Time to eliminate youth tackle football

[tailgater371]

3rd grade? Sounds like your town needs to develop a better youth program.

For one I am 40 so they probably do now. I was referencing how I grew up and what I was used to.

 

[EddyP]

Before I signed him up, they had a free camp day that I went to with him. I helped coach the o-line. We worked totally on technique. We had high school kids from the two schools around the corner that helped. One of those schools is De LaSalle which is arguably the best high school football program in the country.


I push my kids to do an activity, my son chose football since most of his buddies do it too. This will be his first football season. He is pumped.

My son played last year at 9. He loved it. And yes all of his friends were in it also. There is some hitting in practice but not as much as some think. He was a lock down corner.

 

[DuffMan]

My son played last year at 9. He loved it. And yes all of his friends were in it also. There is some hitting in practice but not as much as some think. He was a lock down corner.

Are you concerned about how much he enjoyed man to man press coverage?

 

[EddyP]

Are you concerned about how much he enjoyed man to man press coverage?

God I hope you have girls. Btw, do tell is Mrs Duff preggers yet or do I need to step in?

 

[LoewDog]

I had a group of 12-15 kids play flag in 3rd and 4th. Told parents that I really did care if we won a game because the focus was going to be to learn the fundamentals and be ready to play tackle football later on.

Same kids moved on to tackle in 5th, 6th and 7th and were strong fundamentally. We had some injuries, but nothing I considered to be out of the ordinary. Every practice started with proper stretching, form tackling and form blocking.

I did coach HS for 8 years before starting in with my son, so I had a pretty good grasp on the fundamentals. I can say that not every adult we came into contact with coached in this same way. Some were people I would absolutely not want my kid around.

I think it all depends on what is being done with these kids...a blanket statement is not fair. There are dads out there doing it the right way.

Sidenote...my brother-in-law said no football but let his kid get into BMX and skateboarding...concussions, broken limbs, ect.

 

[CP87]

It is unreal how specialized sports has become. Kids play one sport all year now, as they must to have a chance to make the big time, and of course every kid's parent thinks there kid is going to hit the big time. Gone are the days of your best athlete being a 4 sport star, anymore you are lucky if they go out for 2 sports.

My son is in 7th grade and he already has friends that are giving up football to concentrate on baseball, or giving up baseball to focus on golf. There are USSSA baseball teams that have been having indoor practice since November.

Not exactly true that kids must play one sport year-round to make the big time (although not too far off).

The former Soviet Union did tons of research on athletic development, stuff far beyond what we could ever do in this country for various reasons. Their athletes were usually picked for certain sports programs very early based upon genetics and displayed aptitude, but most of their early conditioning was composed of a broad exposure to many different sports and activities, and lots of general physical preparation. Along with that, they were taught the basic fundamentals of their chosen sport, but very little competition was introduced.

Competition was gradually increased as they got older, as was focus on their specific sport. Their research seems to indicate that to achieve the highest level of performance in a sport, complete specialization (forsaking competition in all other sports) should occur around 9th grade, or 10th grade at the very latest.

But even once their athletes reached the point of complete specialization, they would never compete in their sport year-round like occurs in many youth sports in this country. Instead, they would have a specific competitive season, and then a very long non-competitive season when they would focus on general physical preparation. This would involve participation in other sports (for instance weightlifters would commonly play volleyball or basketball), just not competition in other sports.

Does the Soviet system work? They competed neck-and-neck with us in the Olympics during the 70's and 80's despite having a fraction of our genetic diversity.

The youth sports system in this country is a mess. It has evolved into a system concerned with the minimization of the effort necessary for college coaches to find the best athletes, not a system that maximizes the potential of our athletes. Sorry for the rant, had to get that off my chest.

 

[hawktransplant]

Not exactly true that kids must play one sport year-round to make the big time (although not too far off).

The former Soviet Union did tons of research on athletic development, stuff far beyond what we could ever do in this country for various reasons. Their athletes were usually picked for certain sports programs very early based upon genetics and displayed aptitude, but most of their early conditioning was composed of a broad exposure to many different sports and activities, and lots of general physical preparation. Along with that, they were taught the basic fundamentals of their chosen sport, but very little competition was introduced.

Competition was gradually increased as they got older, as was focus on their specific sport. Their research seems to indicate that to achieve the highest level of performance in a sport, complete specialization (forsaking competition in all other sports) should occur around 9th grade, or 10th grade at the very latest.

But even once their athletes reached the point of complete specialization, they would never compete in their sport year-round like occurs in many youth sports in this country. Instead, they would have a specific competitive season, and then a very long non-competitive season when they would focus on general physical preparation. This would involve participation in other sports (for instance weightlifters would commonly play volleyball or basketball), just not competition in other sports.

Does the Soviet system work? They competed neck-and-neck with us in the Olympics during the 70's and 80's despite having a fraction of our genetic diversity.

The youth sports system in this country is a mess. It has evolved into a system concerned with the minimization of the effort necessary for college coaches to find the best athletes, not a system that maximizes the potential of our athletes. Sorry for the rant, had to get that off my chest.

They had better steroids.

 

[FireSafety]

Well that's why girls don't play the game. If your scared take your kid and your purse somewhere else.

Girls are more susceptible to concussions? There's a difference between being able to tough out a bruise or a sprain, and being able to "tough out" a concussion. One does not "tough out" brain trauma.

For the record, I'm against the NFL's stance on protecting QB's and WR's, particularly WR's, because it endangers defensive players and these are professionals with fulling developed skulls and bodies who understand the risks and are compensated for them. I think this is a completely separate issue.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Just not true. Some kids grow at different rates. You can learn all the techinical aspects of football without puting a helmet on.

I know of many "studs" in junior high that barely played in high school.

There are countless examples of DI football players playing one or two years in high school then getting a full ride.

My twins played youth tackle football in 5th & 6th grade. They loved it & had a great time. In middle school they were on the team but hardly saw any playing time.

Going into high school they were not going to play football because they didn't play in middle school. A few days before they had to make a decision, I sat down with them to discuss their decision. One thing I brought up was that many of the stars on their middle school team would never see the light of day in high school. For some reason, they believed me. It is about the only thing I ever told them that they believed.

Well, Kenny started at safety on the freshman team & John alternated at quarterback. Two years later they were starting on the varsity. A team that was ranked as high as #3 in Ohio large schools. Very few of their middle school teammates were on the team.

Of course, John was now an offensive lineman. As a freshman John was 5-7, 150 lbs. Two years later, he was 6-2, 220 lbs.

The point being is that success in youth football & middle school does not equate to success in high school. Also, the kid standing on the sidelines in middle school may end up being the bully on the football field.

John still wishes that many of the kids that picked on him in middle school had continued to play football.