Photo Credit: Courtesy of NAYS
The concussion issue—and all the talk it has generated—is minor compared to the damage caused by some overzealous youth-football coaches. I’m talking about a guy you trust, who is with your child for a few hours a week, out of sight, pretending he knows how to coach.
After many, many years of working closely with recreation agencies nationwide, I believe that youth football has some of the worst individuals on the field with kids, macho men who probably never made it in football and couldn’t care less about the safety of kids. They are all about winning at whatever cost. They need to prove that, after all, they aren’t losers, and they will prove it by training a championship team. These people are damaging kids physically, emotionally, and psychologically by making them pawns in their little game of “Hey, I’m a big-time football coach.”
After undergoing concussion training, provided by many youth football programs today, these coaches ignore the training that will keep children safe.