Jennifer Gish, Parent
Football is something I would highly recommend to any parent, whether it is a girl or boy who is interested. It is the only time of the year where my son gets extremely excited at the beginning and even more sad when it is over. My son has played tackle football since he was five years old. His first two years he played with North Kitsap Pee Wee. My son loves football and may not be the biggest (or best player), but he adores his coaches and teammates. His coaches nurture his passion for football and continue to build him up as a player and teammate. Even though my son is one of the smallest on his team, I have no issues with him playing with kids (sometimes) twice his size. BIJFA teaches coaches and teams "heads up tackle" and proper techniques to tackle other players. Because of this training and technique, my son is able to tackle larger players and has never had an injury in 7 years of football.
Dr. Alexander Kallas, Emergency Room Physician at Jefferson General Hospital in Port Townsend
I have been an emergency physician for 28 years, completing my training at Northwestern University, and I have coached football for 9 years at all levels, from 7 year olds to varsity in high school. I am currently a coach with the Bainbridge Peewee Football Association, as well as its safety officer. At the forefront of my mind, as well as every other parent and player, is the current concern regarding repetitive head trauma in not only football, but in many youth sports. Fortunately it is now being recognized and given its due attention. At the peewee level, the boys and girls are fortunately not heavy or fast, thus lowering the kinetic energy with which they collide, but head strikes do occur. It is thus it is our duty as coaches and parents to do two things: teach appropriate techniques to lower its incidence, and recognize head injuries and remove players from the game.
At Bainbridge Football, we teach the Seattle Seahawks technique of rugby tackling, which removes the tackler’s head from the path of the oncoming player. This has been shown to dramatically lower the number of head strikes a player receives during a season’s worth of practices and games. We also limit the number head to head drills in practice, as well as separate the players according to their weight and Head injury recognition has been a major advance in athletics over the past 10 years, with obvious benefits to players at all levels. With the initiation of the SCAT 1 concussion protocol, now progressed to SCAT 3, players can be immediately and systematically assessed on the sideline for a possible concussion injury. All coaches must pass a concussion training test before being allowed to coach at any level. If a head injury does occur that is highly suspicious for a concussion, whether at a practice or a game, the player is removed immediately and will require clearance from his/her physician to return to activity.
Our goal is to make football, as well as every sport, as safe as possible within the confines of the sport itself. I have two sons that played football, as well as other sports, through high school; and I have coached other sports as well. Nothing comes close to the camaraderie and support that exists between the players on a football team. It is a special experience that made my sons better adults, and it is an experience that I hope future generations of our children will be able to benefit from.