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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| ‘The leading edge of a much larger iceberg': New Jersey high school disbands football team |
| 2017-08-23 |
| [WAPO] WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- The nationwide forces that are beginning to uproot football have converged at a place called High School North. Demographic shifts, concussions, single-sport specialization and cost -- among the same issues that have caused youth football numbers to plummet around the country in recent years -- have led West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North to drop varsity football this season. The Knights, with a roster of 37 players, will play a junior varsity schedule. High School South, the other secondary school in the district, might have to do the same next year, along with high schools from four other neighboring jurisdictions, West Windsor-Plainsboro Schools Superintendent David Aderhold said. The moves reflect a crisis for football all over the country, but one that has accelerated in this New York City bedroom community. "We’re the leading edge of a much larger iceberg when it comes to what’s coming in youth athletics," Aderhold said. Football participation has dropped precipitously for some time. High school football enrollment is down 4.5 percent over the past decade, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. More schools are fielding football teams nationwide, albeit with fewer players, led by surges in such states as Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas, which together have added 150 teams in the past five years. But other regions -- namely the Midwest and Northeast -- are shedding high school football programs at a significant rate. Michigan has seen a net loss of 57 teams in the past five years. Missouri has lost 24. Pennsylvania has lost 12. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #14 rjs, I like the leather helmet idea. Kid was a keeper, knees, and cleats to the head, she was walked off in college, had to quit sports entirely due to multiple concussions (over several years) in soccer. Other kids in football fared better. Really wasn't referring to micro concussions from headers. All this before the concussanazis. I do have to say in the last few years HS football has done a better job training staff and players on how not to hit, at least here in my neck of the woods. |
| Posted by: jvalentour 2017-08-23 17:15 |
| #13 The other "inconvenient Gore" of concussions is that all of that new concussion protocol and decision matrix processes during the game are comparable to TSA screening in that the majority of concussions, somewhere around 2/3 occur during practices with much less oversight. Add in the Rudy factor of some kids willing themselves onto the starting line up and you end up undocumented concussions. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2017-08-23 16:14 |
| #12 jvalentour, the thing about micro-concussions (if they are real) is that they are not bad enough to sideline a player so they keep going, one after another, after another, until they beat the crap out of their brain. With a concussion it is obvious and the player is walked off immediately. The solution, if microconcussions are real, is to return to leather helmets in which the player will protect their head because of less protection and will stop using their helmet as a weapon. That will change the whole game of course. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2017-08-23 16:07 |
| #11 cross country skiing and ski mountaineering, rock climbing, Forget that! I want to hear stories about Iceland. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-08-23 15:02 |
| #10 I stuck with cross country skiing and ski mountaineering, rock climbing, mountaineering when I was a kid and through high school. I am 69 years old, knees are still good, hips are still good. Stayed away from contact sports. They are ligament and joint fatigue machines due to constant impacts. I did the above sports for the long haul and am glad I did so. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2017-08-23 14:27 |
| #9 To my friends who insist it can't happen, I remind them that my father grew up with 3 main household name sports stars- Boxers, Race Horses and Baseball players, as well as the biggest national spectacles... They all still exist, but are no longer the kings of sports. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2017-08-23 14:27 |
| #8 Demographics changing in an ageing population. Not much more complicated than that. My kids had more concussions in soccer than football easily. |
| Posted by: jvalentour 2017-08-23 14:18 |
| #7 #5 Limbaugh has often talked about the SJWS attempts to destroy football for some of the same things you mention. When I first heard I didn't think it was likely. Now,I do. High-schools feed into colleges and colleges feed into the pros, if the high-schools go down, the rest of the system goes down. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2017-08-23 13:36 |
| #6 be forcing a return to common sense and the intended basics of 'reading, writing, and arithmetic Now, Beso, let's not get carried away with rose colored glasses optimism, 'kay? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2017-08-23 13:20 |
| #5 Football is done in the blue states within a decade. Probably dead nationally within two. Between micro-concussions and the 'must have a winner' aspect of sports I'm not sure how it can survive. We will probably continue to see high school and college football in the red states but I'm not sure that's enough to keep the NFL alive. I'm sure the SJW will attempt to push everyone towards Soccer as more international, less aggressive, more woman friendly, and where faked injuries and grievances are part of the sport. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2017-08-23 12:04 |
| #4 Katy Texas just finished a gorgeous 1 billion $ stadium. Hey what you up to I already know I heard the boys Talkin' at the Texaco It's a small town I know how you feel It's a small town, son And the news travels Quicker than wheels Who you lookin' for What was his name You can probably find him At the football game It's a small town You know what I mean It's a small town, son And we all support the team |
| Posted by: Shipman 2017-08-23 12:00 |
| #3 More schools are fielding football teams nationwide, albeit with fewer players, led by surges in such states as Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas, which together have added 150 teams in the past five years. But other regions -- namely the Midwest and Northeast -- are shedding high school football programs at a significant rate. Now compare that to the Red/Blue map of the last election. Could there be a pattern here? Where's the bastion of anti-male matriarchy? It's like, when women were less than 50 percent of the college population, 'we' had a problem. Now that women are nearly 60 percent, it's no longer a 'problem'. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2017-08-23 10:00 |
| #2 The war on names is ongoing. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2017-08-23 08:15 |
| #1 "We’re the leading edge of a much larger iceberg when it comes to what’s coming in youth athletics," Aderhold said. Or could youth injuries, liability claims, and medical expenses be forcing a return to common sense and the intended basics of 'reading, writing, and arithmetic ?' |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-08-23 08:00 |