New Jersey High Schools Set to Make Football Safer

So New Jersey is on the road to making high school football a little safer!

According to the Philly Voice, the NJ State Interscholastic Athletic Association ( NJSIAA) has recently passed a proposal that would limit high school football teams to 15 minutes of full-contact practice “weekly.”

The current status of full-contact practice is limited to 90 full minutes every week during in-season practice. The definition of “full-contact” according to the New Jersey Coaches’ Association and NJSIAA goes as “game speed, executing full tackles at a competitive pace, taking players to the ground.” The national foundation known as “Practice Like Pros” are advocates for this decision, as the foundation believes it promotes smarter and safer practice in adolescent football.

The new limits are designed to prevent against serious injuries which take place most commonly during regular in-season practices. Backlash on Twitter was an unsurprising result with some commenting “Time for schools to separate from the NJSIAA and start a new Association” by JP DeMauro and Coach Guy Bertola stating “So when do we get to teach the proper technique? Less time is not the answer to better tackling. Teaching is key.”

Regardless of the uproar, the new regulations will still need to be voted by the NJSIAA Executives in April.