Introduction

My name is Martin Sotelo and I am currently a Senior Journalism student at Northern Illinois University with aspirations of becoming a sports journalist. All throughout my life, I have been extremely enamored with athletics. Coming from Gurnee, Illinois, my passion for Chicago sports teams, ala the Chicago Bears and others, goes without question. I grew up rooting for everything Chicago, outside of the Cubs, and my father is the main inspiration behind it all. While I may root for the White Sox, my two favorite teams stem from what I enjoy the most: basketball and football. I have developed a special appreciation for all levels of each sport outside of just the Chicago Bulls and Bears. Thus, my interest in writing about the drop-in youth football participation across America comes naturally. I will fully examine how and why this has come to be, as well as what kind of impact it may or may not be having on the National Football League and college football. Based on what I’ve found so far on Forbes and other media sources, television ratings have steadily declined over the years in viewership for televised games at the professional and collegiate level. This isn’t to say that football is no longer recognized by most as the most popular sport in America, especially since people still watch the NFL more than any other game. However, the decline in viewership is there and simply cannot go unnoticed. Based on what I’ve analyzed thus far, participation seems to be decreasing mainly because of major health and injury concerns from the parents of these athletes. In other words, more Americans are deciding that the risk involved with football simply doesn’t outweigh the potential reward. Parents would much rather have their children partake in other activities such as basketball or soccer where there’s a significantly less chance of suffering any serious, life-threatening brain symptoms/injuries down the line such as CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. As a former youth football player, I definitely feel a level of connection with the overall concern. I basically quit playing football because the risk simply wasn’t worth the reward in my mind, even after having never suffered a concussion or dealt with any other serious health conditions. Thus, I want to analyze where everyone from all levels are in regard to the issue, and what people are doing about it. These are all elements that I simply cannot wait to touch on. I am looking forward to sharing my research, thoughts and analysis with you all in the coming weeks.