A total of 1.23 million youth ages 6-12 "played tackle football" in '15, up from 1.216 million the year before, according to data cited by Tom Farrey of ESPN.com. Additionally, data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association showed participation in flag football within that same age group "saw a slightly larger jump, from 1.086 million to 1.142 million." Sport leaders have become "more attuned to participation rates in recent years, in part due to research showing that youth who play a sport are more likely than nonparticipants to become fans of it, as those affinities extend into adulthood." As a share of the 6-12 population, the total participation rate "remained the same as the past year," at 4.2%. Among teenagers ages 13-17 who are core participants, tackle football "saw a drop in both total numbers and in share of the population playing the game" between '14 (1.631 million, 7.5%) and '15 (1.566 million, 7.1%). Core participation was at 9% in '11 during the recession, but it "hasn't recovered." In '09, 3.96 million youth ages 6-17 played tackle football. In '15, that number fell to 3.21 million, down from 3.25 million in '14 (ESPN.com, 4/17).
PARENTAL GUIDANCE: In Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote judging by comments from some of the NFL's "loudest voices this offseason, the league seems to be waging its own battle with science, with a new message in heavy circulation: Our game is under attack." Cardinals coach Bruce Arians is "leading the charge," as he "used the word 'fools' to describe parents who won't let their children play football." But Bickley wrote the idea "is nauseating," and the NFL "is not under attack." Rather, the league "is in an era of enlightenment." Bickley: "We are learning through advances in science and technology what a most violent game does to the human brain and how data strongly suggests (but doesn’t prove) that football is linked to the onset of degenerative brain disease." In regards to parents, they are "making difficult decisions with better information than ever before" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/17). In San Diego, Nick Canepa wrote the NFL "has young players retiring at a scary pace." But football is "an adult game and should be an adult choice." That means parents "should make the decision for their children until they are of the age to decide for themselves." People such as Arians "know better than everyone else." Canepa: "No one told us how to raise our kids. ... Blaming mothers, most of whom (I assume) want what’s best for their children, is ludicrous. If a mom doesn’t want her kid to have ice cream, should Arians chime in?" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/17).
