Concussion concerns causing drop in youth football

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Football may still be the most popular sport in America, but as more and more information has come out about the toll concussions can have on the brain, more and more parents are preventing their children from playing the sport.

“Our sport is under attack,” said Blind Brook High School head football coach Chris Halstead. 

According to Halstead, the number of varsity players began dipping roughly 5 years ago when parents began becoming more educated on concussions and brain injuries. This year the team’s roster is down a whopping 13 players. 

“Parents are afraid to let their kids play varsity football. It’s like a bad word,” Halstead said.

A new law set to take effect in three months will mandate that the state health department provides packets to football programs educating every player on the field about the dangers of consistent blows to the head, but as a football coach for nearly 25 years, Halstead says he’d challenge the law, calling it unfair for only targeting football.

“There’s concussions in every sport, there’s not just concussions in football. Is he giving them out to the cheerleaders? Because they have more concussions than we do. Is he giving them out to the soccer players?” Halstead said.