Over the past years, thousands of adults, some parents and some former and current professionals football players, have come forward explaining the danger of playing football and how it can cause extreme brain problems for the rest of your life. Since then, a legitimate alternative for playing football has come forward, in an English sport called rugby.
Rugby has started to spread to San Luis Obispo High School and more students are partaking in the sport every year. Despite not wearing any pads, except for an optional foam head cap, the sport has been proclaimed by many to be safer than football. There are certain rules of how and where on the body you can tackle a player, which, except for head first tackles, is not explicitly covered in football. According to Boston University, over 79% of all former National Football League players suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. This disease is caused by repetitive brain trauma, most commonly when NFL players suffer from multiple concussions.
“With football, all of the pads on make you feel invincible and that you can hit anything/anyone. But with rugby, knowing that you don’t have any pads on makes you more aware and cautious of what is going on,” said rugby player and SLOHS graduate Jacob Rodriguez.
This year, the quadrennial Rugby Sevens World Cup (different from the Rugby World Cup) is taking place in San Francisco, California, in which both men’s and women’s tournaments take place at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
“Since rugby is the fastest growing sport in America, I’d highly suggest going to the World Cup. It’s a new game and something new to experience,” said Rodriguez
For parents with children playing football, children considering playing football, or even for people that want to experience a new sport, you should consider going to the World Cup from July 20 through the 22. This year, 24 nations are in the men’s tournament and 16 are in the women’s with multiple games each day, including New Zealand defending both the men’s and women’s titles. It is truly something you cannot miss.
