Is Youth Football Safe?

Good Equipment Is the Key

"Kids do get hurt paying football,". "But if you put a kid in the right equipment, teach him proper techniques, and play him against kids who are the same age and weight, it's a pretty safe sport."

Fortunately, football equipment for kids has never been better. The same companies who manufacture equipment for the colleges and pro teams make equipment for kids. Beyond the standard helmet, pads (shoulder, knee, thigh, hips, tailbone), and rubber cleats, Pop Warner requires that players wear vests to protect their ribs and long Lycra girdles over all the padding to keep the pads from slipping.

"Pop Warner requires the use of helmets that carry the NOCSAE (National Operating Committee for Standards for Athletic Equipment) seal of approval". "Every youth league should send their helmets out each year to be reconditioned, pressure tested, sanitized, and re-certified."

"In the end, what coaches have to remember about age-group football," is that it's all about providing recreation for kids in a safe environment. The score doesn't matter."

Three factors help prevent kids from being seriously hurt when they collide with another player. These three factors explain why age/weight group football -- when taught and managed correctly -- is actually less dangerous, statistically speaking, than soccer.

1. Proper equipment minimizes the danger of serious injuries.

2. Proper technique helps kids avoid getting hurt. "players should be taught that you should never use your helmet to make a tackle,". You lead with your shoulder.

3. FORCE = mass x acceleration, and kids don't generate much force when paired up by age/weight.