NFL concerns over concussions, player safety extend to youth football

As concussion awareness and player safety have become buzz topics in the pros, the impact is being felt at youth levels.

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The Intermediate Wolverines warm up before practice at Mattie Stepanek Park in Rockville. The Rockville Football League has six levels of teams, including a middle school league.

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Niko Berns, 13, left, helps his coach Donald Hampton, center, unload equipment from his vehicle before practice.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

The Pee Wee Wolverines neatly line up their helmets during warm ups before practice. Some Washington area youth leagues have seen a dip in participation.

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Kosta Berns, 11, third from left, with his Rockville Football League Pee Wee team, the Wolverines, during practice.

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Kosta Berns, 11, center, and a teammate listen intently as coach James Wilson goes over his scouting report. Youth leagues have been taking unprecedented steps to combat the sport’s escalating image problem.

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Niko Berns, 13, gets ready for practice at Mattie Stepanek Park in Rockville. His parents say football’s rewards have always outweighed the risks.

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Pee Wee Wolverine players hold hands in the huddle during practice. Football has a higher rate of brain injuries than any other youth sport.

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Kosta Berns, 11, warms up before practice. “We compare football to his schoolwork and tell him, you have to work just as hard in school,” said Berns’s mother Sophia.

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The Pee Wee Wolverines block for their running back as they push back Jon Berns during practice at Mattie Stepanek Park in Rockville. Berns, whose son Kosta plays on the team, helps coach.

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A teammate hands the ball off to Kosta Berns, 11, center right, during practice at Mattie Stepanek Park in Rockville.

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Niko Berns, 13, right, tackles a teammate during practice.

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A player helps a teammate up after a tackle during practice at Mattie Stepanek Park in Rockville.

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A player on the Intermediate Wolverines is taken off the field on a stretcher during practice. Being cautious, the ambulance was called after the player complained of neck pain. Coaches would later say it was a case of whiplash.

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Pee Wee Wolverine coach James Wilson places a "HIT MAN" sticker on one of his player's helmets before a game.

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Pee Wee Wolverine coach James Wilson talks to his team before a game. “We’ve created this cloud over football where it looks more dangerous than it actually is,” Wilson later said of concussion concerns.

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Pee Wee Wolverine running back Kosta Berns during a game.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

The Wolverines play Blessed Sacrament during a game in Rockville. Some athletes in the area are switching from football to lacrosse.

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Jon Berns, left, talks with his wife Sophia, center, and his son Kosta, 11, right, while his other son Niko, 13, plays a football game in Rockville.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

Niko Berns, 13, grimaces after hurting his thumb during a game.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

Intermediate Wolverine coach Donald Hampton talks to his players after a game in Rockville.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

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