Brain expert wants tackle ban until teen
RUGBY league should be banned for children aged under 13, according to a radical overhaul of the sport designed to protect young Australians from significant brain injury.
A group of concerned medical practitioners, led by American concussion expert Chris Nowinski, wants an overhaul of the approach to grassroots football.
In Sydney this week to inspect the Australian Sports Brain Bank, Nowinski said children should only start playing the code as teens – and even then only once a week.
His stance is supported by Associate Professor Michael Buckland, who heads the department of neuropathology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Dr Buckland also oversees the Australian brain bank, which has diagnosed three cases of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in deceased footballers.
As a result, the leading brain expert wants laws passed that prevent children playing tackle until they become teens.
“I’d encourage non-contact in anyone under the age of 13,” Dr Buckland said. “Already there are legislative changes occurring in the US to take (the decision) from the hands of the football codes, and I think enough evidence exists in Australia to take similar action. We don’t need to collect data for another generation or two … we need to shine a spotlight on what’s happening.”
Nowinski fears the prevalence of CTE in the NRL could be as widespread as in American football.
“With regards to American football, the laws to ban it say you shouldn’t be allowed to play until 12,” he said.
“We’ve now seen nearly 500 cases of CTE in American football.”