking about it.

[s1nglewing]

Coaches often tell kids not to limp so the opposing players won't target the limping leg. If they are checked out by the trainer and found to be not injured, some discomfort is character building, as I'm sure you recognize. I'd never knowingly play an injured kid.

[Sharkbait]

1 hour ago, s1nglewing said:

Coaches often tell kids not to limp so the opposing players won't target the limping leg. If they are checked out by the trainer and found to be not injured, some discomfort is character building, as I'm sure you recognize. I'd never knowingly play an injured kid.

 I understand all that and I realize all kids wont play when they are hurt but there are the hard headed ones that will.  As a parent you have a sense of pride knowing that your 8th grader is tough enough to play with the big boys but when you sit down with your senior and he opens up about how many times he was really concussed and think back to all the times you remember him playing injured it makes you feel guilty like maybe you should have held him out.  I don't blame the coaches I know most of them love our children like their own.  

[OldSchoolLion]

7 hours ago, Sharkbait said:

 I understand all that and I realize all kids wont play when they are hurt but there are the hard headed ones that will.  As a parent you have a sense of pride knowing that your 8th grader is tough enough to play with the big boys but when you sit down with your senior and he opens up about how many times he was really concussed and think back to all the times you remember him playing injured it makes you feel guilty like maybe you should have held him out.  I don't blame the coaches I know most of them love our children like their own.  

Unfortunately, the best athletes are often the most stubborn and most likely to try to hide/minimize an injury.  I know I did  Over time, a coach can get to know a kid and when he lying.  But that is harder with a newer kid. 

It is common to fight(martial arts) or powerlift with an injury, and you can absolutely further damage an injury, but those are individual sports.  In a team sport, there is this element of letting down my team members which places extra pressure on the kid.  And in football, because we play relatively few games compared to other sports, each game is really critical....and the kids know that. 

I just saw a study that about half of opioid overdoes involve people with chronic pain.  Pro wrestlers I knew used to take them like aspirin.  When I was younger, I used to tell myself that "I'll just take something" for the pain when I am older.  I won't go near pain killers, but there are days the pain is so bad, it is tempting.  

If you are competing at a high level, which means you are doing it for many years, you ARE going to have serious issues, ie arthritis, joint replacements, etc,  when you get older, unless you are an absolute freak of nature.   It is a blessing to live a long life, but dealing with the pain for 30-40 years gets old, too. Kids don't think about stuff like this.  It's really up to us to protect them.