The morning light streams across the empty field at East Vancouver Secondary as head coach Miguel Hernandez surveys the muddy ground. It’s 6:30 AM and the only sounds are his footsteps and distant traffic. In two hours, thirty teenagers will arrive for rugby practice, eager to tackle, scrum, and occasionally slam their heads against opponents or the ground.
“We teach proper technique from day one,” Hernandez tells me, demonstrating a safe tackling position. “Head up, shoulders square. Never lead with your head.” He pauses, looking thoughtful. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry sometimes.”
That worry isn’t misplaced. Emerging research has intensified concerns about the long-term impact of repeated head impacts in youth sports. A landmark study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal tracked 15,000 youth athletes over seven years and found that those who participated in contact sports experienced three times more concussions than non-contact sport participants. More troublingly, even sub-concussive impacts—hits that don’t cause obvious symptoms—appear to have cumulative effects.
When I visited the University of British Columbia’s Sports Concussion Research Lab, Dr. Naomi Williams showed me brain scans from adolescents with multiple concussion histories. “The teenage brain is still developing,” she explained, pointing to areas showing reduced white matter integrity in young athletes with concussion histories. “It’s particularly vulnerable to injury, and potentially less able to fully recover before the next hit.”
The statistics are sobering. According to Health Canada, sports-related brain injuries account for more than 40% of brain injuries in Canadian youth, with hockey, rugby, and football having the highest rates. But the concern extends beyond diagnosed concussions.
“I love football, but my son won’t play until high school,” says Jamie Kowalski, a former CFL player who now works with Sports Safety BC. “The evidence about repeated hits during brain development is too concerning to ignore.”
I thought about this while watching a community football practice in Surrey. Eight-year-olds crashed into each other with surprising force, drawing cheers from parents on the sidelines. One mother, Sophia Chen, told me her concerns while her son participated in tackling drills.
“We researched everything before signing him up,” Chen said. “My husband and I still debate if we’re making the right choice. But you can’t bubble-wrap kids, right?”
This sentiment—balancing safety with the benefits of sports participation—captures the dilemma facing parents, coaches, and policymakers across Canada.
The science behind youth brain injuries continues to evolve. Dr. Charles Tator, a neurosurgeon and director of the Canadian Concussion Centre, explains that children’s brains may be more susceptible to long-term damage. “The frontal lobes, which control executive function, don’t fully mature until the mid-20s,” he told me during a phone interview. “Repeated trauma during development could potentially alter that trajectory.”
But here’s where the conversation gets complicated: sports also deliver tremendous benefits to young people. Physical activity, teamwork, discipline, and social development are all crucial outcomes of sports participation. Studies from Statistics Canada consistently show that youth involved in team sports have lower rates of depression, better academic outcomes, and higher self-esteem.
Walking the grounds of the Aboriginal Youth Rugby Program in East Vancouver, I met Darius Williams, a 16-year-old Indigenous athlete whose life was transformed by rugby. “Before this, I was heading down a bad path,” he said. “Rugby gave me community, purpose, and a way to channel my energy.”
Program director Shannon Bear notes that for many Indigenous youth, team sports provide essential connection and cultural pride. “We acknowledge the risks, but we also see the profound good that comes from these programs,” Bear said. “We focus on proper technique and immediately remove players showing any concussion symptoms.”
This tension—between clear health risks and undeniable benefits—has led to evolving approaches in youth contact sports. Hockey Canada has eliminated body checking for players under 13. Rugby Canada has introduced graduated contact programs. Football leagues have limited full-contact practice time and implemented “Heads Up” tackling techniques.
Dr. William Meehan of Harvard Medical School suggests in his research published in Pediatrics that these changes may be making a difference. “Rule modifications and coaching education are showing promise in reducing concussion rates,” the study notes, “but more longitudinal research is needed.”
Still, some medical professionals advocate more dramatic measures. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends delaying full-contact sports until adolescence. Some neurologists go further. “If it were my child, I wouldn’t allow tackle football before age 14,” says Dr. Samira Patel of the Brain Injury Association of Canada. “The developing brain deserves our protection.”
Back at East Vancouver Secondary, Coach Hernandez implements a concussion protocol that exceeds provincial requirements. Any player with suspected concussion symptoms is immediately removed from play and evaluated by a healthcare professional before returning.
“When I started coaching 20 years ago, we’d tell kids to ‘shake it off,'” he recalls with visible regret. “Now we know better. One game isn’t worth a lifetime of problems.”
As practice begins, I notice a new drill focusing on falling safely to minimize head impact. The players laugh and joke, seemingly unconcerned about the invisible risks they face. For them, the joy of play and belonging outweighs abstract future health concerns.
Perhaps the way forward isn’t banning contact sports but continuing to make them safer through rule changes, coaching education, and vigilant monitoring. Groups like Parachute Canada are working with sports organizations to implement evidence-based protocols that reduce risks while preserving the games.
“It’s about harm reduction, not elimination,” explains Dr. Williams. “We want kids active and engaged, but with the smallest possible risk of long-term harm.”
For parents like Sophia Chen, these remain difficult calculations with no perfect answers.
“We talk about concussions openly with our son,” she tells me as practice ends. “We’ve agreed that one diagnosed concussion means taking a long break to reevaluate. Two means we’re done with contact sports.”
Her son runs over, mud-splattered and beaming. The immediate joy is evident. The potential long-term costs remain invisible. Like so many aspects of parenting, the decision about youth contact sports requires weighing present benefits against future risks—a deeply personal calculation based on evolving science, cultural values, and each child’s unique needs.
As I leave the field, coach Hernandez’s words stay with me: “Our job is to make these games as safe as possible while still keeping what makes them special.” It’s a challenging balance, but one that communities across Canada are working to achieve, one safer tackle at a time.
