What age to start tackle football?

[StPaulHusker]

Middle School

Also, don't worry about his position.

It will work like this...if he is not afraid to tackle he will play on defense. If he is one of the 11 best tacklers he will be a starter.

No he won't!! You hate my kid! or You don't recognize talent when you see it!!

When will parents realize that coaches want to win, and will do what is best for the team? (Well, except for Callahan, maybe . . . )

Two things that I suggest are a must! First, make sure that when your son gets fitted for a helmet that it is DONE properly! Too many times I have witness coaches handing out helmets and they have no clue how to determine the correct fit on the players head. Also, make sure the coaches are certified in "heads up football". Believe it or not you will still find coaches teaching the improper way to tackle. With any sport your child runs the risk if injury, but now a days I can say with certainty that coaches are being aware of how to recognize the sings of potential concussions.

If ya have any more questions feel free to shoot me a pm. I can try to answer them the best I can.

There is more head trauma from soccer than from any other sport - yet mama will push soccer over football because its "less dangerous".

Ha! I love when I get emails from parents after the first day of practice...letting me know where they think their son should be playing! ha

I think you have to put the age of the child in perspective when you reach out to a coach about your child. I had a talk with son's coach last year for flag football. It is a learning league and he was playing favorites to the point that some parents were basically paying to watch their kids sit on the sideline and do nothing. I aired it out with him and told him that if this was the type of team he was going to run, then let the parents know this first so they can explain to their kids how it will work.

I have no illusions about my son's ability but he isn't a slouch on the field either. But when I pay $75 to put him in a learn first league, I expect him to get time at all football positions and time on the field to learn.

Most youth leagues have rules about this....Players have to play a specific amount of plays or quarters

You are correct. But who is monitoring and enforcing it? At least in this league there is no one from some "league office" checking in on it.

 

[teachercd]

Middle School

Also, don't worry about his position.

It will work like this...if he is not afraid to tackle he will play on defense. If he is one of the 11 best tacklers he will be a starter.

No he won't!! You hate my kid! or You don't recognize talent when you see it!!

When will parents realize that coaches want to win, and will do what is best for the team? (Well, except for Callahan, maybe . . . )

Two things that I suggest are a must! First, make sure that when your son gets fitted for a helmet that it is DONE properly! Too many times I have witness coaches handing out helmets and they have no clue how to determine the correct fit on the players head. Also, make sure the coaches are certified in "heads up football". Believe it or not you will still find coaches teaching the improper way to tackle. With any sport your child runs the risk if injury, but now a days I can say with certainty that coaches are being aware of how to recognize the sings of potential concussions.

If ya have any more questions feel free to shoot me a pm. I can try to answer them the best I can.

There is more head trauma from soccer than from any other sport - yet mama will push soccer over football because its "less dangerous".

Ha! I love when I get emails from parents after the first day of practice...letting me know where they think their son should be playing! ha

I think you have to put the age of the child in perspective when you reach out to a coach about your child. I had a talk with son's coach last year for flag football. It is a learning league and he was playing favorites to the point that some parents were basically paying to watch their kids sit on the sideline and do nothing. I aired it out with him and told him that if this was the type of team he was going to run, then let the parents know this first so they can explain to their kids how it will work.

I have no illusions about my son's ability but he isn't a slouch on the field either. But when I pay $75 to put him in a learn first league, I expect him to get time at all football positions and time on the field to learn.

Most youth leagues have rules about this....Players have to play a specific amount of plays or quarters

You are correct. But who is monitoring and enforcing it? At least in this league there is no one from some "league office" checking in on it.

I have never heard of a learn first league.

But here is how I do it...my best kids play in Varsity games (if the score is out of hand either way, more kids get in)

Anyone that did not play in the Varsity game plays in the JV games, everyone. Period.

I have never coached flag...I have also never coached anything under 7th grade (nor would I, it seems super annoying). But I can't imagine how in a flag football game that every kid would not play, it seems like everyone would get a lot of snaps.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Middle School

Also, don't worry about his position.

It will work like this...if he is not afraid to tackle he will play on defense. If he is one of the 11 best tacklers he will be a starter.

No he won't!! You hate my kid! or You don't recognize talent when you see it!!

When will parents realize that coaches want to win, and will do what is best for the team? (Well, except for Callahan, maybe . . . )

Two things that I suggest are a must! First, make sure that when your son gets fitted for a helmet that it is DONE properly! Too many times I have witness coaches handing out helmets and they have no clue how to determine the correct fit on the players head. Also, make sure the coaches are certified in "heads up football". Believe it or not you will still find coaches teaching the improper way to tackle. With any sport your child runs the risk if injury, but now a days I can say with certainty that coaches are being aware of how to recognize the sings of potential concussions.

If ya have any more questions feel free to shoot me a pm. I can try to answer them the best I can.

There is more head trauma from soccer than from any other sport - yet mama will push soccer over football because its "less dangerous".

Ha! I love when I get emails from parents after the first day of practice...letting me know where they think their son should be playing! ha

I think you have to put the age of the child in perspective when you reach out to a coach about your child. I had a talk with son's coach last year for flag football. It is a learning league and he was playing favorites to the point that some parents were basically paying to watch their kids sit on the sideline and do nothing. I aired it out with him and told him that if this was the type of team he was going to run, then let the parents know this first so they can explain to their kids how it will work.

I have no illusions about my son's ability but he isn't a slouch on the field either. But when I pay $75 to put him in a learn first league, I expect him to get time at all football positions and time on the field to learn.

Most youth leagues have rules about this....Players have to play a specific amount of plays or quarters

You are correct. But who is monitoring and enforcing it? At least in this league there is no one from some "league office" checking in on it.

Even in "competitive" organizations, at that age, the coach should be playing all the players on a regular basis. If the coach isn't, then he is a jacka$$.

 

[BigRedBuster]

To the original question. I personally don't see any reason to start tackle football any earlier than 5th or 6th grade. Flag football teaches them how to play the game, the rules, the plays...etc. In middle school, they can start learning the physical part of the game with tackling and full pads. They then will be ready for HS football.

 

[NUance]

Yeah, 7th grade seems like a logical time to start. Maybe just keep an eye on him, and ask him how it's going every so often. Too make sure he's not taking too many hits. Or delivering too many.

The thing is, a kid can get hurt at any age. Sophomore year might be the most dangerous. Sophs are often used as live action practice dummies for the varsity. I had to miss a practice one day as a sophomore. The kid behind me filled in at my OLB spot on the practice squad. I found out the next day that that kid got creamed by a pulling guard. Knocked him clear off his feet and he landed on his head. It didn't break or sprain anything, but it knocked him out for a few seconds. When he came to, he was totally goofy for a while. Couldn't even remember his name for a minute or so. (Looking back, he almost certainly had a concussion.) But he shook it off, and wobbled back to the bench. He didn't want to see a doctor or anything, so the coach had the student manager take him back to the lockerroom to hit the showers early. The guy couldn't even remember the combination to his locker. He never did remember it. They had to get the janitor to cut his lock off so he could dress to go home. That was his last day of HS football. His parents wouldn't let him play after that.

I was pretty lucky. Never had any serious injuries in football, basketball and track all through jr high and high school. I pulled a couple muscles my senior year in track, and in football got my finger pinched between a couple of helmets causing my fingernail to fall off a few days later. But that's about it.

 

[teachercd]

I think that more head injuries happen in soccer. I think a soccer guy just died actually.

 

[Stumpy1]

My boy starts playing tackle football next year in 4th grade.

 

[NUinID]

I coached HS FB for 20+ years. Last year I coached my youngest son's 5th/6th grade tackle football team. IMO this is about the right time to start them playing, if they want to play. Some kids don't like the contact so don't force them. I had one very large kid on the team that didn't want to play, nice kid, not athletic at all, but dad really wanted him to play. He should not have been out there.

The muscle memory that they develop from starting this early is invaluable. Kids these days don't watch football like I did or most likely you did growing up. When I was a kid and went to HS football games on Friday nights. You got a bunch of guys together and played FB against kids from the other town. Now you can't do that. IMO it makes kids less aggressive. So starting them a little earlier puts a little of that back into them.

 

[BigRedBuster]

The muscle memory that they develop from starting this early is invaluable. Kids these days don't watch football like I did or most likely you did growing up. When I was a kid and went to HS football games on Friday nights. You got a bunch of guys together and played FB against kids from the other town. Now you can't do that. IMO it makes kids less aggressive. So starting them a little earlier puts a little of that back into them.

My son watches way more football than I did growing up simply because it's always on TV during the season. He is in HS now so he is actually on the side lines but before that, he was at the HS games watching or out back playing football with the other kids.

 

[NUinID]

Middle School

Also, don't worry about his position.

It will work like this...if he is not afraid to tackle he will play on defense. If he is one of the 11 best tacklers he will be a starter.

No he won't!! You hate my kid! or You don't recognize talent when you see it!!

When will parents realize that coaches want to win, and will do what is best for the team? (Well, except for Callahan, maybe . . . )

Two things that I suggest are a must! First, make sure that when your son gets fitted for a helmet that it is DONE properly! Too many times I have witness coaches handing out helmets and they have no clue how to determine the correct fit on the players head. Also, make sure the coaches are certified in "heads up football". Believe it or not you will still find coaches teaching the improper way to tackle. With any sport your child runs the risk if injury, but now a days I can say with certainty that coaches are being aware of how to recognize the sings of potential concussions.

If ya have any more questions feel free to shoot me a pm. I can try to answer them the best I can.

There is more head trauma from soccer than from any other sport - yet mama will push soccer over football because its "less dangerous".

Ha! I love when I get emails from parents after the first day of practice...letting me know where they think their son should be playing! ha

I think you have to put the age of the child in perspective when you reach out to a coach about your child. I had a talk with son's coach last year for flag football. It is a learning league and he was playing favorites to the point that some parents were basically paying to watch their kids sit on the sideline and do nothing. I aired it out with him and told him that if this was the type of team he was going to run, then let the parents know this first so they can explain to their kids how it will work.

I have no illusions about my son's ability but he isn't a slouch on the field either. But when I pay $75 to put him in a learn first league, I expect him to get time at all football positions and time on the field to learn.

Most youth leagues have rules about this....Players have to play a specific amount of plays or quarters

You are correct. But who is monitoring and enforcing it? At least in this league there is no one from some "league office" checking in on it.

Even in "competitive" organizations, at that age, the coach should be playing all the players on a regular basis. If the coach isn't, then he is a jacka$$.

The referees should monitoring it. The league I coached in last year played 10 minute quarters with a running clock. At the 5 minute mark of the first and second quarter the teams had to sub in all the players that were on the sidelines. No team could have more than 24 on a team. In the second half the teams could play whoever they wanted. Personally I would rather have had it the same as the first half.

 

[teachercd]

I coached HS FB for 20+ years. Last year I coached my youngest son's 5th/6th grade tackle football team. IMO this is about the right time to start them playing, if they want to play. Some kids don't like the contact so don't force them. I had one very large kid on the team that didn't want to play, nice kid, not athletic at all, but dad really wanted him to play. He should not have been out there.

The muscle memory that they develop from starting this early is invaluable. Kids these days don't watch football like I did or most likely you did growing up. When I was a kid and went to HS football games on Friday nights. You got a bunch of guys together and played FB against kids from the other town. Now you can't do that. IMO it makes kids less aggressive. So starting them a little earlier puts a little of that back into them.

So true! So many kids don't watch football and have no idea about some of the basics.

 

[NUinID]

The muscle memory that they develop from starting this early is invaluable. Kids these days don't watch football like I did or most likely you did growing up. When I was a kid and went to HS football games on Friday nights. You got a bunch of guys together and played FB against kids from the other town. Now you can't do that. IMO it makes kids less aggressive. So starting them a little earlier puts a little of that back into them.

My son watches way more football than I did growing up simply because it's always on TV during the season. He is in HS now so he is actually on the side lines but before that, he was at the HS games watching or out back playing football with the other kids.

That is great that your son enjoys it. My experience with kids is that the majority of them don't watch a lot of FB till they get to HS. Neither one of my sons really watches too much football. My oldest, who is a senior, will watch a husker game with me, but that is about it. My 5th grader gets board with it. He will watch for about a quarter and then wonders off to do something else. He loves playing football, but just doesn't watch it a lot.

I used to get kids in 9th grade that had absolutely no clue about the rules of FB or how the game went. I used to ask kids all the time if they ever watch FB and a lot of them said not really. The other end of the spectrum was the kids that watch a lot of NFL and think that HS football is going to be just like that. Thinking we were going to throw the ball 40x a game.

 

[teachercd]

The muscle memory that they develop from starting this early is invaluable. Kids these days don't watch football like I did or most likely you did growing up. When I was a kid and went to HS football games on Friday nights. You got a bunch of guys together and played FB against kids from the other town. Now you can't do that. IMO it makes kids less aggressive. So starting them a little earlier puts a little of that back into them.

My son watches way more football than I did growing up simply because it's always on TV during the season. He is in HS now so he is actually on the side lines but before that, he was at the HS games watching or out back playing football with the other kids.

That is great that your son enjoys it. My experience with kids is that the majority of them don't watch a lot of FB till they get to HS. Neither one of my sons really watches too much football. My oldest, who is a senior, will watch a husker game with me, but that is about it. My 5th grader gets board with it. He will watch for about a quarter and then wonders off to do something else. He loves playing football, but just doesn't watch it a lot.

I used to get kids in 9th grade that had absolutely no clue about the rules of FB or how the game went. I used to ask kids all the time if they ever watch FB and a lot of them said not really. The other end of the spectrum was the kids that watch a lot of NFL and think that HS football is going to be just like that. Thinking we were going to throw the ball 40x a game.

Yes. yes, yes!

 

[ScottyIce]

Middle School

Also, don't worry about his position.

It will work like this...if he is not afraid to tackle he will play on defense. If he is one of the 11 best tacklers he will be a starter.

No he won't!! You hate my kid! or You don't recognize talent when you see it!!

When will parents realize that coaches want to win, and will do what is best for the team? (Well, except for Callahan, maybe . . . )

Two things that I suggest are a must! First, make sure that when your son gets fitted for a helmet that it is DONE properly! Too many times I have witness coaches handing out helmets and they have no clue how to determine the correct fit on the players head. Also, make sure the coaches are certified in "heads up football". Believe it or not you will still find coaches teaching the improper way to tackle. With any sport your child runs the risk if injury, but now a days I can say with certainty that coaches are being aware of how to recognize the sings of potential concussions.

If ya have any more questions feel free to shoot me a pm. I can try to answer them the best I can.

There is more head trauma from soccer than from any other sport - yet mama will push soccer over football because its "less dangerous".

Donchu be talkin bout my momma!

 

[BaytownHusker]

There is no real right answer to this question. Mine didnt start until they were 9-10. They have been on some bad teams and some good. Now my 12yr old has played 1 year of JR High ball and it was by far his worst as far as coaching.