Football numbers decline

Issac Marsh has been coaching football at Chapel Hill High School since 2004. Never before has he had as few kids try out for the team as he had at the begin- ning of this season.

“I would say the turnout was probably 30 guys less than usual,” Marsh said. “It’s the worst I have seen since I’ve been here.”

The Chapel Hill varsity football team, which currently posts a record of 5-5, has ve players who see the eld on both offensive and defensive possessions, limiting time to rest between series. Given that the team began the season with 30 active players, Marsh said that “depth has de - nitely been an issue.”

In wake of recent ndings concerning head trauma and other physical ailments that are commonly associated with playing football, fewer American parents are allowing their children to take the eld on Friday nights.

A December 2014 poll released by Bloomberg Politics indicated that 50 percent of parents would not want their sons to play football. In the Triangle area, es- pecially in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district, the effect has proven to be widespread.

East Chapel Hill head coach Ryan Johnson has seen the effects of declining participation firsthand. Last year, as an assistant coach for the Wildcats, Johnson saw his football program shut down midseason because of the team’s lack of depth.

“When we got down below 20 [players], we knew that with conference coming around, playing the type of competition we were going to be playing, it was going to be pretty tough to compete safely,” Johnson said.

Johnson and the rest of the East Chapel Hill coaching staff were forced to make a tough decision.

“Not having the numbers or support to compete, you have to step back for a minute and look at your kids. We had to do what we had to do,” Johnson said.

East Chapel Hill is not the only local high school that has forfeited games because of low numbers. Carrboro conceded its October 16 homecoming game versus Bartlett Yancey when it was only able to eld a team of 15 players.

This August, for the rst time, more Chapel Hill High School students tried out for the men’s soccer team than for the football team.

Andy Berner, father of soccer player and Chapel Hill senior Will Berner, said he would have been uneasy had his son wanted to play football.

“I don’t know that I would have said absolutely no if he was really into it, but we would have had to talk about it a lot,” Berner said. “I would have been worried about injuries.”

However, Marsh does not think safety is the issue that is keeping Chapel Hill football participation at an all-time low. He feels that it might take a collaborative football clinic by all three area high schools to get back on track.

“It might take putting on something for the youth for the participation to improve,” Marsh said. “I don’t think it’s a safety concern. It’s more just getting the idea of football back out there.”

Marsh does not anticipate safety concerns will continue to chip away at his team’s depth chart. He expects to see more football players arrive from Smith and McDou- gle Middle Schools in the coming years.

“Right now, both Smith and McDougle have 30-plus kids playing football,” Marsh said. “In another year, l think we’ll be back with solid numbers.”

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