Will NEBCH miss out on anything if football were taken off the roster? American football has a reputation for causing bodily injuries to its players, some even resulting in permanent damage. A district wide ban on football seems out of reach, but a school ban is possible. Football is a sport of contact, it is one of the only sports where strong tackling, gang tackling, and aggressive play are the main lines of defense. These rough conditions result in large amounts of physical injuries and even possible brain damage. Frey says that as educators we should be building a safe space for our students but football seems to be doing the exact opposite of that. Frey said that he has seen frequent concussions amongst his football playing students and has seen the effects of the brain injury. Concussions are serious brain injuries that can result in long term consequences so the concern not only lies in the students academic success but their overall wellbeing and future prospects.
The concern for every students’ physical wellbeing is expressed in all educators and staff but would they agree to banning football if not for the student’s safety? Not all staff would agree with this decision since football is a big part of American culture but with enough persuasion the goal can be reached. Furthermore on this topic, Frey says football was not always a sport available at NBECHS, it was only added years later. According to him, adding football felt like NBECHS’ attempt at being like the bigger schools. This leaves the question, if NBECHS was fine before incorporating football will it not survive if it is taken out?
A lot of backlash is foreseen. Frey says when people like something they seem to look away from the negative, and they may even feel as if they are losing a part of themselves. After all, banning football is not a matter of simply removing one sport. Football’s removal will affect students, staff, and even other sports. Banning football would be removing an outlet for students, they would feel as if they lost a part of themselves. Team members would lose something they may have worked extremely hard for and viewers may feel as if they lost a part of their culture. A loss in football will not only result in changes for the team but ricochet into a domino effect for the whole NBECHS community. The team coach, cheer team, dance team, and students would all be affected by this decision. Banning football will cause a significant change in NBECHS life but would it not be more beneficial for the students in the long run if football was taken off the roster.
This leads us to question, should girl’s flag football also be banned? The answer is no. Frey says flag football removes the one issue that causes concern for student safety. Instead of physical contact defense the objective is to target the person’s flag, not the body. This small change significantly reduces major injury rates to lower minor injuries. This begs the question, why are schools ok with male students hitting each other but not women? Why is it that guys and girls football have a different set of rules? If banning guys football is such a major issue then should it not at least be changed to flag football for the students safety. Does it not go to show the high severity of physical injuries caused in American football if schools will not allow women to participate with the same rules as them men.
At the end of the day this talk is still hypothetical but there are still serious points and concerts that should be addressed. After all, why ban running in the halls if you are going to send students to bash heads in the name of sport.