Player Safety - Part 1

With all the articles and attention lately on whether or not football is safe, player safety has shot to the forefront of the football discussion.  Anytime you look up football in a search engine, you are almost guaranteed to find an article on concussions in the results.  In football at every level, up to the NFL, new rules have been implemented to help protect players as much as possible in a collision sport.  Defenseless player penalties are called on almost a weekly basis in college and pro football.  Targeting is called less frequently, but does occur.

At the youth level, player safety has gotten even more attention, as it should.  Concussion protocols have been implemented in nearly every league and organization.  Organizations such as Pop Warner and AYF have strict weight classifications to be followed.  USA Football has partnered with the NFL for a “better, safer game” and has a Heads-Up Coaching Certification.  USAF discounts the cost of the coaching certification courses to leagues and organizations and has a national database parents can use to find Heads-Up certified leagues, organizations, and coaches. 

Having safety protocols in place are good, but enforcement is critical.  If leagues do not enforce safety standards and rules, then player safety becomes hot air.  Beware the league or organization that touts player safety, but doesn’t enforce league weight restrictions, allows older kids to play in younger divisions, and doesn’t enforce unnecessary roughness penalties such as targeting, defenseless player, or facemask because the kids are “just learning.”

Most leagues require birth certificates with photographs of the players.  Some leagues even require a logged weigh-in.  It is best if this information is kept on file by the league and is available for review at any time by anyone.  Some leagues require each team to keep up with their own information and have it readily available for inspection if requested.  This method typically puts the coaches in a difficult situation – do you ask to see birth certificates and weights and risk offending your counterpart by insinuating that he is cheating?  My recommendation is for leagues to keep the information on file, then do periodic checks at random during the season.  With league officials conducting the checks, it takes the coaches completely out of the equation.

Player safety is the top priority for our youth football organization.  It is critical to us that we put our kids in the safest situation possible.  There are different aspects to player safety that I will look at in future blogs, including coach training, player training, equipment, and league rules.