What age should players start playing tackle football?

[sheppy]

Coaches, administrators, parents give your opinion the age kids should begin playing tackle football.

All opinions matter.

[ManOfMillions]

I will only speak to my personal experience. My son is now a senior is about to leave our nest and go-to college. He played football from the age of 5. He absolutely loved the game. Football is the only sport he ever wanted to play and he pored his heart and soul into it. He was a good high school football player. He set a couple of records at his school and was a part of a history making team. ( we beat Milan 23-14 and won the first playoff game in school history) Football is a thing of the past for him now. He will never strap it up and play the game he dearly loves again. I'm telling you this so that hopefully you will step back and remember reading this post and not take ANY of the time he plays for granted.

Playing in college is a pipe dream for almost all kids. Unless your kid is by a country mile the best player on his high school team or a physical freak of nature his chances of playing ( paid to play ) football at the next level is really close to zero. Your son can probably play at a small D3 school and pay dearly to enroll...

With the above being said I want to tell the OP that if your kid wants to play, let him! My son was a starter and one the " better " ( not bragging or being a jerk parent ) from the time he started playing. He had one broken bone and one very mild concussion. The concussion I honestly don't think it was one but the doctor had to say it was because of liability. 

We have been blessed to have great coaches along the way to teach my son the proper way to tackle and put my son in a position that he could have success. Coaches get bad rap. A long time friend of mine that is a coach told me this and I never forgot it. " When you win its because of the players. When you don't win its because of the coach. " If you trust that the coach that your son is going to be playing for will teach your kid to be safe and have his health and well being his number 1 priority you should let your son start playing football right now. Regardless of how old he is or his ability. 

Hope this helps. 

[BIGPURPLEMACHINE]

6 hours ago, ManOfMillions said:

I will only speak to my personal experience. My son is now a senior is about to leave our nest and go-to college. He played football from the age of 5. He absolutely loved the game. Football is the only sport he ever wanted to play and he pored his heart and soul into it. He was a good high school football player. He set a couple of records at his school and was a part of a history making team. ( we beat Milan 23-14 and won the first playoff game in school history) Football is a thing of the past for him now. He will never strap it up and play the game he dearly loves again. I'm telling you this so that hopefully you will step back and remember reading this post and not take ANY of the time he plays for granted.

Playing in college is a pipe dream for almost all kids. Unless your kid is by a country mile the best player on his high school team or a physical freak of nature his chances of playing ( paid to play ) football at the next level is really close to zero. Your son can probably play at a small D3 school and pay dearly to enroll...

With the above being said I want to tell the OP that if your kid wants to play, let him! My son was a starter and one the " better " ( not bragging or being a jerk parent ) from the time he started playing. He had one broken bone and one very mild concussion. The concussion I honestly don't think it was one but the doctor had to say it was because of liability. 

We have been blessed to have great coaches along the way to teach my son the proper way to tackle and put my son in a position that he could have success. Coaches get bad rap. A long time friend of mine that is a coach told me this and I never forgot it. " When you win its because of the players. When you don't win its because of the coach. " If you trust that the coach that your son is going to be playing for will teach your kid to be safe and have his health and well being his number 1 priority you should let your son start playing football right now. Regardless of how old he is or his ability. 

Hope this helps. 

Glad Milan was the highlight of his career. Might as well of let him be a bulldawg. He would have looked good in purple!!

[sheppy]

12 hours ago, ManOfMillions said:

I will only speak to my personal experience. My son is now a senior is about to leave our nest and go-to college. He played football from the age of 5. He absolutely loved the game. Football is the only sport he ever wanted to play and he pored his heart and soul into it. He was a good high school football player. He set a couple of records at his school and was a part of a history making team. ( we beat Milan 23-14 and won the first playoff game in school history) Football is a thing of the past for him now. He will never strap it up and play the game he dearly loves again. I'm telling you this so that hopefully you will step back and remember reading this post and not take ANY of the time he plays for granted.

Playing in college is a pipe dream for almost all kids. Unless your kid is by a country mile the best player on his high school team or a physical freak of nature his chances of playing ( paid to play ) football at the next level is really close to zero. Your son can probably play at a small D3 school and pay dearly to enroll...

With the above being said I want to tell the OP that if your kid wants to play, let him! My son was a starter and one the " better " ( not bragging or being a jerk parent ) from the time he started playing. He had one broken bone and one very mild concussion. The concussion I honestly don't think it was one but the doctor had to say it was because of liability. 

We have been blessed to have great coaches along the way to teach my son the proper way to tackle and put my son in a position that he could have success. Coaches get bad rap. A long time friend of mine that is a coach told me this and I never forgot it. " When you win its because of the players. When you don't win its because of the coach. " If you trust that the coach that your son is going to be playing for will teach your kid to be safe and have his health and well being his number 1 priority you should let your son start playing football right now. Regardless of how old he is or his ability. 

Hope this helps. 

Thanks for your comment.  Both of my sons didn't play until they were 10 years old.  The youngest played college football for 4 years.  Rationale behind the question's are this, I think 5 years old is way to young for tackle football.  I have talked to coaching friends at the youth, high school , college and NFL level recently about my thoughts.  The only one's that disagree with me are youth league parents/coaches.  Baseball starts at 5-6 yrs. old and they play T ball, then progress to coach pitch or machine pitch with the final step of player pitch about the age of 9.  WHY NOT DO THE SAME WITH FOOTBALL?  FLAG, SOME TYPE OF MODIFIED GAME, THEN TACKLE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL?  Just my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

 

[ManOfMillions]

9 hours ago, sheppy said:

Thanks for your comment.  Both of my sons didn't play until they were 10 years old.  The youngest played college football for 4 years.  Rationale behind the question's are this, I think 5 years old is way to young for tackle football.  I have talked to coaching friends at the youth, high school , college and NFL level recently about my thoughts.  The only one's that disagree with me are youth league parents/coaches.  Baseball starts at 5-6 yrs. old and they play T ball, then progress to coach pitch or machine pitch with the final step of player pitch about the age of 9.  WHY NOT DO THE SAME WITH FOOTBALL?  FLAG, SOME TYPE OF MODIFIED GAME, THEN TACKLE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL?  Just my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

 

sheppy,

 

Apparently I need to go back to school. I completely got your question wrong. Sorry. I missed the part about tackle football. My son started at flag football, then progressed to tackle. I dont know how we could modify the game between flag and tackle but I would vote for it. Kids being taught the correct way to tackle is number one way to avoid head injuries IMO. Also I think we should go-to way over sized helmets. They would probably look silly at first but I think that would go a long way into preventing head injuries. 

[ManOfMillions]

16 hours ago, BIGPURPLEMACHINE said:

Glad Milan was the highlight of his career. Might as well of let him be a bulldawg. He would have looked good in purple!!

BPM. He would have been wearing purple if the school system did not change the rules the summer I bought my house...... I have a Milan address. 

We did not really care because both school systems produced a good product and have high test scores so at the time we did not care which school he ended up at. He was only 8 years old when we moved to Milan/Medina. 

I did catch a little heat from my family because he was going to Medina but it all worked out in the end. 

[sheppy]

11 hours ago, ManOfMillions said:

sheppy,

 

Apparently I need to go back to school. I completely got your question wrong. Sorry. I missed the part about tackle football. My son started at flag football, then progressed to tackle. I dont know how we could modify the game between flag and tackle but I would vote for it. Kids being taught the correct way to tackle is number one way to avoid head injuries IMO. Also I think we should go-to way over sized helmets. They would probably look silly at first but I think that would go a long way into preventing head injuries. 

No problem.  The modified game I'm speaking of is a field 40 yds. long and 35 yds. wide, top of #'s to top of #'s.  6 on 6, 7 on 7, or 8 on 8.  No kicking, no blitzing, no cut blocking.  ALL PLAYERS IN A 2 POINT STANCE.  Go to:  usafootball.com/rookie tackle   New concept sponsored by the NFL.  I just attended the USA Convention in Orlando last weekend.  I'm sold on it, as are many former college and NFL players.  My idea:  5 - 8 yrs old -> FLAG (5 on 5), 9 - 10 -> MODIFIED 40 YD FIELD, (6 on 6 or 7 on 7), 11 - 12 -> MODIFIED (8 ON 8) 60 YD FIELD.        FULL TEAM 11 ON 11 REGULATION FIELD -> MIDDLE/JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 

What do you think?

[logcabinman]

On 2/3/2018 at 0:17 AM, ManOfMillions said:

I will only speak to my personal experience. My son is now a senior is about to leave our nest and go-to college. He played football from the age of 5. He absolutely loved the game. Football is the only sport he ever wanted to play and he pored his heart and soul into it. He was a good high school football player. He set a couple of records at his school and was a part of a history making team. ( we beat Milan 23-14 and won the first playoff game in school history) Football is a thing of the past for him now. He will never strap it up and play the game he dearly loves again. I'm telling you this so that hopefully you will step back and remember reading this post and not take ANY of the time he plays for granted.

Playing in college is a pipe dream for almost all kids. Unless your kid is by a country mile the best player on his high school team or a physical freak of nature his chances of playing ( paid to play ) football at the next level is really close to zero. Your son can probably play at a small D3 school and pay dearly to enroll...

With the above being said I want to tell the OP that if your kid wants to play, let him! My son was a starter and one the " better " ( not bragging or being a jerk parent ) from the time he started playing. He had one broken bone and one very mild concussion. The concussion I honestly don't think it was one but the doctor had to say it was because of liability. 

We have been blessed to have great coaches along the way to teach my son the proper way to tackle and put my son in a position that he could have success. Coaches get bad rap. A long time friend of mine that is a coach told me this and I never forgot it. " When you win its because of the players. When you don't win its because of the coach. " If you trust that the coach that your son is going to be playing for will teach your kid to be safe and have his health and well being his number 1 priority you should let your son start playing football right now. Regardless of how old he is or his ability. 

Hope this helps. 

Both my boys started playing tackle football at 5 years old.  My youngest is a junior, the oldest is on scholarship at a FCS school.  When they started it wasn't a big deal to me.  They enjoyed the game and I had trust in the coaches that were in charge of them.  I cannot really argue a pro or con for starting at this age, but I can give some advice.  Watch the coaches at the younger age closely.  You are correct many are parents of a child playing.  I went and watched one of my nephews practice about 4 years ago and was disappointed at what I saw.  The coach was yelling at the kids like they were getting paid to play.  They were teaching them how to block that looked something out of the old electric vibrating football game that I enjoyed as a young boy.  To this day my nephew has no desire to play the game, which is unfortunate, because he has a good looking football physic.  I was one of those Dads who tried to push my young men in a positive way, yet there were some rough patches on that road.  Frustration sets in, and mind you not from my boys, but the fact of some of the boys didn't see the field that much.  For the most part, and I will get to my point, my boys had a pretty good experience growing up playing the game.  Those who didn't quit and many never came back.  My point is, if you can ensure a positive experience, with coaches who understand the true fundamentals of the game, and can give them an opportunity to love the game, I say start whenever you think.  If not I think flag football is a descent alternative.  I have argued with my brother this same point.  The reason I am not totally for flag football is not all are going to have a pleasant experience.  Let's face it, God has made some of the boys linemen, some of us QB, and some receivers.  Flag football does not work well for those linemen lol.  That is the beauty of the game. No matter the shape or size, it offers something for all.  To close my point, I would do it just the same if I had to go back and do it again.  My oldest son nor my youngest have ever been injured in football, sore and bruised some sure, but never injured. My oldest actually was injured pretty bad in basketball in the 8th grade, a broken coccyx and a crack in the pelvis. 

[sheppy]

4 hours ago, logcabinman said:

Both my boys started playing tackle football at 5 years old.  My youngest is a junior, the oldest is on scholarship at a FCS school.  When they started it wasn't a big deal to me.  They enjoyed the game and I had trust in the coaches that were in charge of them.  I cannot really argue a pro or con for starting at this age, but I can give some advice.  Watch the coaches at the younger age closely.  You are correct many are parents of a child playing.  I went and watched one of my nephews practice about 4 years ago and was disappointed at what I saw.  The coach was yelling at the kids like they were getting paid to play.  They were teaching them how to block that looked something out of the old electric vibrating football game that I enjoyed as a young boy.  To this day my nephew has no desire to play the game, which is unfortunate, because he has a good looking football physic.  I was one of those Dads who tried to push my young men in a positive way, yet there were some rough patches on that road.  Frustration sets in, and mind you not from my boys, but the fact of some of the boys didn't see the field that much.  For the most part, and I will get to my point, my boys had a pretty good experience growing up playing the game.  Those who didn't quit and many never came back.  My point is, if you can ensure a positive experience, with coaches who understand the true fundamentals of the game, and can give them an opportunity to love the game, I say start whenever you think.  If not I think flag football is a descent alternative.  I have argued with my brother this same point.  The reason I am not totally for flag football is not all are going to have a pleasant experience.  Let's face it, God has made some of the boys linemen, some of us QB, and some receivers.  Flag football does not work well for those linemen lol.  That is the beauty of the game. No matter the shape or size, it offers something for all.  To close my point, I would do it just the same if I had to go back and do it again.  My oldest son nor my youngest have ever been injured in football, sore and bruised some sure, but never injured. My oldest actually was injured pretty bad in basketball in the 8th grade, a broken coccyx and a crack in the pelvis. 

Appreciate your statements and opinion.  The USA football way for flag is that everybody is eligible to catch a pass, even the center.  If you are a heavy kid over the "weight limit per age group", then you can't play anything but OL.  Wonder what position Jared Lorenzen played in youth league.  He weighed 275+ and played QB at UK and the NFL.