NEW YORK (WBEN) - On Tuesday morning, the New York State Assembly Health Committee is holding a public hearing on proposed legislation to ban organized youth tackle football for children 12 and younger.
Michael V. Kaplen, who is a senior partner in New York firm De Caro & Kaplen, LLP, and serves as Chair of the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council, will address the New York State Assembly, Health Committee’s public hearing on Tuesday.
In his statement Kaplen will say that permitting children to engage in tackle football is “equivalent to allowing them to play Russian roulette.”
The hearing is expected to include contributions from medical experts, representatives from youth football organizations, and former NFL players.
Youth Tackle Football - Proposed Legislation
In an age where concussions and other forms of head trauma are being taken much more seriously, many have raised concerns about exposing young children to these types of injuries, specifically regarding the impact on cognitive abilities later in life.
One study shows that youth football players are subjected to an average if 500 hits to the head in a single season. Seattle Children’s Research Institute found that 5% of football players aged 5-14 sustain at least one concussion every year.
"If those statistics are scientifically accurate, it makes sense to make a move to decrease the amount of collision that these kids get, especially at that young age," he said.
However, Greater High School Sports Hall of Famer Dick Gallagher believes there has already been a major push for safety in youth football. For that reason, he doesn't agree with a potential ban on tackling.
"I really don't think it's a good idea; in fact, because of all of the publicity related to concussions and impact, etc., the thing that people don't understand is that today, it's much safer playing football, particularly for youth football, the way that they're being taught how to tackle and all of the safety measures throughout youth football throughout the country."
Gallagher noted that parents have to realize that playing sports comes with an inherent risk of injury to their children, whether they're playing football, baseball or soccer.
"I think you can do a lot of things from a skills standpoint to build the kind of skills that are required for a kid to tackle properly said Graham. "Then, make the collision as part of a later position in the progression, so that, again, we can keep kids from taking some of those subconcussive hits and even some of the bigger hits that may discourage them from playing a little bit later."