? re: Kids playing Youth Football

[kwc]

The city of Memphis and the surrounding area has a lot of different youth football leagues. I've been an assistant coach on 3 different teams and in 2 different leagues. It has been my experience that it can be very competitive. The leagues I've been involved with usually consists of at least 6 to 8 different organizations. Each organization has 3 teams. The youngest team, depending on the league, is either 7 and under or 8 and under. The next group is either 9 and under or 10 and under. The last group is 12 and under, consisting of either 11 and 12 yr olds or 10 - 12 year olds. The only reason I was an assistant coach is because I had a son playing on a team, so I wanted to be involved. I personally didn't agree with some methods used, and that is as far as I will elaborate on that. Your first order of business is to check out the TEAM and the COACHES in which your son will be playing for. Is your child too young? I don't think so ... he will be out there with other boys his age. The most important thing to consider will be the LEADRESHIP of the team and the organization. I would have never allowed my son to play WITHOUT me being around, especially after I saw some of the shenanigans going on. There are some GOOD organizations out there that may have some BAD apples on them. There are some BAD organizations that may have some GOOD apples on them. The questions shouldn't be ... 'Is your son old enough' ... it should be ... 'is this a good organization to be affiliated with?'

 

Just my $0.02 worth.

[GreenMan]

Check out the program. Some are bad some are good. Do what you feel is right.

There are a million reasons not and a million reasons that are good. It is just like anything esle you have good programs and bad programs, you check them out.

 

For every Payton Manning that did not play, there is a Walter Payton that did play. Remember youth SPORTS is not a professional training ground it is for FUN only.

 

Great post. I help coach a mini-midget team, and we told the parents on the first day that, We would put SAFETY first, and FUN second, win or lose. At the end of practice we play a game that we call "Kill The Coach". We get all the boys together and have a quick talk about practice, then from out of nowhere I yell "KILL THE COACH", and take off running. They chase me all over the field until I get tired then I pass the ball to another coach. Ive never seen kids have so much fun. The funny thing is they dont even realize they are conditioning. The funnier thing is they outlast all four coaches.

 

We spend more time teaching than coaching. We believe that at this age kids can be taught things like sportsmanship, some mechanics, and most importantly social skills. To us its not about the Ws and Ls, its about teaching the kids to enjoy sports and to respect themselves and others, while having fun.

Edited September 5, 2006 by GreenMan

[melton]

I don't think there is any reason for a child to play football until at least middle school. I think 7th or 8th grade is the earliest any child should start football, and even then it's too early for some. I think a child needs to learn how to harness their aggression at those ages and that's hard to learn on a football field. I also think parents get too caught up in these little league sports these days to say the least. If you go to some games you'll see what I mean pretty quick. They need to have white-coats there to supervise some of these lunatics. Sports have become another type of baby-sitter in a way. Parents are too busy running little kids all over creation from event to event and miss out on a whole childhood in the process. What is the rush anyway? Let them play summer league baseball. But heck, even some of those travel leagues for kids 9-12 years old are way too much for that age. There's 5 full years for a kid to learn to play football starting in 8th grade if they and their parents want to, but I say let them enjoy being a kid while they can. They will be able to enjoy the game better I think.

[KWoodroof]

I don't think there is any reason for a child to play football until at least middle school. I think 7th or 8th grade is the earliest any child should start football, and even then it's too early for some. I think a child needs to learn how to harness their aggression at those ages and that's hard to learn on a football field. I also think parents get too caught up in these little league sports these days to say the least. If you go to some games you'll see what I mean pretty quick. They need to have white-coats there to supervise some of these lunatics. Sports have become another type of baby-sitter in a way. Parents are too busy running little kids all over creation from event to event and miss out on a whole childhood in the process. What is the rush anyway? Let them play summer league baseball. But heck, even some of those travel leagues for kids 9-12 years old are way too much for that age. There's 5 full years for a kid to learn to play football starting in 8th grade if they and their parents want to, but I say let them enjoy being a kid while they can. They will be able to enjoy the game better I think.

I think it would be nice if kids' sports hadn't taken on such a pre-professional tone, and I would apply this same thought to high school sports as well. I'm just not sure that a boy starting football in 7th or 8th grade would ever catch up with his more experienced classmates. Further, the kids' leagues, flaws and all, do at least have weight classifications. A small 7th or 8th grader would be trying to learn the game in an atmosphere of "sink or swim".

[riverdaleman]

I disagree witha ll who say the earliest is middle school...that is when you find out who usually plays i think 8-10

My twins started whenthey were 9 they play in the city league they practice 2 days a week and play 1 game a week they will play6 or 7 games for the year the programs i have a problem with is when they practice 4 days week and play on saturday that is too much my twins prctice on mon tues and thurs when game start they will play on mon or tues night again as long as they are having fun playing the game it is ok but when they play and practice so much a lot of the players will get burned out it happens in baseball too very few 7 year olds care about playing 60 games a year let them have fun and play