Flag Football Under 14
You don't need to start tackle young to be a great football player.
Education & Advocacy
You don't need to start tackle young to be a great football player.
If you're a parent considering enrolling your child in football, the Concussion & CTE Foundation® strongly recommends you delay the tackle football experience until at least age 14. Research continues to reveal that repetitive brain trauma from tackle football greatly increases risk of the degenerative brain disease CTE.
Meanwhile, football experts - from coaches to Hall of Fame players - remind us that you don't need to start tackle football young to become a great player. Until tackle football is proven safe for the developing brain, we urgently recommend youth flag football and other non-tackle versions before age 14.
As parents, you deserve to make an informed decision about your child's future brain health. To support you in making that decision, we created the Flag Football Under 14 program to highlight the risks of tackle football vs flag football.
Flag Football Under 14 is part of the Concussion & CTE Foundation's Stop Hitting Kids in the Head initiative, which aims to accelerate the reform of youth contact sports. We believe each sport should promote a youth version that does not allow purposeful repetitive brain trauma for children before age 14.
A child's body is not designed for tackle football. Because the head grows faster than the body, a child's large head makes head impacts inevitable, more powerful, and more dangerous. Sensors show the average head impact in youth football is 20.6 g, the same as the average head impact in college football. Plus, the resources and protections in place for high school athletes are vastly different than those typically offered in youth contact sports.
Check out our Why Age 14 infographic to find out why waiting until age 14 matters. For an extensive analysis of tackle football vs. flag football and why age 14 is so crucial, be sure to read our White Paper.
Some of the most respected names in football agree that playing tackle football too young unnecessarily puts children at higher risk for additional brain trauma.
Iconic coaches and players - including John Madden, Jim Harbaugh, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Rob Gronkowski, and many more - believe that waiting to enroll your child in tackle football is the best choice. While their brains are still developing, youth flag football and non-tackle versions are safest.
Discover what these and other football legends say about Flag Football Under 14.