League of Fans Co-Sponsors Panel Discussion on the Legal Impact of Brain Trauma On High School and Youth Football
By Ken Reed
League of Fans and the American Museum of Tort Law are presenting a panel discussion on the legal aspects of brain trauma and how it might change high school and youth football as we know it.
The panel of experts includes: Patrick Hruby, a journalist who has written extensively about brain trauma in sports; Chris Nowinski, one of the foremost educators, advocates, and researchers in the field of sports concussions and brain trauma; Jason Luckasevic, an attorney and consultant on sports brain injuries who filed the first two CTE lawsuits against the NFL; and Mary Alexander, an attorney who specializes in personal injury and consumer rights. The panel is moderated by Joanne Doroshow, a civil justice expert.
While a few thousand adults play in the NFL, hundreds of thousands of young people play football at the high school and youth levels. Brain trauma at these levels is very concerning due to the fact that most high school and youth games and practices don’t have a trained medical professional on site. Moreover, in most cases, the coaches at these levels lack adequate training in concussion identification and safety protocols.
There’s a real threat that lawsuits brought against schools, school districts and youth football programs (in most cases by parents of young athletes suffering various brain trauma injuries) could result in many schools/school districts dropping the sport due to rising insurance premium costs related to an increasing number of lawsuits.
The panel discussion can be viewed at the American Museum of Tort Law site and on YouTube.
Please feel free to share this panel discussion on this important sports issue widely.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans

Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families. Linda writes extensively about how youth sports can hijack families, and family outings, non-sports activities and bonding time are lost in the pursuit of the next club team game or travel tournament.
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Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
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Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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