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I played football from my later elementary school years through college and was thankfully largely injury free. My son has played one season where he was mainly on the developmental side of it, but we have decided to no longer pursue it. There were three reasons we made the decision:
1. The time commitment is absolutely insane. No other youth sports, not even hockey (which my son also plays) has anywhere near the time commitment that football requires. Practices are daily, with games on the weekends. When he played it was literally 6 days on, 1 day off. It was simply far too much.
2. The risk of injury is incredibly high. His team had two players who broke bones last year and one that had a concussion. I never worried about him getting hurt playing hockey nearly as much as I ended up worrying watching him play football (while hockey involves contact, it happens at MUCH slower speeds in youth hockey and they wear arguably better gear). My neighbor has two sons around my kids age and also happens to be a high school football coach. His kids are athletic and he flat out refuses to let them play youth football solely based on the injury concern. Talking to him (our kids are on the same baseball team) really swayed my opinion, though we had already decided against it do to the time commitments.
3. In all honesty, outside of enjoying playing the game, there is NOTHING to be gained in terms of player development from playing youth football. The overall game, strategy, schemes, plays, techniques etc. are all vastly different from what is coached/taught in high school, which in itself is very different from what happens in college. Additionally, the size/weight system designed to limit injury means teams are composed of the wrong types of players, so the competition and pacing is very different. It's easy to be a standout running back at 110 pounds when the linemen you are facing are also limited to being 110 pounds. Most football players who play at the high school level either never played youth football or end up with their coaches de-programming them to learn how to actually play the game. This is very different from most other sports like baseball, hockey, soccer, etc. where having an early start leads to a better understanding of the foundational techniques and allows for someone who started early to compete at a higher level as they get older. Basically, youth football teaches "youth football", not actual football.
With all that said, I will not put my son in youth football and I would not allow him to play if he wanted to. If he chooses to play in high school, that is his choice and he will not be any worse in terms of earning a spot on the team for having never played then a kid who has been playing since they were 5.
1. The time commitment is absolutely insane. No other youth sports, not even hockey (which my son also plays) has anywhere near the time commitment that football requires. Practices are daily, with games on the weekends. When he played it was literally 6 days on, 1 day off. It was simply far too much.
This is very true, but for our family the intense time commitment is actually one of the reasons I prefer my son play football over the other sports offered for his age group. My son has ADHD and we have chosen not to medicate, he has TONS of energy and we like to make sure he gets lots of exercise. It's much easier to sign him up for football and I know he's getting at least 2 hours of solid exercise 4 days a weeks and that practice is in the same place at the same time with the same kids and parents each day. It keeps his routine predictable and I'm not pulling my hair out keep the schedule for 3 different sports straight.
He will be finishing K, meaning he is probably 6. Around here the football leagues start tackle football at age 6. Some of the Miami leagues start tackle at age 5.
Usually kids are separated by both age AND weight. For instance, my son is 13. For his age group kids have to be under 14 as of Aug 31 and they must weigh 140 lb or less. If they are under 14 but weigh more than 140 they have to go up to the next age/weight.
Around here they start kids really young, but they also separate the kids by weight for safety.
1. The time commitment is absolutely insane. No other youth sports, not even hockey (which my son also plays) has anywhere near the time commitment that football requires. Practices are daily, with games on the weekends. When he played it was literally 6 days on, 1 day off. It was simply far too much.
I can respect this. We stuck with football but I agree that the time commitment is crazy and I can respect those who choose to step back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT
2. The risk of injury is incredibly high. His team had two players who broke bones last year and one that had a concussion. I never worried about him getting hurt playing hockey nearly as much as I ended up worrying watching him play football (while hockey involves contact, it happens at MUCH slower speeds in youth hockey and they wear arguably better gear). My neighbor has two sons around my kids age and also happens to be a high school football coach. His kids are athletic and he flat out refuses to let them play youth football solely based on the injury concern. Talking to him (our kids are on the same baseball team) really swayed my opinion, though we had already decided against it do to the time commitments.
I just saw a piece on ESPN that stated that rates of concussion in youth hockey are higher than they are for youth football. I worry about injury all the time. Luckily, my kids have not had serious injuries, although they have gotten a little dinged up. I hope yours make it through hockey unscathed as well. I hate when kids get injured.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT
3. In all honesty, outside of enjoying playing the game, there is NOTHING to be gained in terms of player development from playing youth football. The overall game, strategy, schemes, plays, techniques etc. are all vastly different from what is coached/taught in high school, which in itself is very different from what happens in college. Additionally, the size/weight system designed to limit injury means teams are composed of the wrong types of players, so the competition and pacing is very different. It's easy to be a standout running back at 110 pounds when the linemen you are facing are also limited to being 110 pounds. Most football players who play at the high school level either never played youth football or end up with their coaches de-programming them to learn how to actually play the game. This is very different from most other sports like baseball, hockey, soccer, etc. where having an early start leads to a better understanding of the foundational techniques and allows for someone who started early to compete at a higher level as they get older. Basically, youth football teaches "youth football", not actual football.
With all that said, I will not put my son in youth football and I would not allow him to play if he wanted to. If he chooses to play in high school, that is his choice and he will not be any worse in terms of earning a spot on the team for having never played then a kid who has been playing since they were 5.
My experience is different with respect to youth football. My son is about to graduate from HS this month (YAY!). He played 2 years of JV and 2 years of varsity on a very good team in Florida. Nearly all of the kids on his varsity team played youth football.
I suspect that the quality of youth football varies regionally and that what you say may be true in some areas. However, in the Fort Lauderdale area it is not true. A kid that played no youth football at all will have trouble walking on to a HS team here.
I do agree that unless a kid really loves football the way my kids love it there is nothing magic about football. Any sport will do if a kid just wants to keep active.
My son will be starting his second year of football (first in tackle) this summer, I am 100% on board with his playing. My town starts very young and safety is a very important so a lot of the training for the youngest kids is centered around safe tackling and one of our assistant coaches is an EMT.
At this age (finishing kindergarten) I encourage it and do push him to do his best at it, once he is older and the hits get much harder I will just take his lead I will not refuse him the privilage to play if its what he really wants but I won't be pushing him to play if he doesn't want to.
IMO all sports have dangers, some more than others yes, but they all have tremendous benefits as well, some more than others. In our particular situation the football program has more benefits than the other sports programs the #1 being that my son LOVES it. So yes I will allow him to play.
I'm confused as well.... how old is your son? If I'm reading it right, that seems really young to me to be starting tackle FB.
I have a daughter but if I had a son, I'm not sure I'd allow FB. Husband and I are both former Marines - I've seen what life is like for too many people after a tramatic brain injury.
I just saw a piece on ESPN that stated that rates of concussion in youth hockey are higher than they are for youth football. I worry about injury all the time. Luckily, my kids have not had serious injuries, although they have gotten a little dinged up. I hope yours make it through hockey unscathed as well. I hate when kids get injured.
Can you link to that? I'm not questioning what you saw, it's just that what I have read shows football to be far worse. My middle son played both roller and ice hockey for years without any injuries. The difference between hockey and football would seem to be in football, 2 heads are involved. In hockey, yes the risk of falling on the ice exists, but injuries are rarely caused by another player.
Can you link to that? I'm not questioning what you saw, it's just that what I have read shows football to be far worse. My middle son played both roller and ice hockey for years without any injuries. The difference between hockey and football would seem to be in football, 2 heads are involved. In hockey, yes the risk of falling on the ice exists, but injuries are rarely caused by another player.
I saw it on TV yesterday. I will check the website to see if I can find it online.
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