Posted on 01/10/2024 3:18:23 PM PST by nickcarraway
A new bill making its way through the California Legislature could make tackle football for younger children a thing of the past.
The idea is to protect children from serious injuries, including concussions while they are still growing. But critics of the proposed bill call it misguided and discriminatory.
Advertisement Sacramento lawmaker Kevin McCarty is proposing Assembly Bill 734 for the third time. He argues there are other sports options for families and that the bill will save lives.
Under the bill, youth organizations would not allow kids younger than 12 years of age to engage in tackle football through the organization or a league.
"There are certain things that just aren't safe for younger people," McCarty said. " Banging your brains around for little kids just isn't safe."
McCarty said it's time the government steps in to save children; phase out tackle football and encourage flag football for kids.
"It's a high school sport. It's going to be an Olympic sport. There is no way you can do a safe sport of 9, 10 11 year-olds," McCarty said.
Recommended Bills fan killed outside of Dolphins' stadium after last weekend's game, police say Opponents of the bill said they've fought it every time the bill has surfaced,
"We have had to fight it all three times, and I can tell you we will fight it again," said Jay Erhart, the league commissioner for Sacramento Youth Football.
Erhart said it's the largest youth league in the nation with 9,000 participants, ages six to 14. The league has changed rules for less contact at practices and made the sport safer with equipment.
"With over 9,000 kids last year, we had less than 20 kids that went into return-to-play protocol for concussions," Erhart said.
However, when it comes to protecting children from outside influences, Erhart said that's where the bill fumbles.
"It's going to just disenfranchise kids," he said. "Those kids in our most needed communities, inner city, our rural communities are going to miss out on a lot, a lot of life lessons as well."
In defense of the bill, McCarty said he's talked with former NFL players who didn't play youth tackle football.
"Kids can still succeed if they wait and wait for tackle football until they reach puberty," McCarty said.
The CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation agrees.
Chris Nowinski said he played college football and is now grateful he didn't start until college.
"A good question of debate about whether government should be telling us what sports our kids can and cannot play, but if you reframe the question and ask, 'Should a parent be allowed to give their child brain disease?' We all agree on that," Nowinski said.
State lawmakers in the Arts, Entertainment and Sports Committee will hear testimony from both sides Wednesday at 9 a.m. The Founder of the California Youth Football Alliance says this bill will affect nearly 100,000 kids statewide and also calls the bill "misguided."
Why don’t they ban children in entertainment? It has much worse results than football.
banning your car, your BBQ grill, and now football!
seriously I HATE LIBERALS WITH THE INTENSITY OF 1000 SUNS!
Are kids less less prone to suffer concussions AFTER puberty, per the speculation in the article?
child genital mutilation = Ok with liberals
child murdering it baby = Ok with liberals
child playing football = no.
good. you got so much solar power in ya that you can now move to Californication
(which is near to banning all other forms of power)
They just want to “protect children.” It’s a good time to remember that these are the same people who want to inject children with experimental drugs, mutilate their genitals, and pimp them out to trannies.
But they can still have a “sex change” operation ... Right???
10-12 year olds aren’t big enough to do much damage.
Back in the day, if you were one of the “Big Kids”, you had an X in electrical tape on your helmet, meant you couldn’t carry the ball. Just had to drop to a knee if you had it.
Folks figured the smaller kids could outrun fatty, so it wasn’t really such a bid deal.
Team Sports are great for all kinds of kids in so many ways.
Then ban soccer--or at least ban head shots in soccer, which can cause brain damage.
Must be a member of Keep Our Own Kids Safe (KOOKS)
no tackle football for boys but they can get a sex change? something is very wrong.
“phase out tackle football and encourage flag football for kids.”
The hardest hit (by far) I have ever seen in youth football was a completely legal block in a 4th/5th grade flag football preseason scrimmage.
‘Should a parent be allowed to give their child brain disease?’We all agree on that,”
What percent of tackle-football youngsters end up with brain disease? What percent of ‘transgender’ youngsters end up permanently mutilated?
I’m growing tired of the insanity.
Insane. This is clear overreach of the authority of government. If kids and parents want to play a GAME - who is the State to stop them?
You have the right to LIBERTY.
This is the first California law I have agreed with in a long time. I have seen idiot parents having first graders in football pads.
Many years ago I read a letter from Joe Paterno.
In it he stated that he opposed tackle football for children until they were teenagers. He cited the injuries as the reason.
No. I suspect the age differential is a concession to political reality. People can debate what role if any, the government should play here; but it is a well-researched fact that damage leading to chronic traumatic encephalopathy can begin early in life. It would be better for kids to “learn life’s lessons” playing basketball or baseball.
Dodgeball is next.
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