Youth Football Safety

For a lot of parents, this is the first question—not “How many touchdowns?” but “Is this safe for my kid?”

You’re not alone. Families want to understand:

Is football safe to play?
What’s the difference between tackle and flag?
What’s a smart age and format to start with?

This page is here to answer those questions clearly.

Football Is Changing (In a Good Way)

The way football is taught today is not the way it was taught 10, 20, or 30 years ago.

Across all levels, from youth to college:

Player safety and injury prevention are now front and center
Leagues are rethinking practice habits, contact levels, and technique
Coaches are being trained to teach safer, smarter football

Researchers are paying close attention to how repeated contact impacts growing athletes—and the sport is evolving in response.

Where Flag Football Fits In

Flag football is a big part of that shift.

Instead of starting kids in full‑contact tackle, more families and coaches are using flag as the on‑ramp:

Same core skills: catching, throwing, routes, spacing, defense
Same “team sport” benefits: accountability, communication, resilience
But without tackling or full‑speed collisions

Kids get to learn the game, build confidence, and fall in love with football before you ever have to make a decision about tackle.

What This Means for Your Child

At X2-Sports, safety isn’t a buzzword—it’s baked into how we design the league:

We run non‑contact flag football
We play indoors on a clean, controlled turf surface
Our format and rules are built to maximize reps, learning, and fun, not big hits

If you’re trying to balance “I love what football teaches” with “I want to protect my kid,” flag football is exactly where those two priorities meet.

Limiting Contact in Practice

In 2015, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) released a study that found concussions are more likely to occur during a tackle football practice rather than a game, with the reason being that there are simply more practices than games. So, to better protect players, leagues across the country began to decrease the amount of person-to-person contact that occurred during practice.

One study in particular followed a group of high school football players within the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. After new rules and restrictions were passed defining and limiting the amount of contact allowed in practice, the rate of sports-related concussions decreased by 57 percent.

New Rule Changes

To eliminate potentially risky behavior that could lead to injuries, the NFL, the National Federation of High School Sports (NFHS) and athletic associations alike have changed several football rules, banning certain drills and enforcing new penalties.

For example, full-contact drills, such as the Oklahoma drill, blindside blocks, pop-up kicks, clipping, and targeting are no longer allowed. Additionally, many schools have implemented their own safety precautions by limiting the amount of players on the field and in pads during practice, as well as eliminating contact in two-a-day practices.

Coaches and players also receive mandatory training in concussion recognition and management to increase football safety awareness. In fact, concussion reoccurrences across 20 different high school sports have declined over the last decade, likely as a result of better protocols in concussion management.

Teaching Proper Technique

Across all levels of football, coaches are teaching a new way to tackle. Certain coaches used to teach players to put their heads in front of the ball-carrier when making a tackle, essentially using their head as an extra limb to prevent their opponents from moving forward.

Today, coaches are employing new strategies that reduce the risk of head injuries, even at the professional level. For example, the Seattle Seahawks teach “Hawk tackling,” which is a rugby-style method that focuses on using your shoulder for leverage while hitting the ball-carrier’s thighs. And in youth football, players learn to wrap and roll instead of going in head first.

Even more, the NFL Way to Play is an educational initiative designed to demonstrate proper technique, explain fundamental concepts and share best practices. Football safety efforts are also being implemented in flag leagues where to successfully remove their opponent’s flags, players must square up, bend their knees and align their head exactly as they would in tackle football.

As we continue to learn from research—some studies have found adverse mental health and cognitive functions associated with tackle football, while others haven’t—parents and guardians should feel empowered to promote conversations around football safety.

Parents should inquire about their league’s strategies in preventing injuries. Understanding the ways in which a program is trying to protect its players, coupled with reading the emerging research, can help parents and guardians make informed decisions.

Website Manager

Winter Flag Football at Conaty

Football Is Changing (In a Good Way)

Where Flag Football Fits In

What This Means for Your Child

Contact

Contact Us