“I can’t imagine a world in which we have children, who don’t understand the risk, doing this for fun (and) taking the same risk with their brain.”Ĭalifornia law already bans full-contact practices for high school and youth football teams during the offseason and limits them to two practices per week during the preseason and regular season. “I don’t have a problem with NFL players, who are adults and understand the risk and are compensated, risking CTE,” Nowinski said. That provision wasn’t part of last year’s bill and was added Wednesday, perhaps making the bill more palatable to some lawmakers. ![]() If passed, the ban would be gradually phased in, prohibiting children under 6 starting in 2025, under 10 in 2027 and those under 12 in 2029. “Just like we have (rules) for soccer that you can’t head before a certain age in California, and in hockey that you can’t check before a certain age, (the bill) says to our youngest kids, ‘You can play flag football under 12 and over 12 you start having contact.’” McCarty told the committee that, if approved, the measure would set rules to protect the brains of the youngest children and join measures that already regulate other contact sports in the state. “This bill is not taking away that ability, it is simply saying that we’re going to move from tackle football to flag football and we can still have the same learning experiences.” “Football and organizational sports in general are clearly proven ways to keep kids out of trouble,” said Assemblymember Mike Gipson, chair of the state assembly’s committee in charge of regulating sports in California. Participation then increased by 5% in 2023, up to 89,178 players.īut Ashley Bertram, a mother of three boys, ages 14, 12 and 7, said her boys have played both sports and that in her experience children get hurt more while playing flag football because the players don’t wear protective gear. Participation dropped more than 18% from 2015 to 2022, falling from a high of 103,725 players to 84,626 players, according to the California Interscholastic Federation’s participation survey. The debate comes as participation in high school tackle football has been declining in California. ![]() Other proposals in New York and Illinois also failed to pass. State Assemblymember Kevin McCarty introduced a similar bill in 2018 that failed to pass. ![]() No state has banned tackle football for kids despite some attempts. And they note children can still enjoy the sport through flag football, which is becoming more popular and even has support from the NFL. But advocates say the bill will protect kids from the risk of brain damage, which studies have shown increases the longer a person plays tackle football.
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