Dying high school football programs bring remote communities together

[mahatmakanejeeves]

David Fahrenthold Retweeted:

Forty miles of winding road, a mountain pass and a time zone separate the tiny Interstate 90 towns of Mullan, Idaho, and St. Regis, Montana.

Their dying high school football programs are bringing them together. #idpreps #mtscores

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/may/08/a-game-of-numbers-one-football-team-two-states-two/ …

Link to tweet

Mullan, Idaho and St. Regis, Montana could barely field 8-man football teams over the years.

But their rare interstate co-op this season led to a 4-3 record . Pretty cool.

Link to tweet

[3Hotdogs]

1. Given the potential for permanant harm to the players, is this really the best use of

school budget money?

[jmowreader]

11. In Idaho, school budget money is not used to fund sports programs

That happened a few years ago, when the state was so short of money they cut the funding for athletics out of the budget.

The kids and their parents hold fundraisers.

[underpants]

2. Briton High School near Williamsburg Va didn't have enough people show up

They are only playing 5 games this year.

[NJCher]

3. I think they should

destroy all the football fields and turn them into school gardens. They could be school gardens and community gardens.

[LakeSuperiorView]

4. Just for the sake of discussion, what Girl's sport are you going cancel along with football?

There has to be balance between Boy's sports and Girl's sports. If you add or delete, you have to do one of each. I'm probably going to get torched for asking this, but I am curious what is going to balance canceling football in your opinion.

[NJCher]

5. Let's choose a sport

that causes head injuries for women. What would that be?

The top 10 sports-related head injury categories among children ages 14 and younger:
Cycling: 40,272.
Football: 21,878.
Baseball and Softball: 18,246.
Basketball: 14,952.
Skateboards/Scooters: 14,783.
Water Sports: 12,843.
Soccer: 8,392.
Powered Recreational Vehicles: 6,818.

Looks like softball to me.

[LakeSuperiorView]

6. Seems like a mostly logical choice.

The stats used are for 14 and under, so not representative of high school aged students. But they are probably good enough for this purpose.

[NJCher]

7. the stats for bicycling

are shocking. My garden classes were preempted last week for bicycle safety programs. I neglected to mention in my earlier post that I am pushing my school system to cut back on sports fields and turn them over to gardening.

I have to say I am kinda' proud of the values of our local public school system.

[LakeSuperiorView]

8. I don't find the stats for cycling surprising at all.

One can travel much faster on a bicycle than on foot, and other sports are not played in moving traffic. Co-worker went over the hood of a car making an illegal left turn, helmet cracked open on both sides as he bounced. Has no memory of the accident or week afterward. Doctor told him that if he had not been wearing the helmet, he would not have survived.

Whenever I see a small child on a bike on bike wearing a helmet, I complement them on it and talk about how important it is.

That said, cycling is not an organized high school sport in any meaningful numbers.

[NJCher]

9. no, it's not

which is why I went to softball.

What happened to your co-worker is horrible.

When I said shocking, I meant in comparison to football. We hear all the time about football head injuries, but not so much about cycling, be it organized or not.

[LakeSuperiorView]

10. Well, your source was not studying organized high school sports.

There are likely studies which would better support your case. Can't really tell as you didn't include the definition of the the numbers, but they appear to be total injuries. Any kid can hop on a bike and they are cycling. To play football, you need other players, a field, a time, etc. The number of hours of cycling in a year likely dwarf the hours of football.

Youths 14 and under do not possess the size and speed of high school athletes. Many give up bicycles as a mode of transportation when they get their drivers license. A study of 14 to 18 year olds would not likely show the same distribution of numbers.

Perceived risks often differ from actual risks. We are quick to latch onto seemingly dangerous concepts and will spend large amounts of time and money to reduce that risk, while ignoring simple things that pose much greater risks. No parent would allow their child to play violent football without a strong, well padded helmet and other protective gear, but kids ride bikes wearing shorts and a T shirt, with flimsy hunks of Styrofoam or nothing on their heads all the time. Perception doesn't always match reality.