Jack Blanchard

AP English, Period 6

Ms. Romano

May 16, 2014

Underneath The Texas Sun

In the last twenty years, the average number of high school football players who have died from heatstroke and head injuries have tripled, according to the LA Times. Although recent measures have been taken in an effort to decrease these numbers, there is no reason why that number cannot be 0. Many believe that football should be banned, that it is not worth the price paid by innocent teenagers. However, football offers many troubled youths an outlet, and a way to channel their emotions. There is a way to make football a safer sport, and it all starts with organizations such as the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) stepping up and creating strict regulations pertaining to practice time, full contact practices, and headwear. Recently, high school football has become an enemy to parents nationwide, causing them stress and worry. This can all be combated with more rules concerning player safety.

With recent advances in the medical aspect surrounding football, the short term and long term effects that football has on a body (especially a young body) are magnified. Because a teenage brain is still developing, even slight trauma can cause brain damage, among other injuries. This is technology that was not available while H.G. Bissinger covered the Permian High School football team during their 1988 season. Bissinger explains that practices for the Panthers were almost always full contact, meaning head to head hits were allowed. Regulations need to be put in place across the country to reduce the amount of full contact drills allowed in practice, given that many of the concussions sustained by footballs players occur during practice. All efforts to protect players need to be focused around reducing the probability that a player can get hurt, meaning less time outside in 100 degree heat means a smaller probability that a players suffers a heatstroke. In addition, the less time a player spends participating in full contact drills, they are less likely to suffer a concussion.

300,000 concussions. According to momsteam.com, high school athletes suffer 300,000 every year, with football contributing an unnecessarily high amount. With 90% of concussions resulting from player-to-player contact, steps need to be taken regarding the effectiveness of helmets, especially at schools who do not have sufficient funds to purchase helmets with state of the art technology. As Bissinger explains in his book Friday Night Lights, many of the area teams were forced to use sub-par equipment due to lack of resources available to the football team (funding was not an issue at schools like Permian). It is up to the state, and organizations such as the NFHS to ensure that bottom-tier schools have standard equipment and that their players are as safe as players from wealthier schools.

In addition to equipment and regulations regarding practice time, youth coaches need to do a better job of teaching players how to tackle correctly. many injuries occur when players attempt to hit with the “crown” of their helmet. Hitting with the “crown” implies that a hitters’ head is down and they cannot see what they are aiming for, as well as possible head, neck, and spinal cord injuries to the hitter because of improper technique. According to weather.com, football has a fatality rate of .81 individuals per 100,000 participants. With over a million high school football participants across the US, that is on average eight deaths a year. Eight deaths a year for young men playing a sport is unacceptable. Fans, coaches, and players worldwide need to realize that the consequences for winning may be more severe than they think.