We all love to watch it – but how many of us want our children to play it? *Slowly looks around room for hands*
Football has always been a dangerous sport, personally I love the sounds of the helmets crunching on the field as the defensive line tries tirelessly to reach and tackle the other teams QB. I’ve always been a defense kinda girl. But, do I want Max to be out there one day with nothing but a piece of plastic and a cushion between him and his skull with other 300 pound men who’s only thought is to destroy him?
Now the thought changes.
So when I was invited by the Giants to come to their football safety clinic, I was curious to see and learn what they going to show me about the sport that I didn’t already know.
Heads Up – USAFootball
We met Mike Haynes of USAFootball and their program, Heads UP. This is a nonprofit designed to help educate parents, coaches and players about the sport, and how to succeed with safety in youth football. It all comes down to this – the coach. Safety and injuries can mostly be prevented (not all, come on I know), but thinks like fatigue and dehydration are what lead to a lot of injuries on the field. If the coach is trained properly, he’ll know how to keep his players performing at their best on the field, and when to give them a break.
There are tons of FREE resources on this site – from videos on how to properly fit a helmet, to proper tackling stances to avoid injuries, to how to watch for dehydration on the field.
Take the initiative! As a parent, help spread the word about this nonprofit to help keeps our kids safe on the field. The more parents that are educated, the stronger we stand to make sure our coaches are properly certified. You can even register your youth or high school (and coach) here.
How do we know if our coach is certified?
Good question – but you should know who is spending so much time with your child on the field. You can ask, and find out if they are certified, here. You can even apply for your own coaches to be certified in the program.
Equipment Safety – Be a Hands-on Parent
So now that you’ve registered your coaches, and read up on how to make sure the kids have enough water, what can we do as parents at home? You have to be a hands-on parent. All parents should want to be involved in their child’s activities – not just shipping them off to some stranger for a few hours! When I met Stevie Brown, he told me that either his mom or dad came to every. single. game. growing up. Now that he’s playing for the Giants, she still comes up from Maryland for 6 out of 8 home games every year! That’s the kind of parent we should all strive to be.
The more we understand the sport, the more we can make sure our children are playing the game with safety in mind. I love football, I want to make sure Maximo plays if he loves the sport as much as I do, and being a proactive parent is the #1 way to keep our kids safe.
Helmets
So as I mentioned above, USAFootball has videos on how to check that your child’s helmet is properly fitted. This is extremely important if you are just using old school equipment and not your own – you want to make sure it’s snug without fitting too tight. With a customized helmet, you want to do the same, but you can take measurements of your child’s head circumference to the sports store to try and get the best fitting helmet. However, helmets aren’t cheap and let’s be realistic, many of us aren’t buying our own, at least at first when they are tiny to start a sport they might not even want to play through high school. Yes, helmet and shoulder pad fitting really is an art, and these are our little guys brains we’re talking about, so take the time to make sure it’s fitted properly. You can watch the video here.
Drills
The coach is definitely the most important component here. Just like you would hold your child’s teacher or babysitter to the highest standard to protect your child – why would your coach be any different? Make sure you are allowed to sneak in to watch a practice on from the sidelines. Or, maybe you can even do the drills with them (ok – so don’t go embarrassing your child, maybe you can have USA football host a parents night to learn about drills, techniques, helmets and shoulder pads like we did!)
Either way, find out how your coach is training your children – what are his/her techniques and procedures? Do the kids love him? Is he certified? Sports are no different when it comes to our kids – be educated!
It’s important to understand the sports your children are participating in – so don’t be afraid to jump in and try a few things yourself.
Healthy Eating Habits – Bounty for NFL
Another important component is food. Seriously – this night combined Football Food and Motherhood – was it made just for me??? The way our little athletes is just as important as their properly fitted helmets. We all know growing bodies need the proper nourishment – but athletes need more protein and electrolytes that the average person to make sure they have energy and strength on the field. To help give us some fun ideas, we had a chili night in the Giant’s cafeteria (with Giants chef Angelo Basilone, Executive Chef of FLIK International), where they showed us how meat (and even vegetarian) chili is packed with great nutrients and protein. And how to substitute healthier options – like greek yogurt instead of sour cream – that tastes just as good. YES. I’ve exposed it – even huge 300 lb linebackers each greek yogurt. Now we can all sleep better.
So what does Bounty have to do with it all? Um – they now make NFL printed paper towels! For us football fanatics, this is just another perfect addition to our football caves (haha – oh please, you know us Yinzers all have one!) I may not have a basement, but we still rock our share of black and gold. Plus, these are great to stuff in the car for roadtrips or tailgates – we always have a toddler clean-up, and I mean, with your NFL team? LOVE!
PS – here’s the recipe for the chili!
