At What Age Should Kids Play Contact Sports?

Ever since the start of contact sports, there have been injuries to every part of the human body. Lots of people ask the question, “At what age is it safe for kids to start playing contact sports?” 

Contact sports are games that require players to make physical contact with each other. Sports like football, hockey, and boxing are examples of contact sports. ‘’I think everyone when it comes to contact sports, is worried about concussions. Obviously, the brain and the spinal cord are two very important things to the pieces of the puzzle to continuing to be an athlete…As a child, I played a lot of contact sports, I played football, baseball, and basketball. I felt like there was a significant amount of impact it took to play from 8 years old to finish college football at 23,” Mr. Wells, a West teacher and coach explains. If you play contact sports you could “have aches and stuff like that”, but will it have a long term effect on you? “I do not know”, Mr. Wells indicated. “I think the priority of safety would be a reason why contact sports vs non-contact [are chosen]. [There] are the long-term concussion-based issues,” states Mr. Wells. “Pushing [contact sports] a little bit is OK. With the age of sports and how they specialize, it might be too late if you push it later because of your child’s development”, states Mr. Wells. 

As a young athlete, make sure to stay safe and healthy and think about the long run.