While USA Football has been trying to make football safer in the United States, Hockey Canada has been trying to make its national sport safer, down to the lowest levels of the youth game.
This year, Hockey Canada banned body checking for competition below age 13. However, youth players might start leaving the game because of the increased violence as players get older, according to a confidential study from Hockey Canada, the Vancouver Sun published Thursday.
The Vancouver Sun said that despite the study, membership in Hockey Canada's youth programs is growing, citing a 17 percent rise in participation last year.
-- Bill Bradley, contributing editor