So SLA has never had a football team, not because we were morally opposed to it when we started, but rather because it is such an expensive sport and it requires so many players. So on some level, we had this decision made for us for reasons, but I’ve been giving the issue of high school football a lot of thought lately.

I’m starting to wonder how long high schools can support having football teams.

Right now, there is a growing sense that football is causing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in professional football players, and there are questions as to how the hard hitting of football may be having an effect on high school players as well. For me, it is enough that school administrators and coaches should be asking themselves some very hard questions about the sport that has been a mainstay in American high schools all over this country.

I understand that there are many sports that can result in concussions – I’ve gotten a few playing Ultimate (no comments on how that explains a lot, please.) But football is about hitting the opposing team hard. And we may be on the verge of learning that that is causing serious neurological damage to the kids who entrusted to our care. How conclusive does the evidence have to be before we decide this isn’t something schools should be doing? What parameters should we be putting in place to be sure we aren’t doing damage to our kids?

I don’t know that I have answers here. I know that Kat and I are not ok with Jakob or Theo ever playing organized football. And I know that, as the administrator of one small school in Philadelphia, I wouldn’t be comfortable having a team at SLA. What that means beyond our walls, I don’t know. But I think the time has come for high school administrators, athletic directors and football coaches to start asking some very hard questions.