What age did you let your kids start playing football?
- Thread starter ssczar76
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First question: Does the kid want to play, or is Dad pushing him? If the kid really wants to play, let him play. If all his baseball buddies are playing football, he probably wants to as well...if they are playing soccer, he probably wants to play soccer.
Second: Find a program that has a system. Usually not hard to do in a small town with a stable football program - like, say, Wilmington. Two high school coaches since 1965. Current head coach since 1994, so a lot of the youth coaches played at the high school in the system. You have big brothers who haven't started practice yet at the high school milling around at practice pulling youngsters aside showing them technique, helping the coaches with one-on-one instruction.
If you are in a program that lacks a system, I think its a problem. If one level runs the double wing and another runs the spread, I would exit stage right as fast as possible. If the high school keeps changing coaches and systems, your youth league likely is a bit of a mess. Find a league with a system.
Third, injuries are going to happen. Kids can be hurt playing football, baseball, soccer, or cross country. I've seen more violent hits on playgrounds playing kids games than I've seen on the football field with second graders...
Fourth, playing youth football is no guarantee of future success. The Wilmington 2014 State Champs had two sophs starting: Owen Weaver, the 2016 all-stater, who had been the stud RB/LB since he was little and a middle school all-state wrestler. The other: the RG, a 230 pounder as a soph, who didn't play football at all until being a freshman. He started on the 7th grade hoops team as a 6th grader and is playing baseball in college. A lot of smaller towns have numbers problems with varsity level youth football because many parents make kids choose between school baseball or football in 7th & 8th grades...its hard to play a school baseball doubleheader on Saturday and then go play a football game...
I have a friend, a single mother, who posts on facebook every night after practice. Her son is playing football for the first time after a couple years of soccer (2nd grade I think). But her son is apparently just eating it up. Wants her at practice every night, excited before and after practice, starting to take a leadership role on the field. He wears 90 because Mom's favorite player is Julius Peppers...She just posted that he is talking the barber's ear off about football...This is a success...
Another single mother friend posts about how well her older (3rd grader?) is doing in his third year, while her second (1st grader?) is crying every day after practice - not because of football, but because he is tired...The younger is probably not yet mature enough for football, but wants to be like his big brother...
If your child is mature enough to handle the workout, and wants to play, let him play...
Second: Find a program that has a system. Usually not hard to do in a small town with a stable football program - like, say, Wilmington. Two high school coaches since 1965. Current head coach since 1994, so a lot of the youth coaches played at the high school in the system. You have big brothers who haven't started practice yet at the high school milling around at practice pulling youngsters aside showing them technique, helping the coaches with one-on-one instruction.
If you are in a program that lacks a system, I think its a problem. If one level runs the double wing and another runs the spread, I would exit stage right as fast as possible. If the high school keeps changing coaches and systems, your youth league likely is a bit of a mess. Find a league with a system.
Third, injuries are going to happen. Kids can be hurt playing football, baseball, soccer, or cross country. I've seen more violent hits on playgrounds playing kids games than I've seen on the football field with second graders...
Fourth, playing youth football is no guarantee of future success. The Wilmington 2014 State Champs had two sophs starting: Owen Weaver, the 2016 all-stater, who had been the stud RB/LB since he was little and a middle school all-state wrestler. The other: the RG, a 230 pounder as a soph, who didn't play football at all until being a freshman. He started on the 7th grade hoops team as a 6th grader and is playing baseball in college. A lot of smaller towns have numbers problems with varsity level youth football because many parents make kids choose between school baseball or football in 7th & 8th grades...its hard to play a school baseball doubleheader on Saturday and then go play a football game...
I have a friend, a single mother, who posts on facebook every night after practice. Her son is playing football for the first time after a couple years of soccer (2nd grade I think). But her son is apparently just eating it up. Wants her at practice every night, excited before and after practice, starting to take a leadership role on the field. He wears 90 because Mom's favorite player is Julius Peppers...She just posted that he is talking the barber's ear off about football...This is a success...
Another single mother friend posts about how well her older (3rd grader?) is doing in his third year, while her second (1st grader?) is crying every day after practice - not because of football, but because he is tired...The younger is probably not yet mature enough for football, but wants to be like his big brother...
If your child is mature enough to handle the workout, and wants to play, let him play...
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.
You could have played in the old Southwest Catholic Conference on the South side. There was no weight limit to play. You just had to be on the line if you were over 100 in 5th-6th and 140 in 7th-8th.
I will admit, very good points made by everyone on this thread. It all has to do with the child's physical development. Granted, in a lot of the top youth programs in the state, many of the coaches do not even have kids in the program. They volunteer their time because they love the game, and want to develop the youth in their town and get them ready for high school. Granted, I came in hot at the start of this thread, but I do see some valid points. I just see year after year that the top recruits coming out of Illinois played in a top feeder program. (Patriots, Harvey Colts, Windy City, Hoffman) etc. That is why I feel youth ball is more beneficial than most people think it is.
While I would prefer a kid who played before high school, it is not a huge issue by the time they are upperclassmen. That being said, a division one athlete's youth program has no bearing on what college they will get offered by.
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anon_4vszfu35bv677
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I think you should look at this from another viewpoint. How many kids on a State Championship team played youth football?
My guess would most of the starters.
LWE 2005 State Championship team most if not all were starters and played youth football together for the Frankfort Square Wildcats or the Mokena Burrows. My son played with them all before HS and they most of those kids went to East and either started on Offense or Defense. In my opinion this was a huge advantage over kids who never played. Sure you might find a diamond in the rough but that was an exception. That said a good athlete will always rise to the top eventually. The biggest difference was teaching the kids fundamentals, tackling, hitting, understanding their assignments etc. I agree with another poster if you have good youth coaches it’s a big advantage. We had some great coaches back then with the wildcats.
There was a lineman at Montini who played his first football game in high school and became the Captain of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team under Head Coach Urban Meyer.
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I agree with your last point about many top recruits coming from “top” feeder programs. However, I think that is due more to selection bias than development in the program. And I am not knocking the development in the program as I know many do a nice job.
It is simply that if you are already one of the most physically advanced kids or hit puberty first or have parents wanting to sign you up to play for some team that will play in some Disney tournament because they foresee their child destined for greatness, then those kids are already more likely to achieve that goal than a kid who won’t hit puberty until 17 or who is focused exclusively on basketball or baseball.
Again, that is not to say development doesn’t happen in top programs. It obviously does. However, the statistic saying those that play there are overwhelmingly the top high school players in the state is largely a product of those programs selecting the most promising prospects at 10 or 12 years of age. So it stands to reason that if even some of them reach their potential, they should yield a large number of top recruits.
But I totally agree it is up to the parents and depends largely on the kid for what is appropriate.
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Valid points made by all. I greatly appreciate your feedback. Proper technique and coaching ability are my main concern at this point. Fortunately, the program allows newcomers to try a few practices before registering and forking over the money. Thanks again everyone!
Though there may be people who disagree, I for one, am happy kids are still playing. The sport has taken a beating over the last several years. To me it's a case by case decision. There is no one size fits all answer. I started playing early, 3rd grade, because of my older brothers and my Dad was the coach. I love football to this day. I've coached HS and now will be coaching my son in his first year in grade school. To me, it is the greatest sport on earth for a variety of reasons.
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anon_4vszfu35bv677
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The Juniors on that team came mostly from the Burros (my youngest was one of them) from the time they were 10 years old, they won every game until their senior year when they lost 14-12 to MC.
On the other hand my oldest never played youth football (too big) and was a starter on the first LWE team that made the playoffs in their first year of varsity football.
By the way youth football is a lot safer then it’s ever been.
i think middle school is early enough to start playing tackle football.
so much that happens in youth sports is directly impacted by puberty, so what you see out of kids in 7th grade is often completely different by 10th grade. we all know of many athletes who dominated in 6th-8th grade who are nowhere to be seen by 11th grade.
i'll take the late-bloomers 9 times out of 10 over the "peaked early" kids.
so much that happens in youth sports is directly impacted by puberty, so what you see out of kids in 7th grade is often completely different by 10th grade. we all know of many athletes who dominated in 6th-8th grade who are nowhere to be seen by 11th grade.
i'll take the late-bloomers 9 times out of 10 over the "peaked early" kids.
Both my sons started tackle football in the Tri City Chargers program when they were in 3rd grade and stayed in that program through 8th grade. Beyond a single broken finger for 1 son and a pulled hammy for the other, they never encountered any serious injuries while in youth football.
While not true for everyone that plays youth tackle football, I feel like the experience they got from playing that early was a major factor in securing a starting position during all 4 years of high school. You can simply tell the difference between an experienced and inexperienced player at the HS level from get go.
There is no magic answer on when they should start playing tackle. It really is a personal decision for each family to make.
While not true for everyone that plays youth tackle football, I feel like the experience they got from playing that early was a major factor in securing a starting position during all 4 years of high school. You can simply tell the difference between an experienced and inexperienced player at the HS level from get go.
There is no magic answer on when they should start playing tackle. It really is a personal decision for each family to make.
I asked my 5 year old if he wanted to play football this year (flag). And he told me he didn't think he wanted to just yet. I won't push the issue.
I know of several big time players that didn’t start playing until high school and it is definitely possible but it also depends on the players overall athletic ability and also what position he wants to play. There is a linemen from Curie this year who never played Football until his junior year and he got a ride to Vandy. BUT he was 6’3 280.....he has size. You can’t coach someone to be that big but you can coach someone that big to be good in a short period of time if they are willing to put the work in. Plus he had played hoops previously so he was an athletic kid. There are certain skill positions that I think you need to start as a youth if you want to be successful playing that position in high school. QB is obviously one of those positions.
We won a state title with a four-year football player under center ... but he was also the point guard and was a starting pitcher in D1 college baseball ... everything he did was smooth. (As such, a grade school coach would tell him: "Don't Cadillac it - be a Ferrari!")
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I agree that there is not set age for starting tackle football, so the best answer is when your kid wants to & is ready. I agree some skilled positions may benefit from playing 2-3 years before high school, but could get a similar benefit from flag.
I did think of one thing about my 4 years of grade school flag football that has not been mentioned here.
Flag football back in 1974-1977 was very physical. I would almost rate it more like tackle football with no pads (maybe this has changed).
- Line play was full throttle, but you had to learn how best to do it without pads.
- Tackles were pretty much normal hard tackles (as long as you came up with a flag).
- knocking a runner out of bounds was just plain vicious (as long as the guy landed out of bounds).
- hell, I thought things got easier for football my freshmen year because all of a sudden you had all this protection to not get hurt.
I did think of one thing about my 4 years of grade school flag football that has not been mentioned here.
Flag football back in 1974-1977 was very physical. I would almost rate it more like tackle football with no pads (maybe this has changed).
- Line play was full throttle, but you had to learn how best to do it without pads.
- Tackles were pretty much normal hard tackles (as long as you came up with a flag).
- knocking a runner out of bounds was just plain vicious (as long as the guy landed out of bounds).
- hell, I thought things got easier for football my freshmen year because all of a sudden you had all this protection to not get hurt.
I wonder if this is still allowed in today's flag football. Back in the day, I always found this rule to be a bit curious. While running with the ball, you couldn't stiff arm the defender, so you couldn't protect yourself when running on the sidelines. Yet, the defender could blast the runner out of bounds.
Definitely. Flag football in the Joliet area Catholic grade school league was very physical back then and before. Yes, you could hit a guy with the ball out of bounds and you could get blocked below the knees too. We had a guy who was knocked out of bounds and hit his head on a bike that was parked near the field. It took 12 stitches to stop that leak. My son played in that league too. But by then all that stuff was no longer allowed.
My sons both asked me to play tackle football at young ages. The older one started in flag in 5th and 6th grades.
I am sure you guys all know who Tom Thayer is. Several years ago I played Joliet area softball with his brother, Rick and got to know him fairly well. Years after we played I saw him at one of the flag football games my son was playing in when he was in 6th grade. We got to talking about youth tackle football. So, I asked him what he thought regarding when the time is best for a kid to start. In his opinion he felt like 7th grade was a good place to start for most kids. He thought a kid should play flag football first.
I don't think there is a magic answer for every kid out there. My older son started in 7th grade. But his younger brother started the same year and he was in 4th grade.
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Flag football was played with helmets for sure and maybe light pads. They ended the sport in the later 1970s at my grade school but I remember the coach of those teams telling us that it was basically full contact tackling and the just grabbed the flag as you got the guy to the ground.
My favorite flag football memory is of an opposing coach having to be removed from the field by CPD after we beat his team. This was late 80s so a parent had to walk to a house across from the park and call 911.
That is pretty sound advice.
Rick Thayer has been developing players as a Freshmen level coach at Joliet Catholic for 20 years.
Great guy isn't he? Comes from a great family too. Funny how it works that way. We'll have to get together at thirty-buck sometime. I have lots of very good Joliet Catholic friends. Great guys, all of them. But it's been quite a while since I've been in there.
I have twins. My son started in 5th grade (tackle ol/dl ). My daughter in 7th grade as mainly k/p. In 8th she played te/cb because she earned a spot and wanted to play.
He also played rugby starting in 6th grade. Really helped with tackling techniques
They are now soph’s, both still playing and loving it.
He also played rugby starting in 6th grade. Really helped with tackling techniques
They are now soph’s, both still playing and loving it.
It is false. Kids are just ready at different times.
So you are saying that if a kid hasn't played football by the time he is 15 he won't be an elite player? I can give you dozens of kids who will tell you that is not true.
I coached youth football for 40 years. and if if it was up to me, I wouldn't let them start playing tackle football until they are 12.
When I first moved to the suburbs, I couldn't believe that there are kids playing tackle football at 5 and 6. Why? they going to miss something? They look like damn Weebles running around out there. Really a huge waste of time for everyone.
Want then to enjoy the game? Let them play flag football. Much better. Less contact. Kids get to do lots of things and play different positions. That big kid, who is stuck on the line, might be your best QB in flag football.
12-year old kids are ready to play. You can get their attention and they are like sponges for the game.The equipment fits them better at that age too (And believe me, I have fitted thousands of kids)
Then, get them into a good program. One that has coaches that are certified. One that values fun, playing time and fundamentals over winning. Not to discount winning, because I like to win as much as the next guy, maybe even more. But the other parts are way more important.
Make sure they are in a good league. NOT Pop Warner. In my opinion, it is the worst football out there. The age and weight chart is way out of whack. All the players are older lighters, getting pushed down a weight class. All that matters is going to Florida. Look for a league that is run like TCYFL.
The game is safer than it has ever been and it should stay that way.
When I first moved to the suburbs, I couldn't believe that there are kids playing tackle football at 5 and 6. Why? they going to miss something? They look like damn Weebles running around out there. Really a huge waste of time for everyone.
Want then to enjoy the game? Let them play flag football. Much better. Less contact. Kids get to do lots of things and play different positions. That big kid, who is stuck on the line, might be your best QB in flag football.
12-year old kids are ready to play. You can get their attention and they are like sponges for the game.The equipment fits them better at that age too (And believe me, I have fitted thousands of kids)
Then, get them into a good program. One that has coaches that are certified. One that values fun, playing time and fundamentals over winning. Not to discount winning, because I like to win as much as the next guy, maybe even more. But the other parts are way more important.
Make sure they are in a good league. NOT Pop Warner. In my opinion, it is the worst football out there. The age and weight chart is way out of whack. All the players are older lighters, getting pushed down a weight class. All that matters is going to Florida. Look for a league that is run like TCYFL.
The game is safer than it has ever been and it should stay that way.
I went to a pop warner championship game to watch and the whole roster from Missouri was all older lighters!Lol all 18
Had dinner with Mongo McMichael tonight - we rented him for an association event.
Regarding the age to play football, 13, 14 or 15 - you don’t want to crush little bones. Let them develop and then start hitting.”
This was in the heels of of him talking about how he still has all of his mental faculties - despite the obvious crazy shit I’ve always done - just I still think the same. And you know why - yeah I hit my head - but I was the hammer, not the nail.”
Had some great Hampton stories ... and one about “how smart” Singletary was. “So you’ve all heard about Mike calling out plays ... well, this is the NFL - QBs audible. More than once I leaned back and told him to STFU and let them run the play we all know is coming.”
Preceding that, he said being underestimated was a tremendous advantage. “I went to The University of Texas to be a dentist - I have a 130 IQ. So I never minded playing dumb Mongo ... they never knew how much of this game I understood and how much film I watched.”
Many more ... but I don’t want to ruin his whole act. Nice conversationalist at the dinner table and ... one last thing, he’s most proud that he’s raised more money for charity than he ever made playing ball.
He’s a good fella.
Regarding the age to play football, 13, 14 or 15 - you don’t want to crush little bones. Let them develop and then start hitting.”
This was in the heels of of him talking about how he still has all of his mental faculties - despite the obvious crazy shit I’ve always done - just I still think the same. And you know why - yeah I hit my head - but I was the hammer, not the nail.”
Had some great Hampton stories ... and one about “how smart” Singletary was. “So you’ve all heard about Mike calling out plays ... well, this is the NFL - QBs audible. More than once I leaned back and told him to STFU and let them run the play we all know is coming.”
Preceding that, he said being underestimated was a tremendous advantage. “I went to The University of Texas to be a dentist - I have a 130 IQ. So I never minded playing dumb Mongo ... they never knew how much of this game I understood and how much film I watched.”
Many more ... but I don’t want to ruin his whole act. Nice conversationalist at the dinner table and ... one last thing, he’s most proud that he’s raised more money for charity than he ever made playing ball.
He’s a good fella.
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