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Post by coachchance on Feb 2, 2008 12:09:20 GMT -6
i would like to know what the members here think is the right age to start tackle football. we are having a problem with our flag football not getting alot of kids out in 4th-6th grade classes so we didn't have it this past year (07). wanting to know if 5th grade is to early to have tackle football, alot of this age group went to other area towns to play tackle football, we have a very successful 7th and 8th grade tackle football program and would just expand this to 5th thru 8th grades, alot of the teams we play all have tackle football at the earlier age so finding games would not be a problem. any and all feedback is appreciated.
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Post by davecisar on Feb 2, 2008 12:37:28 GMT -6
There are many areas of the country that play tackle football all the way down to age 5.
I think tackle should start about age 8. Before that age they just dont have the attention span that allows for the retention of what they need to do to play safely and effectively.
We do flag from age 6-8 and tackle ages 7-14 now. The physically and emotionally immature 8s we think still should play flag and Ive only let a handfull of 7s play tackle. About 20% of the 8s are still in flag.
The key is to have good coaching, mandate some playing time for everyone and put in a scheme that makes sense for youth football, so they dont run the kids off.
I know a lot of people shoot from the hip on this one, but Ive coached 1000s of kids age 6-14 over 15 years etc and know what they are and arent capable of. My own kids start playing tackle football at 8-9 years of age.
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Post by eickst on Feb 4, 2008 13:12:34 GMT -6
In the league I coach in, I wouldn't let my kid play flag at all. It's officiated horribly, coaches and refs dont know or enforce the rules properly, and imho it's more dangerous than tackle since it basically is tackle without the pads.
Flag leagues may be different in your area, but where I am my kids won't be playing until the age of 8.
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Post by coachd5085 on Feb 4, 2008 15:15:51 GMT -6
In terms of "safety", I am pretty sure I read a study (can't find it so I can't quote it) that showed that tackle football was one of the "most safe" youth sports. The players bodyweight to equipment weight ratio is somewhat close (at 6 and 7, lets face it, the kids are just walking helmets) and the kids can not generate enough hipsnap to truly punish on the tackles.
I would say it is MOST DANGEROUS when you hit 12-13's...when you get the post puberty kids playing alongside the pre-puberty kids....
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Post by blocker74 on Feb 4, 2008 15:23:10 GMT -6
I go back and forth on the topic of youth football at all. I think that putting kids into weight classes makes for a strange interpretation of the game. Football is a game of body types. If everyone is the same size, then the unathletic kids play on the lines and the athletes play in the backfield. Far too often those kids playing OL/DL do not get coached very well. At the same time, I wouldn't want a big kid to be able to blow up a smaller kid. So, it's a tough call.
I often find myself wondering if other sports do a better job of developing overall athletic ability. Soccer, basketball, roller hockey, etc. In the 15 years I have been coaching at the high school level, VERY VERY FEW of the Junior All-American or Pop Warner football legends have gone on to be studs at our level.
Even with my own boy... I spend a lot of time wondering about whether or not he should play. Although with him, it's more that he's a bigger kid and might be forced to "play up" based on his weight.
An interesting discussion for sure...
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Post by rauljg on Feb 7, 2008 10:11:11 GMT -6
We start tackle at age 5-6 down here in a league in Miami. True they have short attention spans and you have to have a ton of patience as a coach. We actually adjust the rules a little, make the field smaller, allow 1 coach on the field, its 8 on 8 etc. We've run this age group for 4 years now and it has grown and it is very successful. You would be surprised at how well the kids learn and develop. Its a lot of fun for everyone involved if approached the right way. Its about developing interest and fun at the young ages. My younger son is 8 going on 9 and he already has 4 years tackle experience under his belt. You can really see a difference between kids with that kind of experience at age 8-9. Flag is huge in the offseason here as all ages 5 and up play whether in leagues or in ongoing tournaments.
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Post by los on Feb 10, 2008 16:16:26 GMT -6
We started tackle football here with 8 yr olds...seemed like a good age to start them off? Baseball....on the other hand was a lot younger....5-6 maybe? Didn't have flag football.  |
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Post by eickst on Feb 11, 2008 13:19:57 GMT -6
I am for flag football but in my league it's 8v8 and they allow blocking/etc. I would be far more inclined to make it 5v5 and make it all passing and no rushing the QB just so the kids can have some fun. In our league kids end up getting knocked down on every play and it just isn't safe without gear.
I'd rather have my 5 yr old in pads and playing tackle than the flag that gets played here.
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Post by coachchance on Feb 11, 2008 19:09:59 GMT -6
can anyone provide a link or know of any studies that compare the injuries of tackle vs. flag, we our really trying to start tackle football at younger ages but the ney seyers say to many injuries with tackle football at the young ages, i frankly don't buy that as a valid argument but i really need some data if we are going to go forward with tackle at the younger ages. any help will be appreciated.
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Post by coachdoug on Feb 11, 2008 20:02:36 GMT -6
can anyone provide a link or know of any studies that compare the injuries of tackle vs. flag, we our really trying to start tackle football at younger ages but the ney seyers say to many injuries with tackle football at the young ages, i frankly don't buy that as a valid argument but i really need some data if we are going to go forward with tackle at the younger ages. any help will be appreciated. Here is a study from the Mayo Clinic: www.mayoclinic.org/news2002-rst/983.htmlIt doesn't address tackle vs. flag, but it does show that tackle football injury rates are no higher than other sports, and that the injury rate is substantially lower for younger players. The study is a few years old, but I don't think much has changed. I can tell you from 15 years experience that younger kids (under 11) almost never get seriously injured. I have never seen a serious (broken bone or concussion) injury in that age group playing tackle football. They are simply not big enough, strong enough, or fast enough to hurt each other with all the equipment they are wearing. When they reach 12-13 they start getting big, strong and fast enough to hurt each other. At those ages, it is usually the inexperienced players that are most likely to get hurt. So, if you want to reduce a child's liklihood of getting hurt playing football, the best thing you can do is get him playing young enough that he can learn proper technique and defend himself before the other players are big, strong and fast enough to hurt him. |
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Post by coachdoug on Feb 11, 2008 20:10:45 GMT -6
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Post by los on Feb 11, 2008 20:24:57 GMT -6
Theres been a bunch of studies done, by all kinda different groups....google = injuries in youth football....basically they kinda come out like coach d-5085 posted up above.....the older/higher level you get.....the more chance of some kind of injury.....little kids like you're talking about.....shouldn't even be a problem?......well....at least not the injury part....8 yr olds were testy to work with.....don't know if I could handle 5-6 yr olds myself, lol Good luck with this though!
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Post by coachchance on Feb 22, 2008 22:36:17 GMT -6
everything greatly appreciated
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Post by piquaindian on Mar 9, 2008 10:52:22 GMT -6
We have Flag Football for anyone in Grades 1-2-3. Contact Football for anyone in 4-5-6. 7th and 8th Graders play Junior High Football.
We're looking to change our league to 1-2 (Flag), 3-4 (Contact), 5-6 (Contact).
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Post by jazzo on Mar 17, 2008 6:06:19 GMT -6
Up here our league has tackle starting at 5 years old. Our Tiny Mite division has 5, 6 and light 7 year olds. Our Mitey Mites are the heavier 7 yr. olds, 8 and lighter 9 yr. olds. We haven't had problems with safety on the field. The only problem I've noticed is the little guys/gals do have a short attention span (there will always be exceptions of course). So basically what I mean is, you have to have a lot of patience as a coach at that level and can't take the game too seriously.
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Post by coachjohnjohn on Mar 17, 2008 12:54:20 GMT -6
Were I am from they can start at 5yrs old. With our flag program most of the kids play that and go straight into contact. The kids today are very smart. But at that level it has to be fun. You cannot take it seriously.
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Post by deimon021 on Mar 29, 2008 22:02:41 GMT -6
Flag usually starts at 5yrs. And then at 8 they can play tackle.
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Post by raiderpirates on Mar 31, 2008 3:59:24 GMT -6
4th-6th has worked great here, of the 11 starters on the HS Conference Champs here, seven were from the league. The top players coming in from the bench on depth were also from the league.
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Post by raiderpirates on Mar 31, 2008 4:03:18 GMT -6
Prior, we included 3rd with the league, a bit too young overall, they don't get the reps and playing time and the players at the top ends are a bit much in terms of physical development for those to play. There's great baseball and basketball leagues here for the younger kids, they get good background there.
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Shotgun1
Sophomore Member
It is better to die trying than to quit...
Posts: 214
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Post by Shotgun1 on Apr 4, 2008 20:41:53 GMT -6
My son has played flag since he was 4 and now he is 9 and going to play his first year of tackle. Flag has made him a faster player and we really work on playing full speed. We are going into his first year of tackle and entered a league that has;
5-6 flag
7-8 tackle
9-10 tackle
11-12 tackle
After that they are to play for the school district in middle school. Being a middle school coach I agree that weight football is not realistic all the time. I have watched local teams play pop warner and it seems as if the line has some of the lesser athletically gifted kids. I have coached many kids that have com up playing weight ball and many of them had great success playing older-lighter. In middle school few of those kids are successful, a 75-110 pound back gets crushed when most of the kids are 135-185 pounds. I am not saying it is not good for the kids, I think football teaches many lessons, but it is unrealistic compared to no-weight football.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 5, 2008 5:08:33 GMT -6
Shotgun:
I will agree with that.
In Omaha where I grew up, in the 1970s the 9th graders went to Middle school. Everyone played in weight leagues and the weight top end was very low, maybe 135 pounds back then. My first year in HS football was a huge wake up call, there was a 210 pound fullback in my group of 10th graders. It was a huge adjustment and that first year I didnt do very well.
Now of course the HS teams have 9th grade and all the leagues I know of are unlimited weight leagues with ballcarrier weights..
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lbdad
Freshmen Member
Posts: 97
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Post by lbdad on Apr 5, 2008 13:33:58 GMT -6
i have coached youth for a long time i dont start my own kids playing intell 8-9 one was 11.most wont stay focused at young ages and the parents "fathers"take it more sererious than the kids.i dont like playoffs at the younger ages it should be more of a training game.after 10-11 then you can get more focused and start playoffs and champs,just IMO.
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Shotgun1
Sophomore Member
It is better to die trying than to quit...
Posts: 214
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Post by Shotgun1 on Apr 5, 2008 18:27:36 GMT -6
I agree that the parents take it more seriously than the kids. Many of the coaches in this area that coach pop warner all start their conversations with, " I am 58-7 over the last 5 years!" Well, I tell them I do not care what their record was. How are your kids and did they learn solid fundamental football and life skills like a good work ethic, teamwork, and sportsmanship? Then I love to ask them: Did you have to punt in a game? Are you allowed to cover the center? How many kids only play the MPP? Even if a kid never plays again after he is on one of my teams I want him to have had a positive experience and be able to say remember when......
I think 9-10 is probably OK for the first tackle football so long as the kid can move and has decent agility. The one plus about flag if done correctly the kids learn to move quickly to do their assignment. We found in our flag league blocking works best if you allow hands blocking with a bent elbow and the kids move their feet to block their opponent. If they extend their arms the play result is a loss of 5 yards and a redo of down. We had a different rule over the 1st three years my son played and this rule over the last two. The refs were pretty good and enforced it all year and went well. This allowed the kids to be aggressive and block people and they were taught to run full speed all the time. We also ran a jet sweep offense with motion. It looked a lot like the fly sweep stuff with the FB running inside along with a keep pass and a waggle pass.
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Post by bigmike303 on Apr 30, 2008 8:13:46 GMT -6
In our league we can sign up 4yr olds to 6 yrs old then you play 55lbs from 6yrs old to 8yrs old. i,m the head coach of 55lbs and i have a ball we the kids it's alot of fun. and the kids are very talented at that age also
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