By: Niki Hampton

Youth athletics has grown to include over 44 million kids, ages 5-18 years. While, there are other contact sports that contribute to injuries, most concussions in youth athletes are attributed to tackle football and ice hockey. A survey of over 200 pediatricians found that the number of injuries and concussions is rising over the past few years. Such that most of the doctors surveyed would not allow their own children to play either sport. In 2012, Pop Warner (a national wide tackle football youth league) and USA Football put together a new coaching program, Heads Up Football, to put in place guidelines surrounding contact during practices. A 2015 study of former NFL players who suffered high impact head trauma were split into two groups, those who started playing before the age of 12 and those after the age of 12. Using a variety of intelligence test they found those started at a younger age showed a greater negative impact on their brains. As safety in contact sports weighs on those involved drastic changes could be on the way for tackle football. Some of the changes under consideration include small player fields, fewer players on the field, restricting contact during practices, and doing away with the three-point stance.