         In 2015, NFL linebacker Junior Seau was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. His daughter tearfully accepted the award on his behalf and spoke to the bittersweet audience about her father as a man and a player. Seau was unable to accept the award in person, and embrace the applause warranted after the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifices, because he tragically took his own life years before. On the surface, Seau was an affable and charismatic person who was active in the San Diego community and the face of the San Diego Chargers. Behind closed doors, Seau suffered silently with depression and debilitating headaches that would torture him daily, so much so that divide was the only alternative. What would cause such a warrior, a husband and father, and a wealthy and famous individual to commit suicide when he seemingly had the world in his palms?

         Unfortunately, Seau is not the only football player to have resorted to suicide because of lingering and chronic difficulties revolving around depression and other mental and cognitive areas. Recently, the feature film Concussion revealed to the American, mainstream audience that many ex-NFL players took their own lives as well. The suicides were a result of what is now commonly recognized as medical issues caused by recurring concussions or repetitive hits to the head during football games and practices. The movie and the suicides of Seau and others has brought attention to the NFL and into mainstream America. As such, concussions have become a huge problem in football and many other sports. 

          When the issue is brought up, most people's minds are directed towards the National Football League (NFL), but the focus needs to shift towards youth football. More than one million male athletes compete in high school football, and youth leagues such as Pop Warner have more than 200,000 players in their league, with thousands of others competing in other youth leagues (American Academy of Pediatrics). The dreams of young players reaching the NFL or just leading a normal life can be crushed with one accident on the field or one hard blow to the head. Despite the age of players or the level of competition, football is a dangerous game, and there is nothing that will ever fully eliminate the injuries, risks, and dangers, but there are ways that it can be safer. Therefore, there must be greater emphasis placed on the understanding and diagnosis of concussions, more research and development of better equipment, and players in youth football must be taught and utilize better technique so that concussions can be avoided during practice and games. 

       One of the issues with football in general, but something that must monitored more closely and worked to prevent in youth football, is concussions. More research is being find on the short and leg term effects of concussions, and beer standing the damages is something that must be better understood in youth football. Concussions can lead to a handful of health issues including CTE, Depression, Dementia and Amnesia. You would think that this would be enough to stop anyone from playing football, but players continue to play and continue to ignore the issue. Concussions in youth football is an issue that is not being addressed enough in these leagues as the bodies and minds of youth football players are much more fragile, thus making the game greatly more dangerous for the player himself. The president of a youth football league was quoted as saying, "Honestly, I don't think we had a single one last year" (Schmoldt). Although this may be true when it comes to a "Diagnosed" concussion, there is no way this could be true and that the league is obviously not doing enough to monitor their players. Youth football players are too young to know what is best for themselves, and it should be on the coaches and parents of the players to monitor what goes on during the game. For example, if a player suffers significant-sized hit to the head or upper body, the Coaches should remove that player from the game for the remainder of that game. Children's heads are undeveloped, and when head to head contact occurs, the damage would be much greater than if it were a college or even high school athlete. In essence, concussions that take place in youth to High School football can sometimes be overshadowed by the NFL despite being much more detrimental to the player's health and specifically to their brain with short term effects like seizures and many long term effects such as amnesia, dementia and depression. The average human brain isn't fully developed until the age of 25 and concussions are being received by kids who age from 7 to 16 it has a much larger impact on the health of the player's brain and can have large effects in the area of learning disabilities. One of the other concerns that has emerged among youth players is something doctors have labeled as "Second Impact Syndrome". This is a "devastating brain injury associated with cerebral edema that occurs after an often minor blow to the head is sustained before full recovery from a concussion" American Academy of Pediatrics). The vast majority of football players with this diagnosis in the literature are younger than 20

(American Academy of Pediatrics). 

         During the past five years, there have been many rules implemented in youth football to make it safer for the players, such as getting rid of kickoffs or punts, where many big hits take place and injuries often occur. Some experts claim that coaches should not let their players hit during practice, but this could have the opposite effect on safety during games. For example, if a young player who does not know how to properly tackle is placed into a game, then not only is it a greater danger to the player himself but also to every other player on the field. People who have not been properly taught to tackle tend to lead with there head, putting them in a situation where a concussion is a high possibility; if they tackle standing up, more than not the two players helmets will collide also leading to a high risk of both players receiving a concussion. 

         During the past five years, there have been many rules implemented in youth football to make it safer for the players, such as getting rid of Kickoffs or punts, where many big hits take place and injuries often occur. Even in the NFL now there is a rule that requires running back to run with their head up the prevents players from spearing other player with the top of their head which was and still is a cause for a lot of concussions. In youth football leagues some experts claim that coaches should not let their players hit during practice, but this could have the opposite effect on safety during games. For example, if a young player who doesn't know how to properly tackle or be tackled is placed into a game, then not only is it a huge danger to the player himself but also to every other player on the field. People who have not been properly taught to tackle tend to lead with there head, putting them in a situation where a concussion is a high possibility; if they tackle standing up, more than not the two players helmets will collide also leading to a high risk of both players receiving a concussion. This is why all Youth Football coaches are required to be certified by the "Heads-Up" football organization. This group does not discourage contact, but they educate the coaches on the proper ways a players should hit, block, take on blocks, and even how to receive a hit. Although football isn't the safest sport the biggest issue when it comes to concussions, there's a right way and a wrong way to play football and too many youth leagues and coaches are not teaching the correct way to play football. 

  A study by Badgeley "suggests that during high school football, the majority (64.3%) of concussions occur when a youth athlete is tackling or being tackled, a finding consistent with previous work performed by some of the same investigators showing that tackling/being tackled accounted for half of all high school football injuries" (American Academy of Pediatrics). An additional study about football played by younger athletes "showed that head-to-head contact was the most common mechanism of concussion, but whether head-to-head contact occurred during tackling, as opposed to blocking or incidental contact, is not discussed" (American Academy of Pediatrics). In a study of 7 football players aged 7 and 8 years I've a season of youth football, they used accelerometers to record the cumulative number of impacts to the head. The authors "examined both linear acceleration and rotational acceleration with blows to the front, side, rear, and top of the head. The average number of impacts per player was 107, with more impacts occurring during practices (59% of recorded impacts) than games (41% of recorded impacts). A greater number of high-force impacts (.95th percentile for acceleration) occurred during practices than games" (American Academy of Pediatrics). The number of impacts these youth players had "was lower than that reported for high school and college players and more heavily weighted toward lower levels of impact" and "the number of impacts increased with increasing level of play, likely because of the increased size and strength of older players" (American Academy of Pediatrics). The same authors thought that changing practices would lead a fewer number of head impacts, but others experts felt that "the risk of concussion is higher during games than it is during practices and argue that decreasing the number of contact practices is unlikely to reduce the number of concussions" (American Academy of Pediatrics).  These experts went on to suggest that "the decrease in time spent practicing proper tackling technique may lead to an increase in the magnitude of impacts during games and an increase in the risk of concussion" (American Academy of Pediatrics). Other experts have suggested that "if contact practices are to be reduced as a means of decreasing overall head impact exposures, then extra emphasis should be placed on teaching appropriate tackling technique to avoid an increased risk during games" (American Academy of Pediatrics). Experts argued that a lack of proper training will also increase risk of head injury and concussions in youth football.

       This is why Youth Football coaches are required to be certified by the "Heads-Up" football organization. This group does not discourage contact, but they educate the coaches on the proper ways a players should hit, block, take on blocks, and even how to receive a hit. According to an article on NPR, the Heads Up "approach is simple. First, it modifies the typical stances players take when they're lined up before the snap: feet wider than usual; shoulder blades squeezed back and down; stance sunk into a low squat, with hands forward and backs at 45-degree angles to the ground" ("Youth Football Clinics Try a New Angle"). Although football isn't the safest sport the biggest issue when it comes to concussions, there's a right way and a wrong way to play football and too many youth leagues and coaches are not teaching the correct way to play football. With these changes, many doctors are confident that these new techniques and safety measures will become a permanent part of football moving forward. Dr Gerard Gioia of the Children's National Medical Center states, "You've been taught how to do this all along, and the same way we learn any kind of skill with enough practice and with enough appropriate coaching along the way, your best way of winning is to keep yourself in the game and to do this properly" ("Youth Football Clinics Try a New Angle"). Currently, more than 2,000 youth leagues and thirty-five high schools are now signed up for the Heads Up program, and hopefully the remaining leagues will soon follow. 

         Many doctors and specialists continue to look for ways to make the game safer for players. Dr. Matthew Pecci, a sports medicine specialist who focuses on youth athletes, devised and interesting approach to minimizing and reducing concussions and serious injuries in youth football. His first point of emphasis is that players and coaches should think more about safety and that the old attitudes of playing through injuries needs to go away. He also suggests that no child under the age of 10 should play tackle football and that children should be matched up according to size (height and weight) and skill level rather than age. He also encouraged coaches and parents to do a better job of teaching proper techniques and how to practice effectively, which mirrors the concepts behind Heads Up. Better coaching includes all coaches not only being certified through Heads Up or understanding and teaching proper technique, but this means being certified in CPR and first aid. Coaches should know the rules of the game and be able to recognize the signs of concussions. Dr. Pecci also thinks that players should be in better shape and that conditioning should be more of a priority than hitting and tackling. Proper exercise and conditioning, including neck stretches and exercises, can help reduce the risk of concussions. Rest and treating injuries should also be things that coaches and parents are always conscious about ("Youth Football Injuries are Up"). These steps may not eliminate concussions, but Dr. Peccis suggestions are a step in the right direction. 

          Another way to try and make youth football safer is through better and safer equipment. One example is the use of the Guardian, an extra piece of padding that goes on the outside of the helmet greatly reducing the impact level of a hit. After parents of a local leagues all over the world were introduced to this idea an extremely small number of youth athletes wore the Guardian and still don't, not even during practice. Even college and pro teams all use the guardian during practice but why not in the games, they don't look cool? Kids all the way up to high school are very impressionable and are reluctant to wear the Guardian simply because they don't see their favorite player wearing them on Sunday, but if it makes the game safer and it can keep the sport of football alive then why not. Football is not the same game it was 10 years ago and my fear is that one day these changes will go too far and the sport will be lost. Many football coaches say "their sport is unfairly singled out on the concussion issue, saying head injuries are a concern in almost every sport" (Sotonoff). And say football has never been safer which is a true statement. Many people on this side of the argument would bring up the past World Cup where a player who was clearly concussed continued to play and no one even batted an eye. 

          Furthermore, Researchers at Virginia Tech have been studying the effects of concussions and the effectiveness (or lack of) of helmets currently used in youth, college, and the NFL. The researchers put helmets through a series of tests that mimicked the contact made during a football game and found serious flaws in the current equipment. Specifically, the study revealed "two helmets were not recommended for use. One of them, the Riddell VSR4, is still commonly found in the the NFL. It also has NOCSAE's approval. And NOCSAE isn't changing its stance because Virginia Tech has yet to finish real-world testing to prove that concussion rates match up with the star ratings" (Lammers). The researchers concluded that better helmets need to be developed and found that "the shape of the head is important, which could mean a three-star helmet is safer for you than a four or five-star helmet" (Lammers). 

        With all the danger of concussions, professional and now youth football leagues have begun to take notice and take action but there is still so much that they could be doing to make the sport safer. The leagues ignore how easy it is to receive a concussion and how much damage any hard hit in a football can have on the brain, something that happens almost every play whether it is the ball carrier or on of the other 22 players on the field. Children need to learn the proper ways to play football before they should ever step on a field and this all starts with the coaches and the managers of the youth football leagues. Concussions are going to be around football forever but that is no reason to end the sport, there are a lot of organizations that have been put together in the past couple years to help lessen the numbers of concussions and other injuries that may happen in football. 

