News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Youth flag football season is underway in Cookeville and a local coach said the sport is a good way to introduce football to kids without the tackling and hitting.
Jeremy Tollison has been a flag football coach for four years with the Upward Flag Football league and prior to that spent over 20 years officiating middle and high school football. He said that parents of players are very cautious of sending their kids off to play tackle football.
“They do not want their kids to take those hits until – a lot of them use a middle school type rule of thumb,” Tollison said. “And, I just think it really keeps the kids from taking those extra hits, but they can also still learn the skill set of football.”
In his time as a flag football coach, Tollison said he has had numerous conversations with parents about the dangers of tackle football. And in one case, a parent who regretted their decision to taking the jump to tackle football.
“I know I had one parent, who has a child on my team, who played tackle football last year and didn’t realize how violent it could be at times,” Tollison said. “And actually peeled back and pulled them back out of tackle football and put them back in flag football this season.”
The CDC reports that tackle football results in the most concussions of any youth sport and with kids’ brains still developing, there is a risk of something severe going wrong.
Tollison said in his experience, he’s found that kids being afraid of contact leads to injuries and that flag football instills the basics without the heightened risk of brain trauma.
“Football is throwing and catching and running and getting in the end zone, so 90% of it is the exact same,” Tollison said. “You’re just getting that without the fear of being hit. And, I think you can go through the motions of football without the fear of getting hit and you’ve got a really solid base.”
