What's considered too young for contact football?

[orngnblk]

We agreed my son won't be playing until he's ten. That's just the decision his mom and I made... will we stick to it? Who knows. It's a lot easier to say when there's not a boy with a broken heart in front of you

Nothing wrong with that at all.I did the same thing about lifting weights,I said eighth grade.It worked out great.Also some kids get burnt out on doing something for such a long time.Mine started playing when he was 10 but I worked with him at home when he first showed signs of wanting to play just so he would have a little knowledge of the game before he suited up.

[devilsden]

I heard my high school coach talk about the age to start playing football and he said 10 years old.  He had 2 sons and didn't let either one play until they had turned 10 years old.  One played 4 years of college football and the other played baseball, I think.

[pujo]

Really not a set age for anything,kids are all different. When they learn to pay attention and actually try. People get toooo competitive and think its a big deal but its mainly about them having fun and learning the game. My least has played since he was 5 but its his choice. Its not gonna make um or break um. My oldest lived to play ball from the time he was 5,he would have died if i told him he couldn;t play. But most kids don't take it near as serious.

[bluedevil6913]

I think it depends on the kids and the situations they are being put in. I started at 4 and had some really good coaches that I loved. Got to about 10 or so and started to have some coaches that made everything at that age about winning and stopped teaching and football started to not be fun anymore. I got burnt out because of said coaches and didn't play in middle school. I missed out on a good opportunity to play for a good middle school coach and fell behind some of my friends in high school. I think this very reason is why some schools thrive better than others. Some take lumps in little league because they focus on the fundamentals and developing the kids and others wanna win every game by 60 and don't teach the correct way to do things. They teach the best way to win at that age and kids remember "that's the way coach so and so told me to do it when I was little."

[orngnblk]

I think it depends on the kids and the situations they are being put in. I started at 4 and had some really good coaches that I loved. Got to about 10 or so and started to have some coaches that made everything at that age about winning and stopped teaching and football started to not be fun anymore. I got burnt out because of said coaches and didn't play in middle school. I missed out on a good opportunity to play for a good middle school coach and fell behind some of my friends in high school. I think this very reason is why some schools thrive better than others. Some take lumps in little league because they focus on the fundamentals and developing the kids and others wanna win every game by 60 and don't teach the correct way to do things. They teach the best way to win at that age and kids remember "that's the way coach so and so told me to do it when I was little."

Good post!Nice to hear from someone who actually went thru it!

[Gerry Bertier]

My personal belief is do not play tackle until middle school. I know I will be in the minority with this but I see more negatives from playing too soon than positives.

[CEJ1972]

My personal belief is do not play tackle until middle school. I know I will be in the minority with this but I see more negatives from playing too soon than positives.

[CEJ1972]

Agree but it depends on the coaches. Good coaches that teaches fundamentals and understand it all about the program will help the kids succeed. Know it all coaches that never played a lick and only know what they watch on tv can kill a program. I didn't let my boys play till they were in the sixth grade. I knew the coaches and was fortunate enough to help. One of my boys didn't like it and I was fine with it. the other loved it. Since then he has started all but one yr and is now in his senior season. I really think starting them to young will burn them out, that's why I didn't let them play at 4.

[bluedevil6913]

Good post!Nice to hear from someone who actually went thru it!

Thanks. I'm currently helping with 10-11 year olds and we've not had one concussion or serious injury all year. We've also not won a game. As where there is one team in the league that is winning games but have had up to 3 concussions in one week and ended up calling that game at the end of the first quarter. It's all about what the kids are being taught and the level of understanding they have and the way they apply things being taught to them. I think coaches in little league shouldn't think of themselves as coaches, but teachers. We also teach our defense to read and react, while others are running a nose guard and stacking both A gaps on top of that. Anything for them to get an edge right now. But who is going to be better prepared in the long run? I think our guys will have an advantage learning how to properly deal with those types of things at a young age

[PiRaTe._.MiKe]

We start at 4 here and it consists of South Pittsburg, Jasper (Marion County), Bledsoe Co, Sequatchie Co, Whitwell, Grundy Co, and Bridgeport (Alabama). A few years we had divisions that included Spring City (Rhea Co. in high school). I'm sure someone else can tell more than me. I may have left someone out.

 

I see some 4 years laying the wood sometimes and it's crazy how intense they can be. I have family that thinks it's too early for them at 4, and think 7 or 8 is better age. My son is 6 however, he has Asbergers and has no desire whatsoever to play sports. He will mess around at home with me and tells me he might play when he is older but who knows. He loves the Pirates and the Vols. I told him he doesn't have to play sports but I hope he enjoys watching them with me. Some feel the aggressiveness that football requires may be the wrong thing for kids at age 4. I have no problem with it and with the right coaches it is very beneficial for when they do get to middle school and high school.

 

I firmly believe starting them early like we do has played an important role in our success. They learn to have pride in our schools, our community, and themselves. The younger kids love to be recognized by older folks in our community. They go into a store and people are like "hey you are the little fellow that scored 5 touchdowns last week" or " hey your team is undefeated great job". It helps build on our tradition at a young age.

[orngnblk]

We start at 4 here and it consists of South Pittsburg, Jasper (Marion County), Bledsoe Co, Sequatchie Co, Whitwell, Grundy Co, and Bridgeport (Alabama). A few years we had divisions that included Spring City (Rhea Co. in high school). I'm sure someone else can tell more than me. I may have left someone out.

 

I see some 4 years laying the wood sometimes and it's crazy how intense they can be. I have family that thinks it's too early for them at 4, and think 7 or 8 is better age. My son is 6 however, he has Asbergers and has no desire whatsoever to play sports. He will mess around at home with me and tells me he might play when he is older but who knows. He loves the Pirates and the Vols. I told him he doesn't have to play sports but I hope he enjoys watching them with me. Some feel the aggressiveness that football requires may be the wrong thing for kids at age 4. I have no problem with it and with the right coaches it is very beneficial for when they do get to middle school and high school.

 

I firmly believe starting them early like we do has played an important role in our success. They learn to have pride in our schools, our community, and themselves. The younger kids love to be recognized by older folks in our community. They go into a store and people are like "hey you are the little fellow that scored 5 touchdowns last week" or " hey your team is undefeated great job". It helps build on our tradition at a young age.

Another great post!Without our feeder programs neither of us would be this successful!

[team69]

Another back in the day post LOL...So back in the day we didn't start till 7th grade. I can count on one hand of the folks I played with that ever got hurt,players just didn't get hurt like they do today.We also didn't it the weights like they do today.  I had a friend who was a sucessful college coach tell me that the biggest concern he had was starting kids out to early on the weights. He thought their muscles needed to develope first and he contributes a lot of injurys to that.