Football is now America’s most popular sport, but the game has always been mired in controversy. It is a brutal game, with hard hits and occasional fights the norm, and injuries a regular occurrence. Furthermore, recent research has suggested that the game may seriously contribute to players’ risk of brain injury and long-term mental illness. That is why the game has been especially controversial at the youth level. And a contingent of Florida decision-makers, including parents, coaches, and doctors, is working to limit the level of physical contact involved in the game at youth level.
There is some recent national precedent for laws restricting contact in youth football, as California Gov. Jerry Brown signed one into law on July 21st. The California law applies to middle school and high school football practices, and aims to diminish the risk of major injuries. Starting on January 1st, 2015, California teams will not be able to hold full-contact offseason practices, and will only be allowed two ninety-minute full-contact practices per week during the regular season and preseason.
A Florida group has seen the California Legislature’s action on reducing the risk of severe football injuries among youth, and hopes to emulate it. The Florida High School Athletic Association Sports Medicine Advisory Committee is working to push similar legislation onto the radar in Florida.
Dr. Michael Reilly of the Committee, a family practice physician based in St. Petersburg and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning’s former team doctor, hopes that the change will be straightforward. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel there,” Reilly said of safety precautions. “We want to stay within national standards. As we see other things happening nationally, those things will be brought up for discussion.”
In 2012, Florida took sterner measures on concussion protocol, extending the amount of time potential concussed high school and middle school players would need to wait on the sidelines before returning to play. But some aren’t as happy with efforts to tone down football’s physical intensity. Hillsborough High School football coach Earl Garcia said that one of his players had to wait on a permission slip from a doctor after suffering concussion-like symptoms in a practice. As it turned out, the player’s family couldn’t afford to send him to a doctor, and only halfway through the season, after being forced to sit out, was the player able to get a note and return to the field.
“It’s football,” Garcia said. “People are going to get hurt. I think if the mothers had their way, we’d do away with padded football and just play 7-on-7.” The debate will surely continue to rage on in Florida, but in the meantime, safety precautions can be undertaken by individual football players to avoid concussions, and California’s experiment with tighter practice restrictions will see its debut soon.
If you need legal advice or representation in a personal injury case, football-related or otherwise, contact Gilbert and Smallman. We will have an experienced Miami or Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney ready to help you out. Don’t wait—call today!
