Head acceleration measurements in middle school football

Although youth football players account for approximately 70% of all football players, the majority of research investigating concussion in football has focused on adults. The objective of this study was to investigate the head impact exposure experienced by middle school football players between the ages of 12 and 14 years. Recruited players were equipped with helmets instrumented with accelerometer arrays for 5 games and 27 practices. Linear accelerations ranged from 10 g to 150 g and rotational accelerations ranged from 4 rad/s2 to 9019 rad/s2. The average player experienced 210 ± 162 impacts while instrumented. The average player sustained a median impact of 21 ± 1 g and 885 ± 104 rad/s2, and a 95th percentile impact of 57 ± 12 g and 2570 ± 544 rad/s2. Data were then used to estimate a full middle school football season’s head impacexposure for comparisons. Both impact magnitude and impact location distributions were similar to past studies investigating head impacts in high school and collegiate football players. Middle school players experience a greater number of impacts during games than during practices, and the majority of impacts occurred to the front or rear of the helmet. With an increased understanding of the head impact exposure experienced by youth football players, measures can be implemented to better protect players.