FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[PolarCat]

Unless I am mistaken, the sport with the highest number of concussions is girls' soccer.  Go figure.  Girls' lacrosse seems to be closing the gap.

I think the spotlight is on football because (1.) so many boys play(ed) it at some level, therefore many families can relate; (2.) our "heroes" continue playing well into their 30's, so there are more opportunities to be concussed, being hit by bigger, faster immovable objects; and (3.) concussed NFL players have the financial wherewithal and the bully pulpit to keep concussions in the headlines.

Look, my favorite MLS player of all time had to quit playing because of concussions.  To his great credit, Taylor Twellman is a tireless crusader for concussion awareness, in a sport that is willfully negligent (players in the World Cup were allowed to stay on the pitch when their bells were clearly rung).  But he is very much a voice crying in the wilderness.  There are a lot more Americans (and a lot more newscasters) who recognize the name Junior Seau than recognize Twellman's name.

[PolarCat]

And Madzillagd, I know a lot of parents feel the way you do.  My wife and I used to be in that camp.  But we've seen so many concussions in our kids' other sports, we've come full circle.  (Both our kids were competitive ski racers, and competitive sailors.  Nothing says "Concussion" quite like slamming into the B netting at 60-plus mph, or getting cracked on the noggin by a boom when you accidentally gybe in 20 know winds).

Here in New England, lacrosse is gaining huge ground as a way for teenage boys to exercise their testosterone.  Think hockey players dropping the gloves is bad?  Some of the monster checks in lacrosse are 10 times worse.  Like swinging a 2 by 4 in a bar fight.

Maybe amh63 is right.  Maybe Ultimate Frisbee is the best sport for kids today?

[frank uible]

The calculus involves more than concussions. It is also bad joints - both replacement and arthritic - and the long term effects of PED use.

[madzillagd]

Nephew played lacrosse and after 2 concussions there was talk of him quitting the sport in his senior year of hs.  Ultimately it was decided by him choosing a college that didn't have a lacrosse team so his career died a natural death  .   Soccer for sure is a sport that is being looked at. My son's coach has already told us they will not be practicing any heading of the ball for several years to not only to try to avoid the ball/head contact but the elbow/head and head/head impact with that type of play.  Times are starting to change.   

[PolarCat]

MIT made it all the way to NBC Nightly News.  http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/how-mit-engineered-undefeated-football-team-n253876

[Jonny Utah]

Earlier this year I first raised the issue as to the decline, and ultimate removal of football from small colleges. Early evidence has already shown up with changes at New England prep schools and elsewhere, accompanied by growing popularity of boys volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, etc., increasing. While Bowdoin may be next, the Polar Bears are simply only one school
throughout the country for whom the pressures will be overwhelming. The number of youth playing football has been decreasing for some time ---that's why the NFL set up its Foundation to promote the sport a while back. Amateur athletics in the broadest sense are in a down cycle in America, accompanied by a concomitant increase by "professional" sports at the Division I level.

Football as we know it today will survive for a while in Texas, Florida and the Southeast, parts of California before shrinking ultimately to a National Hockey League model with talent fed by specific locales as with Canada and certain European regions.

Things change ....

Just wondering which New England Prep schools you are talking about in terms of football?  The ISL has pretty much expanded all of its football programs (with multiple D1 prospects per year compared to very few 20+ years ago), while other schools like Dexter have actually added football.

Even public High Schools in MA have seen increases in turf fields with lights (more Friday night football games), and D3 colleges in New England have also added a bunch of football programs in the past 10 years (with a few taking them away as well)

[gridiron]

Northfield Mt. Herman dropped their football program.

[polbear73]

Interestingly, the stated reason of Northfield Mt. Herman seemed to be of a competitive nature;  they found that their athletes were becoming more specialized with fewer crossovers between football and other sports resulting in a lack of depth for the football program. Safety concerns were not mentioned as a direct reason for giving up football.

The safety concern could certainly be a major.reason for there being fewer football players to cross over in the first place.

[fulbakdad]

I live very near Tilton Prep.  It's only a matter of time till they drop football.  They had a number of starters this year that were from other countries and had never played football......

[Jonny Utah]

I live very near Tilton Prep.  It's only a matter of time till they drop football.  They had a number of starters this year that were from other countries and had never played football......

Yea, I guess I'm talking more about the ISL, which has seemed to have gotten bigger, with more d1 prospects and pressure on coaches to win.  And the Catholic Conference in MA has also gotten bigger, with schools adding 7th and 8th grade football which brings another point.  There is a new youth football program that rivals pop warner in MA now that basically does not take weight limits into account.  Along with newer 7th and 8th grade teams with no weight limits, pop warner is not the only game in town.

There are also tons of organized flag football leagues with have pretty much taken over Sunday mornings here in MA.  I live right next to Xaverian high School, and they literally have about 1,000 boys and girls playing flag football each weekend. 

[PolarCat]

I wouldn't read too much into the NMH and Tilton situations.  Tilton is a SMALL school (NEPSAC Class C for boys, Class D for girls), so it's always going to be a challenge having enough talented kids to fill a football roster.  NMH is a beautiful school in the middle of nowhere, with a big PG population.  They have a burgeoning crew program, and I suspect the current interest in crew (and the college placements good rowers get) has motivated a lot of big, strong Hoggers to get off the football field and into a shell.

Like Johnny Utes, I live in MA.  The football programs in the ISL and the independents (Dexter, Pingree, Tabor, St. Seb's, Williston Northampton, Wilbraham Monson, Pomfret, Suffield, Gunnery, Westminster, etc.) are going strong and sending a ton of players to Ivies, NESCAC's and DI.  (Milton Academy's amazing kicker is headed off to Notre Dame next year, where hopefully he'll have a better holder than poor Kyle Brindza has had this year).  Catholic League is going strong, as is the MIAA (public HS league), which ends its season with the Super Bowls in Gillette Stadium.  HS football is alive and well in Massachusetts.

[frank uible]

What is the conclusion? Football is and will be into the far future alive and well? Football is quickly dieing? Football is alive but permanently sick? Commercial football is and will continue to be flourishing indefinitely, but non-commercial football is and should be all but dead? Oh gurus, what do I encourage my grandsons to do? Play football until they no longer can? Drop thinking about football and take up frisbee? What?

[amh63]

Frank U....you will do the right thing...as always!
It is refreshing to read the " soft story" on the front page of the Sat. WSJ...how MIT engineered a football team out of scrap.  The student body had voted out football in 1901 , but in 1978 a group of students created a football team.  It finally got varsity status in 1988.  A poster on this board...recently...was the center on that 1978 team...as noted by poster rlk here. 
Bottom line...the Prez is proud of MIT's 9-0 team as it goes into the post season.  Here we are still stuck in a 8 game season.  Harvard won its game against Yale but has its fans wondering what if the season was extended into the post season. 
Guess football at all levels are prospering in New England ...for now.

[wcrosby]

Frank U....you will do the right thing...as always!
It is refreshing to read the " soft story" on the front page of the Sat. WSJ...how MIT engineered a football team out of scrap.  The student body had voted out football in 1901 , but in 978 a group of students created a football team.  It finally got varsity status in 1988.  A poster on this board...recently...was the center on that 1978 team...as noted by poster rlk here. 
Bottom line...the Prez is proud of MIT's 9-0 team as it goes into the post season.  Here we are still stuck in a 8 game season.  Harvard won its game against Yale but has its fans wondering what if the season was extended into the post season. 
Guess football at all levels are prospering in New England ...for now.

It would be fantastic if the NESCAC would allow postseason -- MIT would love to play them again for the first time since 1900!

[amh63]

WCrosby....congrats to your team's win in OT over Husson.  Read about the storybook finish....a 39 yd field go to tie the game....followed by a long TD catch for the 27-20 win.  Guess I will follow your team for now.  Got my grad degrees at MIT before your time there...as did a number of my classmates and Amherst friends that are still around .