Allan Walsh, a sports agent and lawyer, said in a tweet: \u201cThis is a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parents have previously debated among themselves the risks and rewards in letting a son or daughter play a contact sport, but this new study regarding football head injuries is once again going to rattle, if not cause a retreat, from some allowing family members to participate in football.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt causes concern,\u201d said Mike Hamilton, a former high school football and basketball coach who has a son playing football at Chatsworth High. \u201cSometimes I\u2019m like, \u2018Do I want him to play?\u2019 I\u2019m apprehensive. He has a passion for the game. He\u2019s conscience about his health. What gives me relief is knowing that practices are going well. There are protocols parents should abide by. We didn\u2019t let our son play football until he got to high school because of the hits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Moscicki, an athletic trainer at Loyola High for 38 years, said much has changed for the better in protecting football players from concussions and other head injuries. He said new policies, improved equipment, a focus on tackling fundamentals and new protocols are all having an impact.<\/p>\n
![\"Loyola](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788095953_673_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Loyola athletic trainer Tim Moscicki doing baselining of students in 2014 to help diagnose concussions.<\/p>\n
(Eric Sondheimer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
He remembers the days when coaches would say, \u201cHe got his bell rung.\u201d The player would sit out a few plays, then get put back in. Now that term is barred from everyone\u2019s vocabulary. New rules requiring players to sit out a minimum of seven days following a concussion while needing clearance from a doctor to return and tackling restrictions put in during weekly practices show the CIF is taking CTE concerns in a serious matter for high school sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me. football has gotten a lot safer,\u201d Moscicki said. \u201cRight now, given what\u2019s in place, it\u2019s safe to play football. Kids are being held out now when they develop any kind of symptom. Back in 1990, if a kid had a concussion and they were free of symptoms for 24 hours, we\u2019d give them their helmet back, \u2018You can play.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thing it\u2019s still up to parents if they want their sons to play football. My youngest played football, oldest played lacrosse. There\u2019s always a risk. There\u2019s a risk riding a bike. There\u2019s risk playing baseball. It\u2019s a just a little higher in the full-contact sports. The standards have changed so much. There really wasn\u2019t a return to play protocol in the \u201870s \u201880s and \u201890s.\u201d<\/p>\n