Could Tackle Football Be Banned For Certain Kids In New York State?

Could this year be the last that some kids in New York participate in tackle football? A new bill could spell the end of tackle football for some youth in the state.

New York State Assembly Bill A04116, if passed,

Prohibits children twelve years old and younger from playing tackle football.

Similar bills have been introduced in the state legislature, but none of them have passed to become law. Could this year be different?

According to USA Today, a study released by the Boston University School of Medicine found the longer a person plays tackle football, the more susceptible they are to feeling the effects of the neurodegenerative disease. Christopher Nowinski, co-founder of The Concussion Legacy Foundation, said,

The research has discovered that the single best factor that best drove whether or not they developed CTE is how many years they played tackle football.

At the age of 12, a young person's brain is still not fully developed, so injuries to the head could pose a great risk. According to Very Well Family,

A 12-year-old’s brain may have stopped growing in size, but it’s nowhere near done developing. The prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that plays a role in impulse control and organizational skills, is still maturing.

The bill justifies the potential ban with research about how tackle football can potentially damage youth's brain development,

Research over the last decade has shown that concussions and sub-concussive blows have a negative impact on brain development in young children. Prohibiting organized contact football in our youngest children will better protect them from sustaining serious head injuries until their bodies mature to a point where it will be safer for them to play.