Would you want your child to play a contact sport? In recent years, many students suffered injuries, both minor and major, because of a contact sport.  “Among high school and college players, about twelve football-related fatalities occur each year,” according to the National Center of Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.

One such death occurred locally this fall. On the night of the Euclid homecoming football game, Andre Jackson was injured. Andre was kicked in the knee by another player of the opposing team. According to WEWS news, the high school junior was brought to the hospital on Sunday and died that evening. The Cuyahoga County medical examiner’s office said the cause of death was a blow to Jackson’s abdomen that caused peritonitis, an inflammation of the membrane lining the inner abdominal wall.

Euclid’s coach, Jeff Rotsky responded, “This community just lost such a special boy, and he is irreplaceable there will never be a smile like Andre Jackson’s.” Rotsky told WEWS news, “He would be the first kid to be in study hall. He’d go for extra help. He is what you want to see out of a young man who wanted more out of life. He deserved so much more.” The Euclid City School District called Jackson a “hardworking student athlete.”

As the tragic case of Andre Jackson shows, anything can happen while playing a contact sport. Most of these more devastating injuries happen at the high school level.

CNN.com featured another story of death resulting from contact sports. In August, Lewis Simpkins, a football player at River Bluff High School in Lexington, South Carolina, collapsed on the field during practice. He was taken to a hospital and died shortly after. He was fourteen years old. Though Simpkins died as a result of a pre-existing heart condition and complications from an irregular heartbeat, WYFF reported that the heat and humidity during football practice contributed to his death. These are not isolated incidents. The most common causes of death in sports are heat illness and brain injuries, according to the National Center of Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.

While deaths caused by sports happen only several times per year, other sports-related injuries are quite common. “Injuries to the head, neck and face including cuts and bruises, neck sprains, and concussions” are widespread, according to sportsinjuries.com. And the American Association of Neurological Surgeons reports that sports resulted in nearly half a million head injuries in 2009.  This number increased 100,000 from the previous year.  Football was responsible for the most, followed by baseball, then basketball.  AANS explains that a TBI (traumatic brain injury) results from a blow or jolt to the head and disrupts normal brain function. Concussions are just one type of TBI and the most common. They usually involve only temporary neurological impairment (headaches, blurred vision, loss of balance, difficulty focusing, or issues with comprehension or memory retention).  But in some cases, concussion symptoms can last for months, years, or even a lifetime, especially if an athlete sustains multiple concussions or gets another concussion before recovering from the last.

According to the Weill Cornell Concussion and Brain Injury Clinic, “Children who have suffered a concussion are not only more likely to have another concussion, but the consequences of subsequent concussions are potentially even more significant. That makes it particularly important to ensure full recovery after a concussion, as it helps prevent future concussions and avoid cumulative damage from repeated concussions.”

But head injuries aren’t the only risk. NCCA.org also noted, “Soccer players are uniquely susceptible to muscle strains and ligaments sprains due to the quick changes in direction, lateral movements, pivoting and the rapid accelerations and decelerations involved in the sport. The hamstrings, adductors (groin) and the other muscles around the hip and thigh are particularly susceptible. Bruises are also common due to contact with other players and the pitch.”

How have Mayfield players and teams been impacted by sports-related injuries? Coach Stephens, the eighth-grade football coach said, “football is a collision sport; there is always going to be bumps and bruises. The vast majority of these injuries don’t require anything more than some rest and possibly some ice and ibuprofen. We have had three injuries that caused the boys to miss an extended amount of time.”

Coach Mittinger, seventh-grade assistant coach, said, “We have had approximately one or two instances during each practice where an athlete has been pulled from activity due to an injury.  Some practices have more instances than others, given the nature of the practice. The most common injury would be a pulled muscle.  We did have one athlete this season break a bone at a practice.”

Because of the growing awareness of risks, coaches have been changing up the way they do some things. For example, a few players at the high school who have sustained multiple concussions wear special helmets that offer additional protection against collision.

Mayfield coach Stephens said, “I have always taken measures to teach the boys to play hard and yet to play safe. Mayfield makes sure that our athletes have access to top-notch equipment. I have modified some of the drills used to teach tackling and the amount of time that we go full-go in practice. I can count on one hand the amount of concussions I have had in nineteen years of coaching middle school football.”

Coach Mittinger said that as a result of growing awareness, they “do pay closer attention to all injuries, most importantly head injuries…There have been procedures put in place to monitor and prevent these situations. Furthermore, some activities in practice have been reduced to minimal hitting (for example ‘wrapping up’ and not taking to the ground). These modifications have been put in place to keep athletes healthy for game day.”

Despite the risks of sports, there are still undeniable advantages. Sports keep kids active and promote physical fitness, teach sportsmanship, and let them learn how to work together as a team. Yet, as injuries and even deaths caused by contact sports rise, more parents may begin to question whether playing is worth the risk.