What age did you let your kids start playing football?
- Thread starter ssczar76
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Freshman year of high school is a great starting point. Flag football should be the way all athletes go up until high school.
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. Freshman year of high school is the WORST starting point, you start them when they are 6-8 years old, in a good feeder program. Let them learn the game, and learn proper tackling techniques, etc. Putting a 15 year old young man into full pads with no prior coaching on proper tackling techniques is how a kid gets seriously hurt. If you want them to play flag up until highschool maybe Football isnt the right sport for them.
Seventh grade, since he went to a junior high, but would likely allow 6th grade now given the middle school set-up. Never regretted the delay for a minute even though most of his friends started years earlier and it never hurt his play one bit. At that age, he was able to build a little weight-training foundation during the spring and summer months to set the pattern of some off-season strength work as a pre-requisite to play football. One bad concussion as a senior in HS and although I really never worried about catastrophic injury, when his playing days ended after a couple college seasons, I was deeply relieved it was over.
Well it worked out for me and my brother...... you can ask our father as well. Played soccer our whole lives up until high school.
My guess is you never lose any arguments because you’re always sure you’re right. In my opinion, there is no bigger waste of time and energy than watching 6, 7, and 8 year olds play tackle football. Many of those who start that young likely don’t make it to senior year of high school. That is 5 to 8 additional years of playing a violent sport when they are not cognitively ready to learn how to use their body to block and tackle.
Again this is my opinion and I am not going to grandstand and make it declaratively true. I am open minded enough to hear other points of view. I just personally feel 8th grade or frosh year is a fine starting point. Worked out fine for me at least and I am glad my parents guided me to other sports until that point.
Times have changed and so has the game. Football isn't like it used to be, athletes are changing, training is changing, so on and so forth. If you are starting a kid at 15 years old he is already at a disadvantage to kids who've been playing in a top feeder program being groomed for the next level. And again, not having years of practice with proper tackling technique is setting the kid up to get injured. And if you've noticed, 90% of the kids making an impact early on at their respected schools most likely were brought up in that schools feeder program.
I know my fair share about player development. But to each is their own. I'm sure there is a soccer forum out there that you can post on since it seems that you're more suited for that than contact football.
Cougs,
I’m okay with your comments, but give us some proof to your puddin. I am open to your opinion but give me some concrete examples of kids that have excelled at the highest level in the high school arena in Chicagoland or the greater IL field that started playing at the Frosh level. There are some outliers but for the bulk I’m not seeing it.
I’m okay with your comments, but give us some proof to your puddin. I am open to your opinion but give me some concrete examples of kids that have excelled at the highest level in the high school arena in Chicagoland or the greater IL field that started playing at the Frosh level. There are some outliers but for the bulk I’m not seeing it.
The question was when to let your kids start playing tackle football. Most don’t enter an activity as a 5 to 12 year old strictly to “excel at the highest level in the high school arena” and ostensibly get high major college offers.
Had the question been, “hey my kid is in 4th grade, 160 pounds, nimble feet, both parents are Amazons, When should he start playing tackle football to best position himself for long term success in the sport?” the answer very well may be 4th grade then.
But for the generic “when is a good time to start playing tackle football?” the answer is far later than most youth coaches would like.
I can see arguments for letting 10 year olds play. Really see law of diminishing returns when it gets younger than that. I am sure you can find some statistical backing that those that start by 10 have a greater chance of playing college football than those that start at 13. But I would be very surprised if starting at 7 had a positive correlation relative to starting at 10. In fact, I would predict playing at 7 leads to a higher likelihood the kid doesn’t play in high school than the kid who starts at 10 or 11.
My son is in second grade and this is plan we are using if he chooses to keep playing.
There are a few reasons why I am a believer in flag football up until high school. Some posters may agree, others may not...
1. There are SOME youth coaches that have no idea what they are doing. I always get a chuckle when I see kids in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade playing tackle football, where their helmet is bigger than their bodies! What good does a kid through the 1st-4th grade get out of tackle football? Their bodies are no where near developed and SOME coaches have kids at that age group just working on tackling! Not a fan of that at all. I’m not saying all youth coaches do that, but I have seen coaches just work on tackling the whole practice, where usually a kid cries after being tackled at that age group.
2. I believe flag football is beneficial for kids to learn the fundamentals and basics of football. I have a few buddies who have played tackled football their whole lives and now they are having problems with their bodies! I have always been a fan of kids playing soccer and developing their foot technique and speed.
The game is evolving. Kids are getting bigger, faster, and stronger. Now with 7on7’s, team workouts year round, and personal trainers, work on making yourself the fastest and strongest person on the football field.
For the most part, you don’t see kids manhandling people at the freshman level. Why do I say that? Because most kids have not been exposed to the weight room! I believe a great starting point for a kid to lift is in the 7th grade!
Let their bodies develop!!!
South Side always started at 5th grade until a few years ago they went to 4th grade because numbers were down but I think 5th grade is fine starting point. Flag until then.
Who knows? I'd say there are arguments for different starting points. Starting early may show a kid they don't like tackle football with very little chance of them getting hurt in the process.
Someone like Cougs who may have been around the game his whole life certainly would be familiar with the game enough to not have any surprises freshman year.
Personally I played flag at 7 & 8 before going to Pop Warner. If I had a son I'd probably not have a predetermined age and decide based on the kid.
Someone like Cougs who may have been around the game his whole life certainly would be familiar with the game enough to not have any surprises freshman year.
Personally I played flag at 7 & 8 before going to Pop Warner. If I had a son I'd probably not have a predetermined age and decide based on the kid.
alex reavey, wide receiver at shg, played golf until his senior year and decided to try football. he was an all state receiver and went to u of i on a full ride scholarship. btw, we went 14-0 and of course won the 5a state championship.
Smart answer Bones. My older son played when he was 7 my younger son played when he was 8. As Bones said at this age the kids basically learn fundamentals. I don’t recall any kid getting a major injury during their youth years.
I have two sons who play/played football. One is a to be senior and one plays major college football. Both played/play multiple sports. These are my thoughts.
Both started playing tackle football in the 2nd grade, loved it those first couple of years, and had great experiences. Also, no injuries during these first years.
One quit playing for a couple of years, and one almost quit playing, because of asshole youth coaches who made it more about them than the kids. Both started playing again by the eighth grade.
Both played/play for a super high school program that does things the right way that I can’t thank enough.
Both started playing tackle football in the 2nd grade, loved it those first couple of years, and had great experiences. Also, no injuries during these first years.
One quit playing for a couple of years, and one almost quit playing, because of asshole youth coaches who made it more about them than the kids. Both started playing again by the eighth grade.
Both played/play for a super high school program that does things the right way that I can’t thank enough.
More than half of my teammates including me did not play until high school. We were pretty competitive.
My start was in 5th grade. I played through HS and at the D3 level. Because of older family members playing ahead of me, I have followed the sport from a somewhat informed vantage point for nearly 50 years.
IMO, whenever a family chooses is fine. Will having experience of hitting and getting hit have a player at the Freshmen level a few steps ahead of those who did not? Yes, but by Sophomore year that as an advantage usually levels off.
I know many who played no pee wee tackle football who excelled at the HS level. Some of whom went on to earn scholarships and played (some even captioned) at various levels in college. Others determined that HS was enough and got on with their lives.
IMO, whenever a family chooses is fine. Will having experience of hitting and getting hit have a player at the Freshmen level a few steps ahead of those who did not? Yes, but by Sophomore year that as an advantage usually levels off.
I know many who played no pee wee tackle football who excelled at the HS level. Some of whom went on to earn scholarships and played (some even captioned) at various levels in college. Others determined that HS was enough and got on with their lives.
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I have a guy living behind me that’s trying to teach his 6 year old kid how to play football. He’s got him running drills in the front yard, laps in the dark and I even saw him with a parachute strapped to his waste for resistance training. At first I thought it was cute until I heard the yelling. Part of me wants to call DCFS.
A
Maybe he knows 2018 7A All-State Defensive End, Keith Randolph, who was a hoops player recruited to football his junior year. He is now a freshman with the Illini.
Depends on the kid and the program that he joins.
I have seen some youth programs who are completely clueless when it comes to teaching fundamentals. Also some programs who are great at it.
My opinion would be flag until 5th-6th grade and tackle after that, but like I previously stated depends on the program.
I have seen some youth programs who are completely clueless when it comes to teaching fundamentals. Also some programs who are great at it.
My opinion would be flag until 5th-6th grade and tackle after that, but like I previously stated depends on the program.
Both my boys started at 6 and played through Senior year to date. No better way to do it in my opinion.
I was going to directly reply to one of the hardcore pro-youth tackle football guys, but then thought that might just start an argument. And, one of those guys said “maybe times have changed” and my time for entering high school was the fall of 1977.
My St Pats flag football team won the championship 6th, 7th and 8th grade years. We were very athletic.
16 of my teammates tried out at JCA/JCHS. 18 if you count 2 of our better players that went to other high schools: one good linemen went to Joliet Central, one very good skilled player went on to be a multi-sport star at Minooka HS.
We showed up at tryouts and there were 118 boys with various backgrounds competing for 58 spots on the JC Frosh team. Several of the 16 from St Pats did not make the cut down to 58, but of those who did make the cut, it looked like this:
1 Starting QB
1 Starting running back
2 Starting Off Linemen
2 Starting Def Linemen
1 Starting Linebacker
1 Starting defensive back
8 Starter out of 22 the Freshmen football team at JC and none of them had any previous tackle football experience.
Of our original 118 boys that tried out, probably about 40-50 of them had played Pee-Wee football. And probably only half of them even made the cut down 58.
Maybe times have changes considerably but back around 1977 previous youth tackle football experience meant very little.
My St Pats flag football team won the championship 6th, 7th and 8th grade years. We were very athletic.
16 of my teammates tried out at JCA/JCHS. 18 if you count 2 of our better players that went to other high schools: one good linemen went to Joliet Central, one very good skilled player went on to be a multi-sport star at Minooka HS.
We showed up at tryouts and there were 118 boys with various backgrounds competing for 58 spots on the JC Frosh team. Several of the 16 from St Pats did not make the cut down to 58, but of those who did make the cut, it looked like this:
1 Starting QB
1 Starting running back
2 Starting Off Linemen
2 Starting Def Linemen
1 Starting Linebacker
1 Starting defensive back
8 Starter out of 22 the Freshmen football team at JC and none of them had any previous tackle football experience.
Of our original 118 boys that tried out, probably about 40-50 of them had played Pee-Wee football. And probably only half of them even made the cut down 58.
Maybe times have changes considerably but back around 1977 previous youth tackle football experience meant very little.
And it’s worth noting the number of people who are “never let my kid play football” is a lot higher now than 20 or 30 years ago. And those were previously the kids who probably started in grades 6 to 9. So now there is likely a higher percentage of kids who start earlier because there are fewer kids jumping on the bandwagon between ages 10 and 14.
So yes times are changing. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a great choice to start somewhere between 10 and 14.
I am glad to see that even on a board full of football lifers, it seems as if the majority believe somewhere in the 5th to 9th grade window is appropriate.
Nothing wrong if you choose to start earlier I suppose. I just can’t rationalize much of a tangible benefit.
I coached for ten years in the youth program at Warren. During that time I learned a lot but I was amazed as I am today about how little actual teaching happens at the younger levels. What’s sad is a typical practice consists of warmups and running plays.
The whole “daddy football” thing is way to alive and well and it’s pretty sad.
Taking tackling out at the youth level is not a bad thing at all. Especially when you have parent/coaches that aren’t teaching it the right. I’d rather have it out of the game then having over zealous meatball dads teaching it incorrectly.
The whole “daddy football” thing is way to alive and well and it’s pretty sad.
Taking tackling out at the youth level is not a bad thing at all. Especially when you have parent/coaches that aren’t teaching it the right. I’d rather have it out of the game then having over zealous meatball dads teaching it incorrectly.
Kevin....did a quick a look at JCA's freshmen roster from last year. They list grade school and youth football team (if applicable). Of the 44 kids on last year's frosh team, 28 played youth football. 16 did not. Just an FYI for some current perspective.
Freshman yr. for both my boys. Oldest played 1 yr in 4th grade but stopped because coaches were clueless. Youngest is fortunate to be playing at a school in the ACC and the oldest now graduated was a student assistant at another ACC school.
As I said last night to all you guys, I’m open to others opinions and reference frames. Yes, there are success stories of kids who started as Frosh or later at the high school and levels beyond, but they are the outliers. My oldest started playing as a 5th grader my youngest started playing as a 6 year old because he wanted to be like big brothers from the time he was 3. I do think the sweet spot is somewhere between 6-11, but it really is dependent on the youth program they go to as others have pointed out.
I would not tolerate daddy ball and never participated in coaching my own kids. I would recommend that you look for a program that has USA Football certified coaches that teach “ heads up tackling “ and are thoroughly background checked for criminal and predator status. I would also recommend an organization that has an academic portion of their playing requirements and rewards for outstanding student athletes.
I would not tolerate daddy ball and never participated in coaching my own kids. I would recommend that you look for a program that has USA Football certified coaches that teach “ heads up tackling “ and are thoroughly background checked for criminal and predator status. I would also recommend an organization that has an academic portion of their playing requirements and rewards for outstanding student athletes.
My 2 cents. It all depends on whether or not you trust the coaches. If the coaches are good and actually teach, then start whenever you want. If you have some boneheaded coaches, which I see in every program, then I would second guess. My 3rd grader is starting tackle this year and I only approved because I trust the head coach. I’m helping out as well. Even in the program we’re with I saw a few levels where I would question my son playing for them.
And a big Zero from St Pats, the school has been shutdown for a couple years now.
I may have sounded like I was against youth tackle football, but I am not. I am just not convinced of any big advantage to tackle verses flag.
I would have loved to play youth tackle football, but I was already 5'10" 200 lbs in the 6th grade. They wouldn't let me play.
I started tackle at 9. Was never taught proper technique. At the time, the coaches were just volunteers (parents mostly, my father was one of them). It was a hodgepodge of Oklahoma drill, and one where everyone gets in a big circle and the coaches pick two guys to *tackle* (or just run into each other) finishing up with offense vs defense. Plus, four years of high school and two years of college. Suffered multiple concussions and shoulder/back injuries, which still nag me today.
If I had boys, I'd never allow them to play. But I'm very jaded.
If I had boys, I'd never allow them to play. But I'm very jaded.
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