Ben Roethlisberger says his kids won't play contact football before fifth grade

[stillers4me]

It’s become a Father’s Day tradition for Ben Roethlisberger — leading hundreds of grade school-age children through intensive football instruction.
Roethlisberger held his 12th annual Football ProCamp Sunday, when 250 kids from first through eighth grades participated in skills drills and received playing tips and passes from the Steelers quarterback.


The argument for children playing tackle football at a young age has been met with increasing scrutiny in recent years, as researchers have examined the impact of concussions on the brain. When Roethlisberger was asked about potential concerns from parents, he said that his camp, which features non-contact games, promotes the fundamentals of football.


Roethlisberger added that if his kids decide they want to play football, they won’t play full contact before fifth grade.


“There’s no pads out here, we’re not tackling, we’re not hitting,” he said...........

Read more @ http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/s...box=1529263064

[mark0933]

Its an interesting argument I have with myself all the time. I coach boys age 6-9 in full tackle football. Luckily I have never had a child on my team get a serious concussion. We do lots of concussion recognition training for coaches in our league and do watch for and I believe react to it appropriately. If I thought I was doing damage to a child's brain by having them play football I would not sleep at night.

There are just as many pro tackle at young age arguments as there are con. Learning how to hit and take a hit when they are running slower and have less mass is something I believe in (as well as teaching proper heads up tackling techniques). If a child is a danger to himself or others, he doesn't play until he has demonstrated proper fundamentals.

In hockey (which my son also has played since he was 5, now he is 13), they don't allow full checking until they are 15 years old. In that year, boys are all full of testosterone and the "hey I can beat the holy hell out of someone without a penalty" thought goes through their minds. It looks like a train wreck on the ice at times. I fail to see how that is a better solution than allowing them to hit properly at a younger age when they aren't 160+ lbs of raging hormones.

[steelreserve]

If there's any time tackling is the LEAST dangerous, when you're a young kid would be it. A 50-pound kid crashing into a 60-pound kid doesn't pack a whole lot of force. When everybody's three times that size ... then yeah, people are going to get hurt.

Same reason why you don't see many serious injuries of ANY kind in grade-school sports. Kids that age are too little to really fuck each other up, or even fuck themselves up.

[teegre]

If there's any time tackling is the LEAST dangerous, when you're a young kid would be it. A 50-pound kid crashing into a 60-pound kid doesn't pack a whole lot of force. When everybody's three times that size ... then yeah, people are going to get hurt.

Same reason why you don't see many serious injuries of ANY kind in grade-school sports. Kids that age are too little to really fuck each other up, or even fuck themselves up.

Bone-wise: you are correct

Brain-wise: it’s the exact opposite

(The younger the brain, the more susceptible to long-term effects.)

[steelreserve]

Bone-wise: you are correct

Brain-wise: it’s the exact opposite

(The younger the brain, the more susceptible to long-term effects.)

Yeah, but fuck that, kids are dumb anyway.

Besides, they bounce back quickly. I must've gotten knocked out 50 times every summer when I was a kid, and look how I turned out.

[hawaiiansteeler]

I must've gotten knocked out 50 times every summer when I was a kid, and look how I turned out.

that convinces me not to let my kids play football

[ALLD]

I played flag in the city at 6 years old which was almost full contact in 1972. I played 80 lb. tackle ball in 1973-74 at 7 years old. I also played tackle basketball in gym class and wide open kill the man with the ball before age 10. There was also throw the kickball as hard as you can at the other kid's head as he ran across the paddle ball court. Today's kids are snowflakes.

[Mojouw]

We used to put kids to work in factories and mines too. Then we learned that sending them to school was not a terrible idea. Now the precious little flowers can't bump their heads a bit.

Clearly, we need to put kids back to work. It is the only way to restore our national vigor. Mojouw Industries would like to announce we are looking for children ages 8-15 to work in our "throwback" textile mill. Nothing untangles industrial looms like kid fingers!

[Born2Steel]

Bone-wise: you are correct

Brain-wise: it’s the exact opposite

(The younger the brain, the more susceptible to long-term effects.)

Exactly. Young brains are still developing and slight damage has a bigger impact down the road. More than damage to a mature brain.

[86WARD]

We used to put kids to work in factories and mines too. Then we learned that sending them to school was not a terrible idea. Now the precious little flowers can't bump their heads a bit.

Clearly, we need to put kids back to work. It is the only way to restore our national vigor. Mojouw Industries would like to announce we are looking for children ages 8-15 to work in our "throwback" textile mill. Nothing untangles industrial looms like kid fingers!

My kids currently do flag. The program they are in next season is tackle, unless we switch them to another league. A league that isn’t as well coached or developed. While I don’t really want them to do tackle yet, if they insisted, I would support it. I’d like to see them do a couple more seasons of flag before going to tackle. I did tackle when I was in 6th grade and played through high school. I got injured more doing baseball and Lacrosse (concussion) then I did football...lol. Of course, I’m probably the minority but the point is, no matter what sport you play, injuries are going to occur.

I don’t fault or criticize anyone on the choice they make when it comes to flag or tackle.

[Mojouw]

My kids currently do flag. The program they are in next season is tackle, unless we switch them to another league. A league that isn’t as well coached or developed. While I don’t really want them to do tackle yet, if they insisted, I would support it. I’d like to see them do a couple more seasons of flag before going to tackle. I did tackle when I was in 6th grade and played through high school. I got injured more doing baseball and Lacrosse (concussion) then I did football...lol. Of course, I’m probably the minority but the point is, no matter what sport you play, injuries are going to occur.

I don’t fault or criticize anyone on the choice they make when it comes to flag or tackle.

Fair enough. I'm not telling anyone what to do for themselves or their children. I honestly don't care as it is none of my business.

But I do think it is unfair to be scornful of a current generation of kids and parents because they make different decisions than previous generations in the face of new evidence.

[teegre]

My kids currently do flag. The program they are in next season is tackle, unless we switch them to another league. A league that isn’t as well coached or developed. While I don’t really want them to do tackle yet, if they insisted, I would support it. I’d like to see them do a couple more seasons of flag before going to tackle. I did tackle when I was in 6th grade and played through high school. I got injured more doing baseball and Lacrosse (concussion) then I did football...lol. Of course, I’m probably the minority but the point is, no matter what sport you play, injuries are going to occur.

I don’t fault or criticize anyone on the choice they make when it comes to flag or tackle.

Statistically speaking, numbers-wise, you are correct: baseball players get injured far more than football players. I read an article about it a few years ago, where baseball players have “more” injuries (shoulders, torn ligaments, broken fingers, abdominal tears).

The problem with football isn’t even major concussions (which are indeed concerning when they occur); it’s more of the micro-concussions that add up over time. Take for instance, Justin Strzqwertyk: he didnt suffer any major concussions, but he butted his helmet into a defender’s helmet on every single snap. For an child, those micro-concussions can have major, long-term effects.

But, like MojoUW said: I’m not trying to tell anyone what to do, but for people (not you) to act like kids today are “wimpy” because today’s parents are taking the brain-research into consideration, is... well... alarming.

[86WARD]

Fair enough. I'm not telling anyone what to do for themselves or their children. I honestly don't care as it is none of my business.

But I do think it is unfair to be scornful of a current generation of kids and parents because they make different decisions than previous generations in the face of new evidence.

I agree.

[86WARD]

Statistically speaking, numbers-wise, you are correct: baseball players get injured far more than football players. I read an article about it a few years ago, where baseball players have “more” injuries (shoulders, torn ligaments, broken fingers, abdominal tears).

The problem with football isn’t even major concussions (which are indeed concerning when they occur); it’s more of the micro-concussions that add up over time. Take for instance, Justin Strzqwertyk: he didnt suffer any major concussions, but he butted his helmet into a defender’s helmet on every single snap. For an child, those micro-concussions can have major, long-term effects.

But, like MojoUW said: I’m not trying to tell anyone what to do, but for people (not you) to act like kids today are “wimpy” because today’s parents are taking the brain-research into consideration, is... well... alarming.

I didn’t know that was a true fact. I guess it would make sense in a way because as a baseball player you play more games...just more at a lesser impact resulting in more chances to hurt yourself.

[teegre]

I didn’t know that was a true fact. I guess it would make sense in a way because as a baseball player you play more games...just more at a lesser impact resulting in more chances to hurt yourself.

I know. It sounded weird. But, it was an interesting article, because it talked about all of the torque that throwing a baseball puts on joints & ligaments (shoulders, elbows, wrists) as well as the sloes at which a baseball moves, leads to more finger injuries. The #1 cause of injury was swinging a bat... lots of rib muscle contusions, abdominal strains, and hyperextended elbows.

[Craic]

I didn’t know that was a true fact. I guess it would make sense in a way because as a baseball player you play more games...just more at a lesser impact resulting in more chances to hurt yourself.

I know. It sounded weird. But, it was an interesting article, because it talked about all of the torque that throwing a baseball puts on joints & ligaments (shoulders, elbows, wrists) as well as the sloes at which a baseball moves, leads to more finger injuries. The #1 cause of injury was swinging a bat... lots of rib muscle contusions, abdominal strains, and hyperextended elbows.

It's not something I really thought about, but it does actually make a lot of sense. In fact, just lately I learned I have Os Acromiale, which was probably the underlying factor for both of my shoulder surgeries (failure of one or more growth plates to fuse in the shoulder). I read in one place where baseball might also be a cause in some cases outside of genetics because of the throwing motion (obviously, focused on pitchers more than anything else).

[IowaSteeler927]

I think tackle football should be reserved for when kids get older. 7th and 8th Grade sounds more appropriate to me. In addition to allowing kids to get into tackle football a little later in life, they need to teach proper tackling fundamentals and techniques. When I watch Friday Night Tykes and a coach is encouraging a kid to go out and hit another kid in the head, and he wants to see him on the ground... That's stepping over the line. I get when a Coach emphatically says to go out and hit someone, things like that, because hits are part of the game, but when you actually advocate injury because you're overly competitive and obsessed with winning by any means... Therein lies the problem.

We need to teach kids to tackle, wrap up, and put their guy on the ground. Not launch themselves, not lead with their helmets, and definitely not to try and injure other players. We need to teach kids to be respectful towards the their opponents, you can play the game hard, but you don't need to be disrespectful, nor try to hurt anyone. We need to protect kids as much as we can from concussions at a young age. When I was playing last back in 2004-2005 they barely talked about concussions. I got a Level 2 Concussion in practice, I should've been out for the rest of that practice. The coaches let me go right back in. My Mom (an RN) made me go to the Doctor because my pupils were two different sizes. The Doctor said I had a Level 2 concussion and that I had to sit out practice the next day, and the game that week. If my Mom hadn't noticed I could've very well been practicing further, possibly playing, and maybe even hurt myself even worse.

CTE is a real issue, that needs to be taken seriously. I used to have the mentality that guys just need to toughen up, but having seen how adversely it's effected some people's lives I think that trying to make things safer within reason isn't a bad thing.

Now the people that try to blame the game itself... I disagree with that. Concussions are always going to happen in a game like football, I don't think there's a 100% foolproof way of eliminating them without eliminating physical contact all together. You play the game knowing you can get hurt in many ways, including getting a concussion. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't actively try to make things safer for the people playing it.

[EzraTank]

In hockey (which my son also has played since he was 5, now he is 13), they don't allow full checking until they are 15 years old. In that year, boys are all full of testosterone and the "hey I can beat the holy hell out of someone without a penalty" thought goes through their minds. It looks like a train wreck on the ice at times. I fail to see how that is a better solution than allowing them to hit properly at a younger age when they aren't 160+ lbs of raging hormones.

Then that is POOR coaching. Players should learn the sport before hitting is introduced. I totally agree with hockey's approach. If you teach kids how to stop opponents in hockey without hitting then they will learn the skill of the game first which can be applied AFTER hitting is introduced. I remember our hockey coach dedicating 3 full practices to hitting the first year we were eligible to hit. He spent the first two practices teaching us HOW to take a hit and how to avoid a hit. He made sure every kid on the team knew these things before he taught us HOW to hit.

Once the season started he would bench any kid who thought he was Rambo.

There's no reason this can't be applied to football. I'd rather kids learn how to play the game using flags until high school level, then apply the same principles my hockey coach did. Remember kids are bigger today, equipment is much more hard plastic and these kids feel like missiles. Kids that learn how to avoid tackles in flag football and how to make great football moves will ultimately do better once tackling is introduced. Also boys grow at different rates. I was 5'2" when I entered 10th grade. I was 6'2" when I graduated two years later. Having a kid that's 50 lbs or more heavier hitting a kid that hasn't grown yet is ridiculously dangerous.

The key in both sports is coaching. My hockey coach was fantastic because he show us technique before even letting us hit. If we had more coaches like him in sports it would be a better world.

I now have an 11 year old son and I'm thankful he loves golf.

[Craic]

Then that is POOR coaching. Players should learn the sport before hitting is introduced. I totally agree with hockey's approach. If you teach kids how to stop opponents in hockey without hitting then they will learn the skill of the game first which can be applied AFTER hitting is introduced. I remember our hockey coach dedicating 3 full practices to hitting the first year we were eligible to hit. He spent the first two practices teaching us HOW to take a hit and how to avoid a hit. He made sure every kid on the team knew these things before he taught us HOW to hit.

Once the season started he would bench any kid who thought he was Rambo.

There's no reason this can't be applied to football. I'd rather kids learn how to play the game using flags until high school level, then apply the same principles my hockey coach did. Remember kids are bigger today, equipment is much more hard plastic and these kids feel like missiles. Kids that learn how to avoid tackles in flag football and how to make great football moves will ultimately do better once tackling is introduced. Also boys grow at different rates. I was 5'2" when I entered 10th grade. I was 6'2" when I graduated two years later. Having a kid that's 50 lbs or more heavier hitting a kid that hasn't grown yet is ridiculously dangerous.

The key in both sports is coaching. My hockey coach was fantastic because he show us technique before even letting us hit. If we had more coaches like him in sports it would be a better world.

I now have an 11 year old son and I'm thankful he loves golf.

I disagree completely with USA hockey's approach because they have eliminated checking completely out of the house leagues and only allow it on the rep teams (or select teams or whatever they call it now-a-days). The problem is you now have kids who never learned how to check who go out for rep hockey and get lit up by kids who grew up playing rep hockey. At this point, it's not even about coaching because this is simply tryouts. The coaching should have been happening at the house level, but again, that's no longer allowed.

Moreover, are you telling me that kids fifty and sixty pounds heavier are lighting up smaller kids on purpose? SMH. In my day, that simply wasn't done, not even in house leagues. The only time I'd do something like that is if a forward was coming down open ice and was considered in possession of the puck. I'd put on the breaks and drop a shoulder. If he had his head down that was his fault. Other than that, lighting a much smaller player up put a target on your chest. And, the other team made sure it was evened up. Sounds brutal, but the funny thing was, we had very little problems with bigger kids hitting smaller kids.

Once again, over-reffing and over-regulating the game has ruined it. You simply can't remove the oral traditions that guide a sport and then expect that sport to be better for it because the refs just will not catch everything that happens, even at a Pee-Wee level, let alone Bantams or Midgets (Or, whatever they're called these days, U-13 or whatever).
_______________________
Back to football, I think it is a different situation. There, you can coach every position how to come up from the snap and use your hands and arms to fight off opponents, rather than taking rushers into your body. You can teach the D how to come up out of a snap and instead of launching head-first into the o-line, use the arms and hands to gain purchase, then use the body to drive through a player, or go around him. You can teach tackling like in the video I posted in another subforum. Moreover, there's no reason for tackle football until highschool. And then, you can teach proper form and style at every school to every player. And, if the players have played without helmets to that point, then they've learned how to rush and block without slamming heads together.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Its an interesting argument I have with myself all the time. I coach boys age 6-9 in full tackle football. Luckily I have never had a child on my team get a serious concussion. We do lots of concussion recognition training for coaches in our league and do watch for and I believe react to it appropriately. If I thought I was doing damage to a child's brain by having them play football I would not sleep at night.

There are just as many pro tackle at young age arguments as there are con. Learning how to hit and take a hit when they are running slower and have less mass is something I believe in (as well as teaching proper heads up tackling techniques). If a child is a danger to himself or others, he doesn't play until he has demonstrated proper fundamentals.

In hockey (which my son also has played since he was 5, now he is 13), they don't allow full checking until they are 15 years old. In that year, boys are all full of testosterone and the "hey I can beat the holy hell out of someone without a penalty" thought goes through their minds. It looks like a train wreck on the ice at times. I fail to see how that is a better solution than allowing them to hit properly at a younger age when they aren't 160+ lbs of raging hormones.

Good on you for volunteering your time and coaching such a young age of football. I have coached from highschool down to 8 year olds and personally find some 8-10 year old kids can be too immature to even follow instruction well. The majority of 8-10 year olds are good and my son played started playing when he was 10, so have no issue with them playing at a young age, but I really believe that tackling form and getting "eyes up-head up" and "taking the head out of the tackle " need to be stressed and taught.

[mark0933]

They certainly can be challenging at the age I have them, but I actually prefer dealing with the immaturity and focus issues better than dealing with "I know it all" attitude types that happen as kids get older. I love my boys and look forward to seeing what they become as they grow and develop. A lot of them stay with the organization from grade 2 to 8, so I see them that entire time. I certainly agree with the eyes up, head up tackling and stress this day in and day out with my boys. Here's a pic of a recent exhibition that my boys (in Green) had with a local summer league team. My boys had 2 practices and tied the first game 24 - 24 and were disappointed with the outcome, so played the next weekend, same team and we shut them out 24 - 0. Can't wait for my new bunch again this fall.