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Post by bobcatparent on Aug 12, 2009 15:33:03 GMT -6
I have a serious question that has been weighing on me this past two weeks.
First I would like to offer a little background info...
I have a 10 yr old son that has played tackle football for the same organization for 3 years.
It is a new organization , (division 3)compared to the other teams in our area. It does not provide any type of practice equipment such as tackling dummies, sleds, etc. The coaches have to buy balls for the team along with water bottles. It has been around for about 4 years.\
His mitey mite team last year did not win a game.
The Jr pee wee team that he is moving up to only won 1 game last year.
His head coach is new this year but has coached as an assistant for a few years.
He has 18 kids on his roster but so far only about 12 show up for practice.
Of those 12 only about 5 display any athletic ability. The others seem to chase butterflies and pick four leaf clovers for most of the practice.
Also the 12 players average weight is about 70 lbs, 100lbs is the maxweight.
My son is very competitive and hates to lose.
He is 100 lbs, and the second fastest kid on his team according to the timed 20 and 40 yard dash that they ran.
He attends camps during the offseason to get better.
He also attends speed school to work on core strength and explosiveness.
Along with that he is very physical and was the freestyle state wrestling champion for his age and weight group last year.
The head coach is running a spread offense and a slant 50 defense this year.
He is planning on putting his best 11 on defense, and playing mpp kids as wide outs.
His qb is arguably the best athlete on the team(70lbs)
His fullback is is son(80lbs)
He is hinting that he wants my son to play as a lineman on offense, and linebacker on defense.
His reasoning is that he doesn't have any other kids that can play as a lineman.
I personally think that putting him on the line is a waste of his talent.
I also am starting to question the coaches ability. He seems to ignore poor stances, routes etc.
There seems to be only one drill going on at a time that has long lines that keep the kids inactive.
He spends about 1 hour of practice running drills that are not specific to the kids positions or even football.
The question that I pose to you is should I switch him to a more competitive organization(a division 1 team), with possibily a higher level of coaching. Where, if he is going to play the line that at least he has a shot at winning. I know that another organization near us has a 17 yr Nfl vet as an assistant coach.
or should I keep him with his current team and tell him to play the best that he can at whatever position he is assigned even though I question his coachs' ability and his chances of winning.
I don't want to teach him a bad attitude or that if he doesn't get the position that he wants that quitting is the answer.
I have even considered not letting him play anymore until he gets to high school. I would let him continue to go to camps and his speed school. I'm afraid of bad habits that he will learn without an experienced coach guiding him.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by ramsfootball on Aug 12, 2009 19:55:21 GMT -6
From your post it sounds like you may be able to offer your sons current coach some valuable assistants. Have you offered to help him? Get involved in this league/team and help it grow. No question is sounds like a waste of talent from your prospective, but I know from my past season, you have to place your talent where the team needs it most. No question your some may benefit from a seasoned program with better coaches but the team he is on may go further in the wrong directions with out your son on the team. Got to weigh the pros and cons all the way across the board. What about the other 11 kids showing up to practice? Last thing they need is to see one of their better players quit. Then another then no pragram at all.
Get in with the coach and see if there is something you can help him with, maybe it's just your thoughts or maybe you can jump in and run a few drills to shorten the lines. When your son gets to high school he'll get all the training he'll need then to perfect his game. Right now having fun and learning a few fundamentals is the focus. Winning isn't everything at the youth level. I assume your son knows that.
Good luck
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Post by davecisar on Aug 13, 2009 8:37:49 GMT -6
I would move him to another org
Most orgs that consistently lose, consistently have poor leadership and poor coaching
Most orgs that consistently win in youth football, consistently have good leadership and good coaching
I would highly recommend you move him to an org in your area that is conistently competitive. Im sure you will find the practices and coaching to be much better than you have seen.
Long lines, poor attention to perfecting fundamentals and more that you mention are all qualities of a youth coach that knows little.
If your boy plays on a team that has won 1 game in 2 years, he isnt having any fun and he isnt being coached well.
Having fun, great fundamentals and winning are not mutually exclusive, they go hand in hand.
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Post by coachdoug on Aug 13, 2009 9:05:04 GMT -6
Bobcat - you're in a tough situation. I think the answer to your question lies in whether or not you think you may be able (or willing) to make the current situation better. As rams alluded to, if you can get on the staff and help the current coach, you may be able to turn the current situation around (or at least improve it) and teach your son a valuable lesson at the same time. If, however, the current coach isn't interested in any help or input, or if you are not willing or able (due to work considerations or whatever) to help, then you and your son may well be better off moving to another org.
I would like to comment on one thing you said, though. Playing on the offensive line is not a waste of any player's talent. Most of the best coaches on this forum will tell you that the o-line is the most important area of their team and they insist on coaching it themselves even though as head coaches, they could focus on any area they want. On a well-coached team, the o-line is not a dumping groung for slow, unathletic MPP types. If you are in a weight restricted league like ours, most of the linemen end up playing LB, TE or FB in high school anyway, but they learn a lot more about the game from having had the lineman's perspective in youth ball.
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Post by bobcatparent on Aug 13, 2009 12:20:14 GMT -6
Thanks for your replies!
I spoke with the head coach last night, before practice, and offered him some feedback. He was very receptive. He shortened his drills/stretching to 20 minutes. He also broke the kids into smaller groups and repped the kids on their "jobs". I helped coach the receivers. Still I noticed that alot of things that should be corrected were ignored, ex. 3 pt stances on the oline were beyond bad. Also the kids first step was to stand straight up.
I was careful to stay away from my son, I didn't want to be that guy.
Even with me helping out, I'm not the answer, I have coached my son for wrestling since he was four yrs old. But I'm not a seasoned football coach.
I agree with what Dave said in his reply, but I'm torn between my options.
Official weighins are this weekend.
I plan to watch some other teams practice tonight and tomorrow.
I would like to see if they are ran better.
I will let you guys know how everything turns out.
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Post by jhanawa on Aug 13, 2009 22:41:42 GMT -6
I would like to comment on one thing you said, though. Playing on the offensive line is not a waste of any player's talent. Most of the best coaches on this forum will tell you that the o-line is the most important area of their team and they insist on coaching it themselves even though as head coaches, they could focus on any area they want. On a well-coached team, the o-line is not a dumping groung for slow, unathletic MPP types.
but they learn a lot more about the game from having had the lineman's perspective in youth ball.
AMEN!
Oline is NOT a dumping ground, it is an ELITE GROUP!
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Post by touchdownmaker on Aug 14, 2009 4:03:01 GMT -6
As I first read this I thought "oh brother, another parent who thinks his kid is better than he really is, another parent who thinks hes a better coach than the current coach"...but as I read and found out that you were involved I thought 'great! and now if its more than just doing it for your own kid but for all the kids...better yet".
I would think that if you all had a short coaching meeting after practice (preferrably before the next one) that you can make some polite noise about reviewing stances (why not include that as part of the warmup?) and further make suggestions about long lines being replaced by circuits.
regarding the kid being on the line...I have to admit I thought "oh yeah, this guys going to pull his kid off the team because coach put him on the line"....but I guess I was wrong. I played football for a few years, played center, defensive tackle, runningback, corner, safety too...yknow what? my favorite time as a player had nothing to do with my position, it had to do with winning and having fun. My favorite year was as a youth football center/dt. Isnt the whole point to have fun?
forget wasting talent and let the kid have fun, be positive nad teach, not only as a coach but as a role model and not only your son, but all the kids. enjoy the experience.
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Post by justryn2 on Aug 14, 2009 6:53:29 GMT -6
Bobcat, let me just offer my $.02 worth. As usual, I agree with a lot of what Coach Cisar said. Bad programs are bad programs and that usually means no wins, boring practices and little attention to fundamentals. However, since your son is already part of this team, my suggestion would be to keep him on this team for this year. It may be tough to stick it out but, IMO, its better to see this season through with the team you're on now than to bail on them and go somewhere else. If this is not the right league or team for your son then move him next year.
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Post by joboo59 on Aug 14, 2009 8:04:46 GMT -6
I would echo many of the comments above, stay with it this year and offer your assistance to the coach, it sounds like his plate is too full. If you take an active role as an assistant and learn a few fundamental drills that would pay dividends for this team.
As for your son, playing the line might be the best thing for him. I say this assuming he learns some basic technique in blocking. However, as he progresses to higher levels, being a good blocker will be another reason to have him on the field. In addition, if he is still in speed training and camps, he is continuing to develop as a fine tuned athlete and will be able to perform all this skills in years to come.
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Post by Chris Clement on Feb 24, 2010 12:27:15 GMT -6
As much as coach Cisar is right, if no good people go to the bad organisation, nothing changes and they stay bad, maybe this organisation isn't bad because they're malicious or stupid, but they just don't know any better. I am perhaps concerned that the coach wants to run a spread with 10 year olds and put his weakest players out wide, it seems like a contradiction in terms, you're trying to get your best players out in space. Even in spread-to-run, the defense needs to respect the bubble screen and hitch and keep defenders out there. (though I'm sure that it is possible to make a sound scheme on this principle, I just can't think of one).
In any case, the HC sounds at least reasonable and well-intentioned, and jumping ship would seem a bit weasely just as the season starts. Maybe it will work out better than you expected.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2010 12:08:53 GMT -6
My son is very competitive and hates to lose. He is 100 lbs, and the second fastest kid on his team according to the timed 20 and 40 yard dash that they ran. He attends camps during the offseason to get better. He also attends speed school to work on core strength and explosiveness. Along with that he is very physical and was the freestyle state wrestling champion for his age and weight group last year. Please don't take this the wrong way, but one thing you said caught my eye ......, you said he was 10 correct? he wrestles, plays football, and attends football camps an speed camps in the off season...Is this his request, or something you decided was for the betterment of your son? Both are solid schemes Again I have to ask have you considered that maybe he's right?...I'm not saying he is, he could be wrong. I'm sure your son is extremely talented . But perhaps your son isn't really suited to another position. I know if I have a kid that can manhandle kids on a wrestling mat, he's going to be one of the 1st kids I look at on the OL Speed though an asset isn't the surefire maker of super athletes. every coach here ca tell you stories of "that kid" that was so fast...that never panned out as a back or receiver. There's no such thing as "wasting talent" if he's playing let alone starting. I 'd take it as a compliment that he's trusting your son to do the toughest, most important aspect in the game, though it is s thankless one .. Again you have to wonder who this is really for, not to sound rude, but it sounds like you have some influence on the situation as well I can attest that it's a B!tch to run a practice when only 11 or 12 kids show for practices...it's basically impossible to put kids through a meaningful practice when only 4 of them are starters. However there's no excuse for ignoring fundamentals..that's even more reason to drill them Ultimately that's his decision, but another way to look at it is , "does he have a better chance to compete and possibly play another position, with the team he's already on"...there's no guarantee he's going to start or even play (unless theres a Mpp rule) at the other organization. Win, yeah he might, but is it more important to him to be part of a winner or to play?...of course this has no bearing if he goes to the other team and starts. Unless it's veteran coach that doesn't really mean anything If the questions are due to a lack of effort on the part of the coaching staff then yes...I'd take him elsewhere, if it's due to the fact he only has 12 kids, it's tough to call. It's definitely a weird position...I mean he's working his a$$ off for a subpar team. I think it's ok to consider moving him to another team, because so much effort is focussed on his athletic abilities, however you have to ask how depressed will he be if he gets there and doesn't start ( or play)?? that being said ...I'm always for facing tougher competition, if anything that's better for him Good luck whatever you choose I hope it all works out for the best |
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