Youth Tackle Football
Balancing risks and rewards depends on race and place
An enterprise project from The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Poll: Black, Hispanic parents nearly twice as likely as white parents to see youth football as a path to college scholarships, NFL
Black and Hispanic parents are nearly twice as likely as white parents to see youth football as a path to college scholarships and even to the NFL, a new poll shows.
With few other options, football is hope for families in rural Mississippi
Tackle football is among the only recreational activities available to kids in Lexington and surrounding Holmes County, the second-poorest county in the nation’s poorest state, Mississippi.
As health concerns rise, safety efforts focus on improving helmets, detecting head injury
The risk of head injury in youth tackle football can never be eliminated. But around the country, changes in rules and standards are being introduced to try to reduce those risks.
In an Atlanta suburb, youth football is a way of life
Football remains a thriving and cherished tradition in Georgia’s Buford and Gwinnett counties.
Some ex-NFL players are cautious about starting their children in tackle football
Domonique Foxworth played his first organized tackle football game at 10 years old. Now Foxworth has a son who turns 11 on Super Bowl Sunday who wants to play tackle. Foxworth won’t allow it. His son is playing flag football instead.
Video: Why Lexington, Mississippi embraces youth tackle football
Lexington, Mississippi (population: 1,154) is one of the most fertile places for football talent. The small town, located in the second poorest county in the nation’s poorest state, is near the top per capita in producing college football players at Power 5 schools.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Youth participation in tackle football has been declining for years as medical studies have linked the sport with brain injury and long-term behavioral issues. But not all parents balance risks versus rewards the same way.
A four-month investigation by student journalists at the University of Maryland’s Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and Howard Center for Investigative Journalism probes what parents know and how they make decisions about when – and if – their children should play tackle football.
In dozens of interviews with parents, coaches, youth players, medical researchers, former pro football players, and in reporting that includes an in-depth national public opinion poll of parents, the project reveals how tackle football represents opportunity in many communities. But decisions about whether to play vary by race and place.
Credits
