Local Coaches Oppose California Bill That Would Ban Tackle Football For Kids Under 12

Local officials with youth football organizations told Pasadena Now on Wednesday that they opposed a new state law that would ban youth 12 and under from playing on tackle football teams.

“I think it would do a lot of damage,” said Michelle Middleton, Vice President of the Pasadena Wolves. 

“But if that was passed, kids that enjoy the sport and learn the fundamentals at a young age, all of that will be eliminated,” Middleton told Pasadena Now on Wednesday. “And all of that [the fundamentals] is important for them to play at a high school level. It takes years of training and teaching for everything to actually stick in a child’s mind. So when they get to the high school level, they already know a lot of this.”

A legislative committee that regulates sports in the state voted 5-2 during a public hearing Wednesday to advance the bill authored by Democratic Assemblymember Kevin McCarty. 

The measure must clear the state Assembly by the end of January to have a chance of becoming law this year.

“The number one problem we have is no one actually playing the sport wants this regulation,” said Scottie Strong, Executive Commissioner of the Southern California Youth Football and Chair Conference, which includes Pasadena.

According to Strong, the league has not suffered any catastrophic injuries to players.

“We may have had five or six [non-serious] injuries in the entire season. So we’re not sure exactly where this sudden need came from.”

University research, in part, has prompted the legislative effort. Some of the research focused on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE),  a progressive and degenerative brain disease associated with repeated head injuries, including concussions and nonconcussive impacts. 

A Boston University study published in August reported that out of 152 athletes who were under 30 when they died, 41% (63) had signs of CTE. The study shows that 87 of the 152 died by suicide, including 33 who also had CTE.  

According to Strong, the proposed law could create a domino effect leaving California kids unable to make it into the NFL later.

“It would remove any possibility of California kids actually venturing into [college football] because they would be seen as kids that didn’t have the experience necessary in order to play at the college level. And so, because they went to high school with lack of experience, that would lower the quality of the high school football that played in this state, which would then tell colleges don’t even bother recruiting those kids because they don’t know how to play the game.”

If passed, the bill would not take effect until 2026. 

Proposed amendments would gradually phase in implementation through 2029. Although several have tried, no state has banned tackle football for kids.

Youth football coaches across the state are asking for more time.

“I don’t know too much about its particulars, but anything to ban a youth from participating in a program that has been around before I was born is very unsettling,” said Wolves Coach Jason Betts. “I’m speaking not just on a personal emotional level, but just 33 years of experience as a youth football coach in Pasadena.”

“I’ve seen the positive impacts, [they] learn discipline. The involvement that could elevate somebody’s personal life. We have young men that went through our program that have gone on to college, and some are in the NFL right now.”

According to Betts most of the children will stop playing by the time they are 15.

“My understanding, and this is from experience, the majority of the youth won’t even play in high school,” Betts said. “The ones we are coaching in youth football will stop once high school comes because it’s not an inclusive sport in high school. You don’t have to play, they don’t even have to accept you if you’re not on a certain athletic level. So to take away 7 to 12 from them, and then that only leaves them 13, 14, two years of tackle.”

“And I just think it is unfair. You have a high level of concussions in soccer and no one’s talking about banning that. So yes, it hits me on the personal and the professional level.”

There have been steps taken to make other sports safer.

In 2016, the state passed a youth sports concussion law that mandates the immediate removal from play of any athlete suspected of having a concussion for the remainder of the day. 

The athlete cannot return to athletic activity without written clearance from a licensed healthcare provider trained in the evaluation and management of concussions. 

If the licensed health care provider determines that the athlete sustained a concussion or other head injury, the athlete must also complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of no fewer than seven days in duration under the supervision of a licensed health care provider. 

The law also requires parents to be notified whenever an athlete is suspected of having a concussion. 

Youth athletes must receive a concussion information sheet annually and obtain parent/guardian acknowledgment signatures before participation commences. 

All coaches and administrators must successfully complete concussion and head injury education before they supervise athletes.  

“Football and organizational sports in general are clearly proven ways to keep kids out of trouble,” said Assemblymember Mike Gipson, chair of the state assembly’s committee in charge of regulating sports in the state. “This bill is not taking away that ability, it is simply saying that we’re going to move from tackle football to flag football and we can still have the same learning experiences.”