Why is high school football in decline? Jim Baxter is on the right track, but falls short in recent column

It may come as a shock, but I do enjoy reading other people's opinions on certain subjects. 

Recently, Jim Baxter of SCVarsity.com penned a column on the decline of high school football here in South Carolina, which I invite you to read here.

Baxter brings up fair points in his piece, namely blaming the end of the eight-quarter rule by the South Carolina High School League as a major cause.

You can read more about the abolishment of the rule, which happened in 2015, here, but in short, it made it illegal for players who competed in a JV game to dress out for varsity the following night. I suggest you read Brett McCormick's reporting in the link, because many of the concerns brought up have come true in the four years since.

Before diving in, I must say I respect Baxter and the many decades of work he has put into covering high school athletics in this state. He is right more often than not, but in this instance I feel he is coming up short.

No question CTE fear has caused a dip in participation, and I feel Baxter brushes that off too casually in his piece. I don't believe he intended it to come off that way either. I feel he fails to bring evidence of false claims with CTE in his story, information that would have helped his point. 

Also, better citation on his medical background would have helped his case. Currently, I'm more left wondering what his background is and how that qualifies his opinion on the legitimacy of all the information currently available. 

He has correctly identified a key reason with CTE, but like most issues, the decline of participation in high school football is more complex than to be cited as a singular safety issue that caused a rule change in one state. 

As he mentioned, other states do not have this rule, but their participation is down also. Granted, I realize Baxter is writing specifically on South Carolina, but it feels like he is trying to apply this nationwide. 

According to a 2018 report by The Washington Post, participation has been on a steady decline since 2008. For South Carolina, that nationwide decline predates the inaction of the ending of the eight-quarter rule.

The Post brings up another key issue, finances, in football's decline. 

Frankly, it is expensive to run a football program. It typically has the largest roster, the highest equipment expenses and the largest coaching staff of the varsity sports in high school. 

To be fair, it is typically also the biggest money-maker. 

Compounding things are two other factors that while separate, do blend together: Other sports and athlete specialization.

The Associated Press published a story in August on the resurgence of baseball, paired with the growing popularity of basketball.

I believe the rise has partially to do with CTE. While both sports still have risk of head trauma, the perception of severe head trauma occurring in those sports is lower than in football. 

That then dovetails into the focus on specialization in those two sports. 

For those not in the know, sports specialization is as it sounds, when an athlete, or their parents in many cases, select to focus on one sport year round. Here is a quick pro and con story on specialization.

Personally, I'm against specialization. I'm in the camp of playing multiple sports, and many football coaches I've spoken with in my career tend to feel that way also.

The reasons are pretty simple if you ask coaches. One, skills in other sports translate back to football and vice-versa, and two, it keeps the players busy and out of any potential trouble that can crop up in extended segments of down time. 

But, specialization is likely here to stay, and basketball and baseball are two sports that seem to have the most specialization, along with soccer with the growth of travel league. I will probably write my thoughts on travel leagues in the future, but for now just know that $15 billion per year industry is hurting football participation.

(Oh yeah, that subjects getting broached in the near future.)

So why is high school football participation in decline?

A combination of parental fears of head trauma, school districts being strapped financially, growing popularity of other sports and athlete specialization in those sports. 

Not near as clean and neat as a 10-word answer blaming a legislative body (and trust me, I'm no fan of the SCHSL and their near-constant boneheaded legislation).