“Tom Brady is the gifted quarterback of the New England Patriots, widely regarded (even by Jets’ fans) as one of the best ever at his position. But when he was a kid in the late 1980s and early ’90s, his father Tom Sr. and his mother Galynn did not allow him to play organized tackle football. For that, Tom had to wait until his freshman year at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif. ‘The first time I ever saw Tommy seriously throw a football, he was 14 years of age,’ his dad told me. Tom Sr. believed that football was too dangerous. ‘As a parent, I didn’t want my 7- or 8-year-old kid walking off the field with a broken arm or leg,’ the elder Brady said. (Concussions were just an afterthought at the time).”
From: Concussions and Our Kids by Mark Hyman, Journalist and Robert Cantu, CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) Researcher and NFL Advisor
The authors go on to say that the better alternative for kids is the game of flag football! The rules of flag football are designed to eliminate the kind of contact that helmets and padding offer protection from in tackle football. Kids get the opportunity to develop the same tackle football skills and flag football is a great way for kids to get a full cardio workout while still enjoying the game of football!
The biggest difference between flag football and all the other versions is pretty obvious — the flags. With every player wearing flags around their waist, the need to tackle opposing players is eliminated, and greatly reduces the overall level of physicality compared to other versions of the game. As a result, flag football is much safer than other types of football. In addition, flag football has rules that limit how players can block – another contact-heavy aspect of the traditional tackle game.
This increase in safety also makes flag football much more accessible to many different types of players, from small children to grown adults! Participating in flag football gives kids the opportunity to learn about sportsmanship, teamwork, individual effort, and of course having fun! All these factors contribute to the growing popularity of flag football in the youth sports.
By KOA. Fall 2013 registration for Koa’s exciting flag football leagues is open. Got questions about Koa’s flag football program? Contact Jeff Gossett – [email protected].
