New Jersey high football participation plummeted to a new low in 2017-18, declining for the fifth season in a row and dropping by 519 total players, according to new data released this week.
The drop marked a 2.3% decrease in participation statewide in 2018 compared to the year before. All told, nearly 4,000 fewer kids played high school football in New Jersey in 2018 compared to a recent high-water mark in 2013.
The participation drop in the state follows the national trend, which has seen fewer players competing in football each year since the new millennium. Nationally, football numbers were down in 2018 by 3%, reaching the lowest level since the 1999 season.
Football proponents have failed to stem the falling numbers as the sport continues to struggle amid growing safety concerns and fears over the long-term effects of repetitive blows to the head. Overall, more than 87,000 fewer players took the field nationally in 2018 compared to just five years earlier.
Karissa Niehoff, executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations, said in a press release the organization is “concerned about the reduction” in football numbers.
“While we recognize that the decline in football participation is due, in part, to concerns about the risk of injury, we continue to work with our member state associations, the nation’s high schools and other groups to make the sport as safe as possible,” Niehoff said in a statement. “Every state has enacted rules that limit the amount of contact before the season and during practices, and every state has concussion protocols and laws in place, so we continue to believe that the sport is as safe as it has ever been.”
New Jersey has made several strides in recent years to address safety concerns, including passing the most restrictive contact limits in the country at any level earlier this year.
Still, New Jersey has not seen an uptick in football participation since 2013.
Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
