2022 FLAG and TACKLE FOOTBALL REGISTRATION HAS BEGUN

TACKLE FOOTBALL REGISTRATION FOR PLAYERS AGED 9-13 YEARS IS NOW IN PROGRESS. Please e-mail your questions to southsideminorfootball@gmail.com
SSMFA In Brief





The purpose of the SSMFA is:



(a) To promote amateur football for youth aged seven (7) to eighteen (18) years.



(b) To provide practice equipment, protective equipment, uniforms and facilities for the athletes who participate as a part of the South-Side Minor Football Association.



(c) To train and equip the coaches and referees who are a part of the South-Side Minor Football Association.



(d) To act as an engine of growth for amateur football in the immediate area.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Good Article

CBS report: Doctors speak out against how concussions are portrayed in media

The public discussion about youth athletics and concussions generally focuses more on fear than facts, doctors told CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford.
And it is causing parents to pull their children out of sports, which doctors say is “more harmful to kids long-term than a concussion.”
Participation numbers have fallen since 2008 in the four major youth sports. Football is down 5 percent but so is soccer (7 percent), baseball (7 percent) and basketball (8 percent), according to a study by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association
According to Crawford’s report, experts say one of the main reasons for the decline is the fear of concussions, fueled by assumptions portrayed as scientific data.
But doctors are pushing back.
“There’s really no good evidence to suggest that a child, after a single concussion, is at any significant risk for long term effects,” New York University Langone Medical Center’s Director of Neurophysiology Dr. William Barr told CBS.
In fact, doctors say the risk to kids from inactivity is greater than the danger of harm from concussions. Dr. Marc Difazio, a child neurologist at the Children’s National Medical Center in Rockville, Md., emphasized there’s no definitive evidence that a concussion causes long-term damage.
Difazio and Barr stress that the most important thing parents can do if they or a coach suspect a child has a concussion is remove the young athlete from play and keep them out until cleared by a qualified medical professional – the same protocol supported by USA Football and Heads Up Football.
“What has happened now is that it’s gone so far that parents are afraid to have their children participate in these sports,” Barr said.
And that’s harmful. Not only does the exercise provided by sports lessen the risk of obesity and heart disease, but studies have shown that regular play assists in brain development and learning.