Jobnetwork latimes com

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 1/9

Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

By DAVID HANSEN JUL 29, 2016 | 12:18 PM   

You will see them soon on scorched fields, running around with fancy helmets, butting heads like rams.

"Heads up," the coaches will yell. "Heads up."



inRead invented by Teads

ADVERTISEMENT

YOU COULD SAVE $668$668 when you switch to Progressive Zip Code Get a Quote

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER | 4 weeks for 99¢

Fewer people are visiting Las

Vegas. One insider thinks hotel

resort and parking fees are to…

Christopher Nolan restores

Kubrick sci-fi masterpiece '2001:

A Space Odyssey' the old-…

Electronics-recycling in

going to prison for tryin

extend computers' lives

 TOPICS SUBSCRIBE

4 weeks for only 99¢  LOG IN

mailto:?subject=Hansen%3A%20Youth%20football%20versus%20soccer%3A%20injury%20statistics%20tell%20the%20story&body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fsocal%2Fweekend%2Ftn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html

http://inread-experience.teads.tv/

https://www.amazon.com/adprefs/ref=cs_aap_1525764880401

http://www.latimes.com/travel/lasvegas/la-tr-las-vegas-fees-may-mean-fewer-visitors-20180501-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-christopher-nolan-2001-20180503-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar

http://www.latimes.com/travel/lasvegas/la-tr-las-vegas-fees-may-mean-fewer-visitors-20180501-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-christopher-nolan-2001-20180503-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-microsoft-copyright-20180426-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar

http://www.latimes.com/#nt=mastheadnavbar

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 2/9

It's a slogan now with Pop Warner football to help address safety concerns.

After a hard hit, a burly kid from Tustin, Mission Viejo or Huntington Beach will go to the sideline and squeeze Gatorade through his mask, just like the pros do.





ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 3/9

Every kid wants to be a pro. And if he knows, deep down, that he will never turn pro, at least he wants to look like one.

Youth sports is a $7-billion business that encourages these dreams — complete with its own sports-related bling. Visit any local sporting goods store and see the oversized pictures of guys like Brett Favre hawking some new widget.

Kids with saggy, silken shorts and pumped-up high tops will scavenge the aisles like they are on some video game quest.

But while they gawk over the latest and greatest accessories, the safety products two aisles over sit like unwanted toys.

For example, boys don't look at the Kerr Collar, which is essentially a neck brace to avoid catastrophic injury. It was created a couple years ago, and at $150 for a molded piece of hard foam, it goes to show what parents will pay for a little extra piece of mind.

Officially, Pop Warner football claims the sport is safer than soccer. Unofficially, no one believes that.

"Did you know that Pop Warner football is safer than soccer?" says the group on the front page of its website. "Pop Warner football has 12% fewer injuries per capita among 5-15 year olds than organized soccer in the same age range!"







ADVERTISEMENT

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 4/9

Pop Warner cited the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). But according to a comprehensive review by Safe Kids Worldwide, a global children's advocacy group, those same statistics yielded vastly different results and a much more realistic picture. For the full report visit: bit.ly/SafeKidsStudy.

Globally, there are about 14 million soccer players ages 12 to 17. They have just over 100,000 injuries every year.

Youth football, on the other hand, has fewer players at about 9 million but more than 275,000 injuries, or nearly three times as many.

To say that football is safer than soccer does a disservice to families trying to make informed decisions about the safety of their children, critics say.

The statistics are hard to ignore.

"In 2012, more than 1.35 million children ages 19 and under were seen in emergency departments for injuries related to 14 commonly played sports," according to Safe Kids. "In fact, sports injuries make up 20 percent of all injury-related emergency department visits for children ages 6 to 19."

In addition, every 3 minutes a child is seen in an emergency department for a sports- related concussion, according to the group. It's not surprising, then, that the medical





ADVERTISEMENT

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

http://bit.ly/SafeKidsStudy

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 5/9

costs for these ongoing injuries total almost $1 billion a year.

Think of it this way. There was a scene in the movie "Concussion" where a naysaying doctor, beholden to the corporate interests of the National Football League, tried to argue his way out of the moral quagmire by predicting doom instead.

"If just 10% of the mothers in America decide that football's too dangerous for their sons to play, that is it," he said. "It is the end of football."

Football will survive because kids still want to play. They've drunk the Gatorade.

One of my three teenage sons played Pop Warner football for a couple years. He was a tight end, small for his age but with "great hands," the coach said.

Every play, it seemed, he slanted up the middle and jumped high in the air. And when he came down, he felt the hit.

Sometimes it was head to head; other times it just knocked the wind out of him.

I held my breath every time.

I remember I wanted to be at every game, not to see the final score, but to be there in case something happened. He is my son, and if he got hurt, I wanted to do everything in my power to help him.

I think most parents feel the same way.

We don't want to say to our kids, for no reason, "No, you can't do that." We just want some level of confidence that our children are safe.

Granted, youth football will always be dangerous. So is teen driving. So is riding a bicycle.

But soccer is not football.

And every fall, like clockwork, that reality will become painfully apparent.

--

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 6/9

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

LATEST NEWS

EDUCATION

Teachers union gains a foothold in L.A.'s largest charter school group 25m

EDUCATION

Essential Education: Beutner named LAUSD superintendent 25m

EDUCATION

New L.A. schools chief Beutner pledges to listen, learn and take action 33m

Today's Headlines Newsletter Delivered weekdays

A digest of essential news, insight and analysis from L.A. Times editors.

ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS 

ADVERTISEMENT

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

mailto:hansen.dave@gmail.com

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-lb-586-43555-la-me-edu-alliance-schools-unionize-20180502-htmlstory.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-lb-586-43555-la-me-edu-alliance-schools-unionize-20180502-htmlstory.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-essential-education-updates-southern-california-2017-htmlstory.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-lb-586-43554-la-me-edu-superintendent-austin-beutner-20180502-htmlstory.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-lb-586-43554-la-me-edu-superintendent-austin-beutner-20180502-htmlstory.html

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 7/9

SPORTS

Baseball/softball: Wednesday scores 34m

SPORTS

Varsity Times Insider: The latest sports news from Southern California's high school teams 34m

TRENDING

LA TIMES

Fewer people are visiting Las Vegas. One insider thinks hotel resort and parking fees are to blame

MAY 2, 2018

ENTERTAINMENT

Christopher Nolan restores Kubrick sci-fi masterpiece '2001: A Space Odyssey' the old- fashioned way

2h

LA TIMES

Electronics-recycling innovator is going to prison for trying to extend computers' lives

APR 26, 2018

LA TIMES

Arrest of Golden State Killer suspect could unlock other cold case mysteries

3h

LA TIMES

A major California housing bill failed after opposition from the low-income residents it aimed to help. Here's how it went wrong

MAY 2, 2018

FROM AROUND THE WEB by Taboola Sponsored Links

G

U.S Cardiologist: I Urge Americans To Quit 3 Foods

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

http://www.latimes.com/sports/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-high-school-sports-updates-baseball-softball-wednesday-scores-1525357049-htmlstory.html

http://www.latimes.com/sports/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/varsity-times/la-sp-high-school-sports-updates-southern-california-2017-htmlstory.html

http://www.latimes.com/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/travel/lasvegas/la-tr-las-vegas-fees-may-mean-fewer-visitors-20180501-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/travel/lasvegas/la-tr-las-vegas-fees-may-mean-fewer-visitors-20180501-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-christopher-nolan-2001-20180503-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-christopher-nolan-2001-20180503-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-microsoft-copyright-20180426-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-microsoft-copyright-20180426-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-golden-state-killer-cold-cases-20180503-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-golden-state-killer-cold-cases-20180503-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/#nt=taxonomy-article

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-bill-failure-equity-groups-20180502-story.html#nt=related-content

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-bill-failure-equity-groups-20180502-story.html#nt=related-content

https://rpptrk.com/9d8e7af8-13c4-4289-923a-b3e194154423?a=&n=T&c=100af374-2a8c-4348-abfb-aae21c34888b&i=100af374-2a8c-4348-abfb-aae21c34888b&&sn=latimes&si=latimes&p=Desktop&campid=953658&adid=64211672&title=U.S+Cardiologist%3A+I+Urge+Americans+To+Quit+3+Foods&tn=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.maximus.live%2Fimages%2Fmedia_buying%2F5a793ce814d87.jpg

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 8/9

Gundry MD

LeafFilter

NerdWallet

Morning Finance | LendingTree Quotes

The Weekly Brief | Mack Weldon

Auto Overload

There Are 7 Types of Irish Last Names — Which One Is Yours? Ancestry

A Site Where Collectables Are Sold in 90 Seconds. Tophatter

The Revolutionary 50 Micron Filter allows you to avoid cleaning gutters for life

6 Credit Cards You Should Not Ignore If You Have Excellent Credit

If You're A Veteran In Michigan, You'd Better Read This

Here’s Why Guys Are Obsessed With This Underwear…

Historical WW2 Photos That Are Pretty Unnerving

Sign up for our newsletters

About us

Contact us

Privacy policy

Terms

Site map

E-Newspaper

Corrections

Archives

Classifieds

Find a job

Shop

Advertising

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

https://rpptrk.com/9d8e7af8-13c4-4289-923a-b3e194154423?a=&n=T&c=100af374-2a8c-4348-abfb-aae21c34888b&i=100af374-2a8c-4348-abfb-aae21c34888b&&sn=latimes&si=latimes&p=Desktop&campid=953658&adid=64211672&title=U.S+Cardiologist%3A+I+Urge+Americans+To+Quit+3+Foods&tn=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.maximus.live%2Fimages%2Fmedia_buying%2F5a793ce814d87.jpg

http://www.mnbasd77.com/aff_c?offer_id=2024&aff_id=2239&url_id=5709&source=BT&aff_sub=lf_aud_21&aff_sub2=&aff_sub3=latimes&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral

https://www.nerdwallet.com/ur/?nw_campaign_id=149037548564553200&utm_medium=ntv&utm_campaign=cc_mktg_paid_032717_rew_wht&utm_content=4ed474&titleId=7095&descriptionId=222&categoryId=1&utm_source=tb&utm_term=latimes&mktg_link=67062633

http://click.morningfinance.com/89ca9a56-9278-4334-856c-22d1364cdc65?ADID=va41_h83&cchannel=content&esourceid=6324516&csource=taboola&cproduct=valoan&ccontent=0004MF_VALOAN&cterm=latimes

https://try.mackweldon.com/7-reasons-why-guys-are-switching-to-mack-weldon?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=7r.498516&utm_content=latimes_Desktop&utm_term=Here%E2%80%99s+Why+Guys+Are+Obsessed+With+This+Underwear%E2%80%A6_http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.taboola.com%2Flibtrc%2Fstatic%2Fthumbnails%2F5d24353652354a9a336142239a97b54b.jpg

http://autooverload.com/rare-ww2-photos/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=taboola&utm_campaign=tbwwii10c

http://www.ancestry.com/s66590/t33253/rd.ashx?utm_source=taboola&utm_term=latimes

https://tophatter.com/?categories=home&source=taboola&ad_campaign=1117256&ad_group=Desktop_Collectable_Filter_app_th_cntry_us_pltfm_web_&ad_content=80288089&ad_widget=latimes&source=taboola&campaign=1117256&ad_group=Desktop_Collectable_Filter_cat_6_app_th_cntry_us_pltfm_web_&ad_content=80288089&ad_widget=latimes

http://newsletters.latimes.com/

https://checkout2.latimes.com/MTRDigital?PID=4667&int=lat_digitaladshouse_4-weeks-99_acquisition-subscriber_ngux_text-link_footer

http://www.latimes.com/la-about-us-storygallery.html#nt=footer

http://www.latimes.com/about/la-contact-us-htmlstory.html#nt=footer

http://www.tronc.com/privacy-policy/

http://www.tronc.com/central-terms-of-service/

http://www.latimes.com/about/la-sitemap-htmlstory.html#nt=footer

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/

http://www.latimes.com/local/corrections/#nt=footer

https://latimes.newspapers.com/

http://classifieds.latimes.com/

http://jobnetwork.latimes.com/

http://www.latimes.com/shopping/#nt=footer

http://mediakit.latimes.com/

5/3/2018 Hansen: Youth football versus soccer: injury statistics tell the story

http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/tn-wknd-et-hansen-20160730-story.html 9/9

Subscribe for unlimited access

    

Copyright © 2018, Los Angeles Times

SAVE NOW

TRIAL OFFER SUPPORT QUALITY NEWS

4 weeks for 99¢

SAVE NOW

https://checkout2.latimes.com/MTRDigital?PID=4667&int=lat_digitaladshouse_4-weeks-99_acquisition-subscriber_ngux_text-link_footer

https://twitter.com/latimes

https://www.facebook.com/latimes/

https://www.instagram.com/latimes/

https://www.youtube.com/user/losangelestimes

https://vimeo.com/latimes