Weighing the Risk of Football!

Weighing The Risks of Football?
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As a coach and a mom, it is my responsibility to educate myself on all aspect of the game, in order to keep my own son safe and the players on my team to the best of my ability. Like any parent I worry for my kids and their safety. The best thing you can do is educate yourself with as much information as possible before signing up your child for any sport.

After extensive research this is the least common to most common injuries while playing sports:
There are the top ten injury risks – Least -to common
#10 Hip Flexor  - martial Arts, football, hockey
#9 ACL Tear –soccer, football, basketball, tennis
#8 Concussion – football, wrestling, hockey, boxing, soccer.
#7 Groin Pull -  hockey, football, soccer, baseball
#6  Shin Splints – track
#5 Sciatica  - cycling, track, golf, tennis, baseball. 
#4 PulledHamstring- track, soccer, basketball.
#3 Tennis Elbow - racquet sports, swimming golf & throwing positions
#2 Shoulder injuries - 20% of all sports - tennis, swimming,weightlifting,                     baseball, basketball, volleyball.
#1 Patellofemoral Syndrome - 55% of all sports are knee injuries. - basketball,             cycling, swimming, football, volleyball and track.
​Links-http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/sports-injuries-a-to-z - https://www.unitypoint.org/livewell/article.aspx?id=591d8cf1-1ee5-4cb3-b662-a5f21f6f13bc
 
I respect anyone’s choice to not allow their son to play football, due to injury risk, however, please understand there is a risk in ANY sport a child plays. The reality is that there is a risk in really anything we do. In my ten years of coaching football, I have seen some of these injuries, what is not on this list is broken bones. That seems to be the most common injury beyond any of these listed in ANY sport.  I have seen way more broken bones teaching martial arts (which is listed as minimal risk) than coaching football.  Boxing is listed as minimal however I can guarantee there is more bodily damage done after a fight than there is playing a game of football.
While injuries are a concern for any parent, all we can do is make the best informed choice we can with the information we have at the time. I am not going to disagree with anyone that football is one of the highest risk sports for injury; However, soccer, baseball hockey, and basketball are not far behind.
Here are some things you should ask with any sport you choose:

• What is being done to make it safer?
• What certifications are required for your youth coach in that particularly sport?
• What safety rules are in place while on the field/court?

 As a football coach, each and every year, it is mandatory for us to be certified through the NFL’s USA Head’s Up Tackling Course, Heat Illness, AED, Concussion, CPR and First Aid. These courses are designed to teach our coaches a better and safer way to play the game.   Every year there is something new implemented to increase the safety of the game of football. The bottom line is there is a risk in every sport, as a football coach I can only promise you I will do everything in my power to create a fun and safe game. -Coach Mikki
10 years experience coaching- 3rd season as head coach - 2015 Super Bowl Champion ages 13-15 - Division Champion - All Conference Head Caoch voted by her peers - www.coachmikki.com

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