Is This Trend Continuing

[maybelline]

Participation dropping............http://www.highschoolot.com/nc-sees-sharp-drop-in-high-school-sports-participation/14828812/

 

[Steelers71]

Won't know til the end of this season.

 

[dmie1]

I know it looks like it to me. My daughter is still at Pisgah and I see all kinds of big and athletic kids that could probably learn a sport but don't do anything at all. Also, where I work we get a lot of kids that have just graduated and such, so when I talk to them I ask what school they went to and if they did any sports or whatever and so many say they never did anything. These days it seems like a select few put forth the effort.

 

[maybelline]

I know it looks like it to me. My daughter is still at Pisgah and I see all kinds of big and athletic kids that could probably learn a sport but don't do anything at all. Also, where I work we get a lot of kids that have just graduated and such, so when I talk to them I ask what school they went to and if they did any sports or whatever and so many say they never did anything. These days it seems like a select few put forth the effort.

Hey good to hear from you again, since we had the Front Porch taken from us. I know back in the 80's thru early 2000 our local HS was averaging a 100+ each year for football, now in the 70's. Like you my grandson says there are kids walking the halls bigger than O and D linemen on the team. I do think a lot of parents are saying the risk of serious brain injury is not worth the reward.

 

[beamer24]

To each his own but IMO it has been completely blown out of proportion. I know hundreds of men that played football all through pee wee and high school and some college and I only know of 1 that had concussion issues. I know alot more with bad knees and backs.
If you use proper techniques your as likely to get a concussion as be in a car wreck.
IMO inactivity is much more dangerous than playing a sport.

 

[maybelline]

That is because most concussions were not reported or recognized, now they are being reported.

• 3,800,000 concussions reported in 2012, double what was reported in 2002
• 33% of all sports concussions happen at practice
• 39% -- the amount by which cumulative concussions are shown to increase catastrophic head injury leading to permanent neurologic disability
• 47% of all reported sports concussions occur during high school football
• 1 in 5 high school athletes will sustain a sports concussion during the season
• 33% of high school athletes who have a sports concussion report two or more in the same year
• 4 to 5 million concussions occur annually, with rising numbers among middle school athletes
• 90% of most diagnosed concussions do not involve a loss of consciousness

 

[beamer24]

I'm not saying they/we didn't get concussions I'm saying I only know 1 person who actually has had problems because of it and he played in the 1960s.
Now that is different than someone playing 10-15 years in the NFL comparing Junior Seau and Jim McMahon to the everyday youth/high school player is an exaggeration IMO.

 

[GoNtheDistance]

the concussion epidemic has definitely had a major affect on football participation. I also think that a much smaller cause of the decline is the generation which is coming through the ranks now. some of these kids are fruit loops. They'd rather do nothing, sit in a house on snap chat, rather than get up and go play a sport, instrument, or just be outside. Safety in the sport needs to be addressed, and I do think it is being addressed. Look, I absolutely love football and played through high school. As somebody said above, in my time, you rarely heard of a concussion, but now looking back, I can firmly say that I've had concussions and know buddies who had concussions that continued to play with no protocol back then like there is now. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, trouble sleeping, etc. All these "things" that many of us experienced playing the sport years ago are much more closely monitored, reported and treated. There's a fine line between increased safety, while not taking away from the true nature of the sport. It's a tough line to manage.

 

[No Dog in the Fight]

It doesn't help locally that the superstar LB for the Panthers went out with his second pro concussion last year. The image of Luke being carted off the field was damaging.

And the movie star Tackle being out for an extended period may be worse. If Oher has to retire because of concussions, it will be played out beyond ESPN and other sports outlets. Because of the book and movie, it will make national news.

 

[Squirrel Gravy]

I agree that its hard to directly compare what the Pros go through to what high schoolers experience as far as head injuries. There is a cumulative affect compounded by extra seasons, more games and practice, and much stronger players. I really hope that more people realize this.

As far as participation, I wonder how much of it has to do with school consolidation over the years. If I attended a large 4-A school, there is no way I would have ever seen the field and I may have not even played. However, I was a starter on one side of the ball and saw the field on the other along with special teams playing for what was then a small 3-A. As the average school gets bigger, your average participation numbers will drop because you can only put so many kids on the field in any sport.

 

[btango]

I agree that its hard to directly compare what the Pros go through to what high schoolers experience as far as head injuries. There is a cumulative affect compounded by extra seasons, more games and practice, and much stronger players. I really hope that more people realize this.

As far as participation, I wonder how much of it has to do with school consolidation over the years. If I attended a large 4-A school, there is no way I would have ever seen the field and I may have not even played. However, I was a starter on one side of the ball and saw the field on the other along with special teams playing for what was then a small 3-A. As the average school gets bigger, your average participation numbers will drop because you can only put so many kids on the field in any sport.

Excellent observation. Your second paragraph could be identifying me completely and exactly. I know kids that attend schools with over 2,000 students and do not play any sports. They could start and in some cases star at my old high school, which is currently a 1A. When I ask them why they do not play they tell me that how they know their chances to play are so limited they would rather do other things. I get it. I have seen a junior play JV and then go to college and eventually start for the D2 school. A player that never played until his junior season get drafted and play in the NFL. There is a crazy difference.

 

[BlackKnightNut]

I'm just of the opinion that, much like signing up for the service, though to a lesser degree it takes a certain type of personality to play football. Kids nowadays just don't have it for whatever reason. Not that I blame their parents for keeping them safe.

 

[Gotoredd]

Most kids in HS are different in body stature today. I see it at our school each year. Yes they are some big strong kids,but not enough in a 1A school of 480 kids to make that difference. Our baseball players are our best athletes and don't play football. You got to have these kids in smaller schools.