A study released by the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest Center for Injury Biomechanics has shown that some head impacts in youth football were "as severe as those seen at the college level," according to ESPN, and that most of those severe hits occurred during practices.
From ESPN:
The authors, led by Stefan M. Duma of the Center for Injury Biomechanics, called for the elimination of high-impact practice drills that do not replicate game situations, such as drills where players are asked to line up and run right at each other.
"Head impact exposure in youth football, particularly at higher severities, can be reduced through evaluating and restructuring practices," they wrote. "This can be achieved through teaching proper tackling techniques and minimizing drills that involve full contact; and instead, focusing on practicing fundamental skill sets needed in football at these young ages."
The sample size was small -- just seven players in a Virginia youth league between the ages of 7 and 8 -- but its findings will help shape the debate about safety measures, and for some, whether children should participate at all, in youth football, which is played by 3.5 million children younger than high school age. The average player in the study sustained 107 head impacts during the course of 9.4 practices and 4.7 games.
Most of those hits were modest in force, as measured by sensors installed in the padding of helmets. But some topped 80 g's, similar to "some of the more severe impacts that college players experience, even though the youth players have less body mass and play at slower speeds," the authors wrote. Boys of grade-school and middle-school age often lack the neck strength of teenagers, among other factors that can make them vulnerable to injury.
In response to the report Jon Butler, the president of Pop Warner, "the Nation's oldest and largest youth football organization," has proposed a rule that likely would limit contact in practices to a third of all practice hours.
Both study author Duma and Chris Nowinski, co-founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, endorsed Butler's proposal.
Said Nowinski,
"I am shocked to see that these children receive levels of brain trauma comparable to college football players," Nowinski said. "At one-third to one-fourth the mass of the average college player, it appears they deliver and receive nearly the same force to the brain on each hit."
He also noted: "The 107 hits (per) season average is likely below what most youth teams in America experience, as each player in this study averaged a total of only 14.1 games and practices combined. The finding that the majority of high level came in practice provides more evidence that football needs to follow the lead of the NFL and Ivy League and restrict hitting in practice."