SAFETY FIRST:

Did you know that amateur football is safer than soccer? Football has 12% fewer injuries per capita among 5-15 year olds than organized soccer in the same age range! (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, NEISS)

The injury rate in Amateur Football is:
• less than one-third the injury rate in high school football
• less than one-fifth the injury rate in college football
• less than one-ninth the injury rate in professional football

• Organized football among 5 – 15 year-olds has 50 percent fewer injuries per capita than bicycle riding in the same age range.

• Organized football among 5 – 15 year-olds has 74 percent fewer injuries per capita than skateboarding in the same age group.

•  The Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma in New York completed a Amateur Football injury survey in 71 towns covering over 5,000 players in 1998. The injury experience of 5,128 boys (8 to 15 years of age, weight 22.5 to 67.5 kg [50 to 150 lb]) participating in youth football revealed an overall rate of significant injury of 5%, with 61% classified as moderate and 38.9% as major injuries. That's about 1.33 per team per year. No catastrophic injuries occurred, and it was rare for a permanent disability to result from any injury.