Young rugby players quitting game over RFL tackle ban

Some children are quitting the game due to the tackle ban coach Reece Dean said

A ban on tackling is causing junior rugby league players to quit the game, a coach has claimed.

The Rugby Football League (RFL) has introduced tag rugby for under sixes to make the sport safer over concerns about head injuries.

The restriction will be gradually extended to cover under nines over the next two years.

However, a coach at Hull-based club Skirlaugh RLFC said some players had left as a result of the new rules.

Reece Dean said some of the children were "pretty shocked" when the rules were introduced in December.

"A few kids have lost a bit of interest and we've had a couple leave," he said.

"It's the game we've all grown up playing and watching, and the kids go to Hull Kingston Rovers but for them it's a completely different game now.

Mr Dean said he understood the need to protect children from harm, but added he disagreed with the tackling ban.

"This is the best age to teach them tackling so that they are in good practice for when they are bigger and when it can be dangerous," he said.

"I've been teaching these kids how to tackle since they were three years old and in that time we haven't had a single head contact."

Many parents are also unhappy with the changes.

Ryan McAllister, whose son plays for Skirlaugh, said: "The kids didn't take up rugby to play tag so I think they should be able to still learn how to tackle.

"When they go up to open age rugby there's going to be a big difference between some lads that have been tackling for 10 years compared to these lads who will have only tackled for maybe five or six years."

Reece Dean said it was better to teach children how to tackle at an early age

Amy Baker's son also plays in the under six team.

She said: "I do think the children have adapted really well and the coach has been helping them learn the new rules.

"But some parents are a bit disheartened because they've got older children who play rugby but my son seems happy and when he goes to watch his uncle play he sees him tackling so he is going to get there eventually."

The RFL said the tackling ban was one of 44 recommendations from the sport's Brain Health and Clinical Advisory Group based on research by Leeds Beckett University into the effect of head injuries in the sport.

Other changes introduced this season include lowering the legal tackle height for community and professional clubs from shoulder to armpit height.

"As with all of the 44 recommendations, the intention is to reduce the risk of concussions - but also, importantly in the changes being made to junior Rugby League, to delay the point at which players begin tackling," a RFL spokesperson said

"This is because of developments in medical and scientific knowledge relating to the young and developing brain, and also relating to the cumulative impact of head contact of whatever level - mirroring similar changes that have been made in other contact sports."