The Landscape of Youth Football Programs
If you’ve ever watched the well-known HBO TV series Hard Knocks, detailing the training, contracts and letdowns of professional NFL players as they attempt to build a football career, you’re in for a new treat: Friday Night Tykes. Except this time, as we watch the hard slams and physical knock-downs of players on the field, you might find yourself wondering less about their potential future as a pro star, and wonder more about the potential of these athletes making it through secondary education. That’s because Friday Night Tykes follows five teams of 8 to 9-year-old rookies as they play in quite possibly the most competitive youth football league out there — the Texas Youth Football Association (TYFA).
The TYFA, which currently advertises Friday Night Tykes on its homepage, seems unaware of the response the show already has received. Even Esquire Network — where you can view the show via most DTV and cable packages — is admitting the show brings up some tough questions. On Esquire’s website, they claim the reality show will have “coaches and parents offer insight into why they believe they’re teaching valuable lessons about discipline and dedications, but also grapple with serious questions about parenting, safety and at what price [they’re] pushing kids to win.”
Whether or not the series was created intentionally to feature the health risks for young football players, it does just that. In the short preview alone, we see slow-motion NFL style replays of some painful takedowns. Needless to say, the smackdowns aren’t as easy to watch when it’s an 8-year-old boy on the receiving end.
We are also privy to coaches’ motivational techniques and pep talks. One memorable coach repeatedly spouts off inspiring quotes like, “You have the opportunity, today, to rip their freakin’ head off, and let them bleed,” and “I want you to stick it in his helmet — I don’t care if he don’t get up [sic].” Maybe this advice is meant to be taken with a grain of salt, but for the young athlete who has been told to push past pain and avoid tears at all cost, chances are that the more exaggerated aspects of the speeches are lost.
With the NFL recently settling their concussion lawsuits with a whopping $765 million, and other recent headlines detailing former players’ issues with post-injury side effects, it’s no wonder Friday Night Tykes is eliciting a response. Especially since the National Academy of Sciences discovered that it’s the youngest players that are at the most risk. Younger players are less likely know how to describe what they’re feeling, or when to stand up to who coaches pressure them to continue playing. In leagues like TYFA, it’s not only coaches, but also parents who are encouraging young players to overcome physical discomfort and tiredness in order to focus on the competition at hand.
The chilling stories regarding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease allegedly caused by head injuries, have already been enough to cause declining participation in youth sports. The NFL and others have began endorsing programs like “Heads Up” to increase concussion awareness, but even that is unlikely to drown out voices such as Lem Barney’s, the Hall of Fame cornerback who recently admitted that if he could choose again, he would not play football.
Though many parents are looking to avoid the “everyone gets a trophy” atmosphere that they believe encourages laziness, the alternative should not be “play until you can play no more.” Coaches and parents alike should be aware that a helmet does little to nothing in the prevention of concussions, and if a head injury is suspected the player should be taken out of play immediately. For coaches, both the show and recent headlines should hopefully be enough to provide a much needed dose of reality.