There are no precise statistics on how many schools have shut down their football programs because of safety concerns, but a number of teams have been disbanded as participation in tackle football nationwide has declined amid rising awareness of concussions and other dangers.

Despite the popularity of college and professional football, the number of male high school football players has fallen to about 1.08 million this year, a 2.4 percent decline from five years ago.

Pop Warner, the largest youth football organization, has seen larger decreases. It has also been sued by a parent of a player who committed suicide at 25 and was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease linked to repeated head hits.

The football deaths this year have involved a range of positions.

This month, Tyrell Cameron, a sophomore at Franklin Parish High School in Louisiana, died after being hit during a punt return. The local coroner has not determined a cause of death. In Oklahoma, Ben Hamm, a 16-year-old linebacker at Wesleyan Christian School, died on Sept. 19, eight days after he was hit in a game.

No such tragedies have occurred at Maplewood. But the number and seriousness of the injuries to football players have weighed on parents, eroding support for what was once the school’s showpiece sport. More parents are enrolling their children in a growing number of youth soccer programs, leaving fewer students playing football by the time they reach high school.

“The boys I’ve seen, they’re growing up with soccer,” said Betty Pearson, whose oldest son played football at Maplewood but whose youngest son plays soccer. “I come out, and there are 10 kids kicking the ball around in the street. I don’t think I’ve seen that with football.”