HIGH SCHOOL
FOOTBALL —
to play or not to play?
BY AMANDA SOCCI
NYCSHOOTER/ VETTA/GETTYIMAGES.COM
W ith recent reports showing a national trend in
declining participation in high school football,
this topic has once again jumped to the forefront.

Many families are debating whether or not their children should
play football.

Starting in 2015, the National
Federation of State High School
Associations (NFHS), the nationally
recognized body that oversees
interscholastic sports, began reporting
declines in participation of 11-player
football. In each succeeding year, the
NFHS has reported slight declines
in participation. A more substantial
statistic is that participation has
dropped 6.7 percent since its peak
in 2009. However, it is important to
note that currently, “with 1,036,842
participants, 11-player football remains
the No. 1 participatory sport for boys
in high school by a large margin,” as
per the NFHS website.

Frequent high-profile coverage on the
dangers associated with football—like
concussions and brain disease—might
10 December 2018 washingtonFAMILY.com
be one of the main reasons football
participation has been affected at the
scholastic level.

“Public knowledge about the NFL
and college-level head injuries and
trauma and the press … all had an
effect [on the sport], and athletes
and parents have had to make more
choices,” says Dr. Matthew Levine,
a surgeon and sports medicine
orthopedic specialist from the Mid-
Maryland Musculoskeletal Institute, a
division of The Centers for Advanced
Orthopaedics in Frederick, MD.

Dr. Levine disagrees with the idea
that parents are unnecessarily afraid
of having their sons play football, but
does believe they are now more well-
informed. Dr. Levine believes the news
reports and medical studies detailing
the effects on concussions to the brain
are a benefit to parents and athletes,
because they now “understand what
might happen [if a concussion occurs
during football], whereas previously,
that information wasn’t known.”
Dr. Matt Jepson, a primary care sports
physician also from the Mid-Maryland
Musculoskeletal Institute, concurs that
while the topic of concussions caused
by football remains a hot-button issue
today, the fact of the matter is, “We’re
talking about somebody’s brain. People
don’t understand. It’s scary. How much
risk are we seeing with concussions?”
Dr. Jepson mentioned how a recent
study by Dr. Andrew Peterson from
the sports medicine program at the
University of Iowa concluded that
there was no major difference in
concussions sustained in flag football
versus tackle football. Despite the
availability of multiple medical
research and studies on concussions,
“We [still] don’t know enough. People
are apprehensive when there is not
enough information [to make an
informed decision.]”