Is youth football big in Minnesota? (Minneapolis, Virginia: high school, college, living in)

[Marcus Nolen]

If you are near the city the best youth program is at phelps park thay won city,state,an national all in the same year phelpsfolcons.org or you tube phelps folcons

[MN_National_Champ]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Ha, Youth Football is awful in the Twin Cities, especially in Minnesota. Most communities in the Twin Cities Metro area don't even have Little League teams. Pop Warner is great because it gets young football players into the right mindset of football with contact and getting the right kids into the right positions. I remember youth football in 6th grade, they would have the weirdest kids at the weirdest positions, and it was flag football. I mean tall lanky kids playing running back, and short fat kids playing wide receiver. It's a joke.

My friend I do aggree that the way things here in Minesota are set up in a way where the young player doesn't get the "real deal" when it comes down to football. What I would challenge you on is the "awful" comment. I am the head coach for the Phelps Park falcons, the smallest city park in Minneapolis and we took our 8th grade team to Florida after winning the state AAU championship qualifiying tournament. Not only did we go, we went down there and destroyed the best of the best. It was aired on Channel 5 news the whole story. Channel 5 even had reporters at are park waiting for us to arrive off of the tour bus we took down there. Teams from Florida, DC, Virginia, New Orleans, texas, Detroit, maryland were all involved and went home early. So Mn football isn't a joke infact it is far from it. It is progressing and getting better. We haven't lost in 2 years and have played anybody and everybody who will line up. If you know of a team let me know.

[CoachGrd5Waseca]

Southern MN Youth Football is live and well. My 10 year old is having a blast playing along with his 31other teammates. To allow a lot of play time, we split the group into 2 teams and play in the league that way.

Our league, coaches, referees and volunteers need to ALWAYS remember, it's about the kids. Not the coaches, or winning at all costs. Good sportsmanship among all players, coaches and parents is a must at this age. If we don't learn it at this age, how can we hope to have civil well played clean games in high school. We have had some issues with this recently and I hope they are resolved soon.

Find a league, become a coach, participate and enjoy the game with your 10 year old. I wish I had more time when my older sons were at that age. It is good character building experience that lasts a lifetime.

Coach Waseca, MN

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by MN_National_Champ

My friend I do aggree that the way things here in Minesota are set up in a way where the young player doesn't get the "real deal" when it comes down to football. What I would challenge you on is the "awful" comment. I am the head coach for the Phelps Park falcons, the smallest city park in Minneapolis and we took our 8th grade team to Florida after winning the state AAU championship qualifiying tournament. Not only did we go, we went down there and destroyed the best of the best. It was aired on Channel 5 news the whole story. Channel 5 even had reporters at are park waiting for us to arrive off of the tour bus we took down there. Teams from Florida, DC, Virginia, New Orleans, texas, Detroit, maryland were all involved and went home early. So Mn football isn't a joke infact it is far from it. It is progressing and getting better. We haven't lost in 2 years and have played anybody and everybody who will line up. If you know of a team let me know.

Agreed. I know Powderhorn Park has football too. Some people aren't aware of youth football, but it is there. Football just goes quietly along whole hockey people love to exaggerate the importance of hockey.

[dlc1914]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Agreed. I know Powderhorn Park has football too. Some people aren't aware of youth football, but it is there. Football just goes quietly along whole hockey people love to exaggerate the importance of hockey.

I'm moving to the Twin Cities in the next couple of months and truly hope to find a good youth football program/league to volunteer with. I know there's no Pop Warner out there, but hopefully, the competition is as intense as it is hear on the East Coast

[BillWallace]

I don't know about other cities but in the south metro most of the Athletic Associations begin youth football at 3rd grade. They have 3rd/4th play together & 5th/6th together. More and more they are taking over 7th/8th from the middle schools who are dropping football for budget reasons.

[Mesabi]

Originally Posted by ozzie679

both statement are 100% false. i was at a regular season blaine/anoka football game with 12,000 souls. high school hockey only draws good crowds for the playoffs and state tournament. hockey arenas are small and they're rarely full. yes, the tournament is a big deal. but regular season hockey attendance pales in comparison to football attendance.

most schools in minnesota don't even offer hockey and many programs are consolidated so the towns don't really care anyway. hockey lives off of it's storied tradition. but interest in the sport is limited to a few of the powerhouses. there's very little turnover. only a few elite programs are in the tournament year after year after etc....

Everything you should said is 100% false. Minnesota is a hockey state and thats the end of it. It is by far the largest sport in the state. I would say that Football lives of a few powerhouses, especially those in the richier parts of the town.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by Mesabi

Everything you should said is 100% false. Minnesota is a hockey state and thats the end of it. It is by far the largest sport in the state. I would say that Football lives of a few powerhouses, especially those in the richier parts of the town.

No, hockey isn't even close to being the largest sport in the state. It may well be the biggest state for hockey in the country, but hockey isn't the biggest sport in the state. Those who love hockey, really really love hockey, which gives the perception that it is more widely popular than it is.

Many high schools don't have hockey. Not many don't have football or basketball. People talk about the Vikings or the Packers or the Twins around the water cooler and work, not so much about the Wild.

[mrconfusion87]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

No, hockey isn't even close to being the largest sport in the state. It may well be the biggest state for hockey in the country, but hockey isn't the biggest sport in the state. Those who love hockey, really really love hockey, which gives the perception that it is more widely popular than it is.

Many high schools don't have hockey. Not many don't have football or basketball. People talk about the Vikings or the Packers or the Twins around the water cooler and work, not so much about the Wild.

To play devil's advocate here, I did remember reading up ESPN's piece from their "50 States, 50 Days" special online a few years ago and here's what they said about Minnesota through their polls of people living there:

- Vikings are NUMBER ONE in the "favorite professional sports teams" category! PERIOD! Reflecting common knowledge in Minny basically!

- However, when Minnesotans were asked what their "favorite sport" is, Hockey ranked at NUMBER ONE with 46%, then Football came in second at 32%.

Interesting results from Hockey-hating ESPN, eh?!

[undfan]

Anyway, back to the OP. In central mn., I don't know what larger towns in the area have but the smaller schools (9-man/A) started about 3-5 years ago, and seems to be catching on as more towns find out about it and find funding for it. It's usually grades 3 or 4 through 6 with teams divided by weight/age/skill as noted by other posters. I believe the rules are very similar to Pop Warner's.