CU study says participation has dropped since peaking in 2009

ELLICOTT CITY, MD.» Researchers at the University of Colorado, who studied data from the National Association of State High School Federations (NFHS), said in an analysis published Sept. 26 that high school football participation peaked in 2009 before beginning a decline that is likely to continue.

The NFL is paying attention to the numbers and trying to find ways to get kids to play the sport.

“It is important for kids to play sports because it’s healthy, it’s fun and they learn important values,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “Of course, we think football is the best team sport and we aim to ensure there are a range options for young players today — both tackle and flag.”

While participation in tackle football is down, flag football is becoming more popular. Participation in the NFL Flag program run by USA Football for kids ages 6 to 17 increased 66 percent from 2013 to 2016, with 385,000 kids playing the sport last year.

In high schools, the expense of the sport and increasing specialization by young athletes are also factors. And while football is declining, other sports are growing, among them soccer and lacrosse. But football is different because it remains the nation’s most popular spectator sport, and high schools expect to sell a lot of tickets on Friday nights.

“The key thing about football is that it’s such an important part of the financial picture of schools. Some of these schools rely on the attendance in high school football to pay for these other sports,” said Bob Gardner, the executive director of the NFHS. “While we certainly applaud the growth of all sports, we remain vigilant about what’s going on in football because of the economic impact.”

This summer, researchers at Boston University said they found evidence of a brain disease linked to repeated head blows in nearly all of the 202 former football players they studied. The athletes whose brains were donated to the study had played football in the NFL, in college and even in high school.

The report doesn’t confirm whether chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE, is common in all football players, because many donors or their families participated in the study because of the players’ troubling symptoms.

After years of denials, the NFL acknowledged a link between head blows and brain disease and agreed in 2015 to a $1 billion settlement to compensate former NFL players who had accused the league of hiding the risks.

“There’s no question about it. The amount of publicity, beginning with the NFL and what you see on national news, has caused concern among parents,” Gardner said. “Probably some who would have been more inclined to let their young men play, maybe are making different decisions now.”

A study published last month in the medical journal Translational Psychiatry showed that kids who played football before age 12 were more than twice as likely to have mood and behavior problems.