This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
One of the joys of being a sports-loving grandfather is watching young kids try new activities such as baseball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, golf and swimming.
The one sport they likely will not play is football, largely due to parental fear of concussions or lifelong injuries.
After San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland announced his retirement due to injury concerns, I began wondering about the health of youth football in Utah.
Ryan Bishop, the son of a football coach who resigned after a successful coaching career at Davis to join the Utah High School Activities Association as an assistant director, says the sport is healthy.
"This year, a lot of Division I football players were signed and recruited [from Utah high schools]," he said. "Football is on solid ground, which is a credit to school people and coaches. They are passionate about it and committed to having success and staying on the cutting edge."
That said, there is also no doubt that the sport is stronger in some schools than others.
For example, Ogden announced this week it was going to play an independent schedule the next two years. That school lobbied heavily and unsuccessfully to be moved from Class 4A to 3AA or even 3A due to difficulty getting enough athletes out to field teams — and injury concerns about playing larger squads.
This past season, only nine schools competed in Class 1A football and, in reality, perhaps a half-dozen field viable teams.
Part of this is tradition, where powers such as Bingham and Timpview have little trouble fielding large teams, while schools struggling for wins sometimes barely get enough athletes out to field a team.
Much of it is also concern about injury, which is what I hear from my kids and their spouses about why they hope to steer their children away from football.
In a 2013 story on a 306-page report funded by the NFL and conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, ESPN reported that the average high school player is nearly twice as likely to suffer a brain injury as a college player. There were about 11.2 concussions in high schools per 10,000 "athletic exposures," compared to 6.2 for colleges.
USA Football, the sport's national governing body, thinks the answer to solving the injury issues involves training coaches by establishing standards for youth and high school football.
The group works to certify coaches, help them recognize and respond to concussions, and teach them how to properly fit equipment. It teaches methods to prevent dehydration during practice and teaches coaches how to deal with sudden cardiac arrest.
In Utah, Bishop said that every coach in a UHSAA-sanctioned sport, including football, must be CPR certified, first aid certified, pass a concussion management course, learn the fundamentals of coaching or be a physical education major or minor in college and pass a background check.
He said while there is no doubt that football is under attack nationally, participation is not decreasing in Utah. And the UHSAA is working to keep it that way.
"Our coaches understand that the focus right now in the rule book is risk minimization," he said.
That includes teaching basics such as proper blocking and tackling techniques. The UHSAA is advising coaches to limit contact drills as much as possible to Tuesday and Wednesday during the season, while working on strategy and techniques Mondays and Thursdays.
The UHSAA is also working with helmet manufacturers to certify that the gear is in proper working condition. The group also has policies in effect for summer two-a-days, especially emphasizing proper hydration.
These days, nearly every prep football team also employs professional trainers or physical therapists who attend games to quickly evaluate injuries, especially concussions.
There is no doubt that football is a rough, physically demanding sport that isn't for everyone. There will always be injury risks. But it does look like both state and national leaders are looking for ways to minimize those.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton