"Someone You Should Know" is a monthly series that will feature a representative from the football community. Each guest will answer questions around youth football health and safety and how they are contributing to this key initiative.
For July, we are featuring Mike Haynes, USA Football manager of Heads Up Football Master Trainers.
Q: What is USA Football and the Heads Up Football program?
A: USA Football is the sport's national governing body. We're an independent organization that supports and trains more high school and youth football coaches combined than any organization in the world with a focus on player health and teaching the fundamentals.
Heads Up Football is a USA Football membership program that supports coaches with a certified online curriculum and hands-on training covering positive coaching philosophy, teaching the fundamentals in a smarter and safer way and all-sport-relevant athlete safety protocols pertaining to heat illness, hydration, concussion and sudden cardiac arrest.
In sum, we're changing for the better how coaches are prepared, players are taught, parents are informed and safety is addressed. Heads Up Football is endorsed by leading medical organizations and experts across the sport.
Q: What is the role of a Master Trainer at USA Football?
A: Master Trainers include some of the best high school football coaches in the nation as well as former NFL and college players. They are trained to establish a new standard in football by preparing Player Safety Coaches to implement the Heads Up Football program within their high schools or leagues.
Selected and trained by USA Football, Master Trainers are dedicated to work with youth leagues and high schools in order to deliver the best information about teaching the sport to young athletes. These 90 Master Trainers represent USA Football at more than 250 events across the United States each year.
Q: Why is important for moms to know about the USA Football training programs?
A: Moms are a vital piece to any sport's health and safety education program, including Heads Up Football. They are likely to spend more time with their children than anyone – including teachers and coaches.
Moms can help their children be properly hydrated before practice and by being informed through Heads Up Football, they can recognize concussion signs if any occur at home, regardless of which sports their child plays beyond football. Many times, concussion signs and symptoms don't first appear until a practice or game is over.
Moms love their children. They want what is best for them. By being educated on the best available science, their concerns are addressed and they are informed with knowledge to best support their children.
Q: What are some of the things that USA Football is doing through the Master Trainers to make the game safer for children?
Master Trainers teach Heads Up Football to Player Safety Coaches across the United States. These coaches bring the important health and safety elements back to their leagues and high schools to educate coaches, players and parents on the local level.
In 2014, a Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention study published in The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine showed that youth football players in leagues that participate in USA Football's Heads Up Football program have a 76 percent reduction in injuries compared to those in leagues that do not take part in the program. Heads Up Football leagues also saw a reduction in concussions and time-loss injuries, meaning players are learning and enjoying the sport with their friends and teammates.
Q: Why is this work important to you as a parent (if you are a parent)?
A: As a parent, the safety of my kids is very important to me. Like many parents, I want to know what adults are working with my kids. I want to know about my child's teacher, dentist and pediatrician. What's their background? What qualifications do they have to work with my child.
The person that coaches my children needs to be qualified. As a former athlete, coach, teacher, and assistant principal, I have high expectations for people that work with children. USA Football is working to make sure coaches have the needed qualifications to keep children safe when playing football.
Q: What advice would you give to our audience, moms, to make sure they are doing all they can to ensure their kids safe on the field?
A: Treat football like you would school. Expect your coaches to be teachers and be certified to teach any sport correctly. Ask questions when you have concerns, but just as you would not interrupt class to talk to a teacher, approach coaches during an appropriate time.
Make sure your league is employing Heads Up Football to ensure that the highest standards for teaching are in place. If your league doesn't and a nearby league does, we encourage you to consider changing leagues.
Q: Besides tackling, what other aspects of the game does USA Football focus on? Are there things that moms need to know based on the position their player plays?
A: Tackling and blocking are two of the foundational pillars in Heads Up Football because they are all-position skills that every player on the field can be called upon to perform at some point. USA Football also works with NFL teams, Northwestern University and top high school coaches to produce position-specific drills to help young athletes improve their abilities. You can find those at www.usafootball.com/videos.
Q: Sometimes it can be hard for a mom to talk to her child's coach about their child's role on the team, what advice can you give to moms to make this easier?
A: Coaches are teachers. If a child is having trouble grasping math or history or science or physical education, most parents would have no problem addressing their concerns with the teacher.
The first thing, though, is to become educated about the sport so you are speaking from a basis of knowledge. USA Football can help you do that. Visit usafootball.com to sign up for a free parent's membership.
If your concern is playing time or what position your child plays, that's a different matter. Parents should trust coaches to put their children in positions where they will best help the team. Honestly, don't worry about where your child is playing. Focus instead on whether he or she is learning the fundamentals of the sport so they are playing sound football in practice and on game days.
Q: When you talk to kids, what is the most important thing you tell them to focus on when playing football?
A: Keep improving your skills and have fun. Ninety-nine percent of youth football players will never play beyond high school. Only 1.5 percent of high school players get college scholarships. That should not be your end goal. Enjoy your time on the field, meet some new friends and get better. Football teaches teamwork, responsibility, sacrifice and myriad of other life skills that will benefit you whether you play in the NFL or not. The rest will take care of itself.
Q: Tell us about your favorite memory from playing or coaching football?
A: My favorite memory is scoring a touchdown in the NFL when playing for the Chicago Bears. We were playing at the Tennessee Titans and I had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown right before halftime. It was the longest 40 yards of my career. The ball and gloves that I wore that game are in my son's bedroom.
-- NFL Communications
