Barrow survey: More parents don’t want kids to play football

Helmets have improved. Coaching proper tackling and blocking techniques has gotten better. There has been less full contact in practices.

And yet, according to the most recent concussion survey by the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, a majority of Arizona parents for the first time will not allow their children to play football because of head injury concerns.

The trend has continued in that direction since the Barrow survey first was conducted in 2016. That year, it found 68% of parents said they would allow their kids to play football. That figure was sharply down to 47% in the most recent survey in 2020, having moved in that direction each year it was conducted in between:

2016: 68%

2017: 65%

2018: 59%

2019: 54%

2020: 47%

“Despite that, over that same period of time, there have been tremendous efforts to decrease head injuries in football and contact in preseason and the regular season,” said Dr. Javier Cárdenas, director of the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center at Barrow Neurological Institute, which is part of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

“Helmet technology is trickling down from the pros to college to high school. I wish I knew why.”

In the same survey, it showed that girls high school soccer participation in Arizona has risen at almost the same rate as football has declined. In 2018-19, there were 6,489 participants, a jump of 1,200 from a decade earlier.

Arizona club soccer has grown exponentially over the past decade. The survey said that 84% of parents would allow their girls to play soccer, even though a 2019 pediatrics study of head trauma in high school sports found that girls soccer had the second-rate of concussions, eight per 10,000 practices or games, only behind football with 10 per 10,000, according to the Barrow Neurological Institute release.

“The rate of concussions is lower for soccer,” Cardenas said. “They’re making the same efforts to decrease exposures. They may have more games and more practices than football.”

Bianca Feix, a senior defender on Phoenix Xavier Prep’s state championship soccer team, suffered her second concussion playing soccer before the season during the club season. It caused her to be out for 21⁄2 months.

She returned just in time for the high school season to begin. The first concussion she had was in 2016, when she was in the seventh grade, she said.

“I knew of my symptoms,” she said. “I had three games that day. I got hit in the first game. Initially, I felt fine. I played the second game. It was not until the third game, I felt the symptoms and recognized that concussion feeling. I took myself out of the game. One of the biggest thing is the sensitivity to light. The soccer lights are bright at night. I was feeling it.”

Feix had no concussions during the high school season. She knows that playing soccer comes with a risk, but it’s about learning the right techniques.

“If you do it the right way, you’ll do it safe,” she said. “Honestly, I feel totally safe. I don’t think I play any differently. I know it makes my parents nervous seeing me head the ball. As long as I do it the right way, there’s a lower risk.”

Cardenas is surprised by the results of the survey, and believes, from a parent’s perspective, there’s more to do, ‘in terms of our efforts for education” to try to keep the high school athletes out of harm’s way.

He said he is seeing athletes benefiting from technology improvement.

Coaches don’t see big drop

Wickenburg football coach Mike Mitchell says in the 54 years he has been coaching high school football, he has had a total of four concussions in his programs.

He believes the movie “Concussion,” which came out in 2015, may have instilled a fear into parents to not allow their kids to play.

The movie was based on the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu and his effort to raise awareness about CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a degenerative brain condition associated with repeated head trauma, and its impact on NFL players.

“When you talk to a parent, they want to quote that movie and talk about what it represents,” Mitchell said. “It has been an ‘in’ thing to blame.

“Football has been, and will continue to be, one of the best things a parent can support their young boys to participate in as a growing young person,” Mitchell said. “We are losing most things in this society that promote discipline, team work, physical conditioning. If I had the time, I would personally try to conduct a study on the changes that have occurred in our society since we have limited junior high school activities, or, in many cases, cut them out of our schools altogether.”

Phoenix Brophy Prep football coach Jason Jewell said that he has not seen a decline in players participating at his school.

“There are a few kids that have said their parents won’t let them play but not many,” he said. “Our 2025 class that was just accepted had over 150 kids that expressed interest in playing.”

Mesa Mountain View has 120 upperclassmen and 55 freshmen signed up for football in 2021, coach Micah Fell said.

“That has been about the same all five years I have been coaching at Mountain View,” he said.

San Tan Valley Combs coach Travis Miller said he believes the biggest impact is at the youth level.

“A lot of our feeder programs struggle to field teams compared to say 10 years ago,” he said. “It appears parents are concerned more for the younger ages and the potential for concussions.

Cardenas said football still is the No. 1 sport for high school athletes across the country.