Of all of the sports that high school athletes participate in, football is by far the most popular and students deserve the opportunity to play the sport despite the risks.

Of course, there are dangers involved in football, but  the risk of injury is present in every sport, and athletes understand the risks before they step on the field.

Almost all National Football League players start out playing high school football. Ending football in high school would thus diminish the level of play in the NFL greatly.

The most-attended sporting events for high schools are the football games and the performance of the team does not make much difference. It is all about school spirit.

The life lessons that players learn from the sport far outweigh its dangers—a point Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh makes in an article titled, “Why Football Matters” posted on the Baltimore Ravens website.

“The game asks a young man to push himself further than he ever thought he could go,” he writes. “It literally challenges his physical courage. It shows him what it means to sacrifice. Coaches teach our young people the lessons of life that very often, they learn from no one else.”

Those who oppose high school football seem to forget

that it teaches players about perseverance, leadership and heart, these qualities may never have the opportunity to reach the players at another point in life.

The main health concern with football players today is the constant concussion risk the players face, but the sport is changing for the better at the higher levels. The risk of serious injury is reducing with new innovations in technology.

For example, Vicis, a Seattle-based firm, has officially announced their Zero1 football helmet, which reduces risk of concussions through its soft layers which surround the player’s head within the helmet.

Granted, these helmets are currently expensive to bring to high schools, but it is only a matter of time before this type of technology is made more cost effective in the lower levels of the sport.

Removing football would also be much more difficult than it sounds. The amount of resistance from fans and players would be equivalent to  a hotly contested political debate.

The belief that it would be a smooth transition to remove football from being played in high schools is absurd.

Risk is involved in a lot of activities; therefore, the risk of injury in playing the honest, hard nosed sport of football is not as serious as some maintain.

Players understand the risk they take when they step on the gridiron, and they should have the right to accept what may happen on the field and play despite the risks.