playing football and having long hair

Question

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Followup To

Question -
Hello,
I am a parent of a 14 yr old that is going into high school and has been playing football since he was 8 yrs old.  Now that he is going to H.S. the coach told him he had to get his hair cut. His hair is about to his shoulders and is braided. The coach will not liet him play unless he cuts his hair he said due to saftey reasons. This is not a school policy or in any hand book I have contacted to director and i am suppose to meet with him to decide if he will over ride the coachs decision. Really what i want to know is,  Is it unsafe to play football with long hair because of the way the helmet fits

Answer -
Dear Lorrie Simmens,
I understand your fustrations, however, having too much hair can be a safety factor. Too much hair can cause the helmet not to fit the way it needs to.

Also, a lot of crazy things happen during a football game. For example, during a tackle, your child's hair could get caught up in someone's else's football helmet.

Players with long hair, always seem to be taking their helmets off during the game to get their hair out of their face. This can be very dangerous if they take it off at the wrong time. If a palyer is hit while not wearing his helmet, a lot of things could happen and none of them are good. I could go on and on but you get the idea.

No coach wants to see one of his players hurt. We want to be able to sleep at night knowing we did all we could to keep them safe.

I hope I was of help to you but if I was not please let me know and I will be happy to try again.
Your friend, Coach Louis


I understand the coachs point but what i am saying is he doesnt have hair down his back it is to his shoulders and is braided in small braids it is not long enough to get caught in anything and also he has been playing football for the last 7 years with the community football league and there was never anything said about his hair and also you see the NFL players with this type of hair (his isnt as bad as some of those)

Answer
Dear Lorrie Simmens,
I understand what you are saying however, it is a safety issue that we are talking about.

Community football leagues are made up of weekend coachs not fully trained coachs.

The N.F.L. is made up of adults who know the risks.

We are talking about kids. Kids that think that nothing can ever happen to them. We as adults know better. Things happen.

We as parents have to decide whether our kids looks are more improtant than their safety. And make no mistake about it, it is their safety we are talking about.

Well now you have the facts so that you may decide for yourself.

I hope I was of help to you.
Good luck, Coach Louis