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Post by davecisar on Jul 19, 2018 17:19:50 GMT -6
Make it fun Be CONCISE Show dont tell Teach in Progressions Use one word coaching points for each progression BE ORGANIZED Do the ordinary extraordinarily well- blocking, tackling, ball protection Get lots of reps DONT wasted time on set aside conditioning, cals, agilities etc
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Post by davecisar on Jul 19, 2018 17:16:00 GMT -6
Many High School programs are down numbers wise. Often times poorly run youth programs are part of the problem. We ALL need to work together to help the game grow- we are under attack from so many. At the youth level if we want to see our great game survive to help young men develop, we can’t continue doing things the way we’ve always done them. I’m Dave Cisar and I have a free 170 page book that helps youth football programs brand, market, recruit and engage more effectively in their communities. I started two different programs from scratch in Omaha and Lincoln Nebraska, both which became the largest and most successful in each marketplace. Today I run a growing program that added another team and about 20 players this season. I work with hundreds of youth programs every year and not all of them are shrinking. Some very well run programs are actually growing. Here is a podcast I did this week with USA Football on the basics of branding, guerrilla marketing and recruiting for youth programs. blogs.usafootball.com/blog/6443/podcast-consultant-and-coach-dave-cisar-discusses-how-to-build-a-successful-youth-football-program
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Post by davecisar on Jul 19, 2018 14:33:23 GMT -6
We have been using Xenith for the last 6-7 years With 140 kid program- we have had 1-2 concussions per season
Kids love em- coaches do too
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Post by davecisar on Jul 22, 2017 6:51:51 GMT -6
Our entire team has wrist bands We like to go quick so the kids get more snaps We average in the high 50s
We just call it in via a simple code All the kids are in formation on the LOS= we call it in
Averaged mid 30s ppg over last 19 seasons doing it that way
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Post by davecisar on Mar 1, 2017 12:00:30 GMT -6
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Post by davecisar on Feb 20, 2017 9:39:23 GMT -6
St Louis Coaching Clinic We will be speaking at this Weekends Glazier Mega Clinic In St Louis. We hope to see you there and talk some football. Championships are won in the offseason- that is especially true for Youth Football Coaches: www.glazierclinics.com/Coaching_Clinics/St-Louis-Missouri-Football-ClinicWill be there Friday and Sat evening if anyone wants to talk football after- PM me
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Post by davecisar on Feb 15, 2017 11:02:06 GMT -6
If "safety" is the big issue on getting kids in flag vs tackle The data doesnt support it
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Post by davecisar on Feb 15, 2017 10:55:22 GMT -6
Youth Football has become big money many places and it's not going any were. Reading this stuff is garbage. The one thing i will agree upon is there are terrible coaches out there who make us all look bad. Pay it no mind it's all hot air. Youth Football will be around longer than us nobody will leave that much money on the table mark my words. No organizations I know of have ANY paid staff at all- none Ive worked with 100s of youth football programs If you are referring to Pop Warner- the governing body of what is now less than 10% of all youth football programs- yes, they have some paid staff. They put on an event that the participants feel is worth the extra money. As to AYF- which is now bigger than Pop Warner- we pay $25 per team to be part of AYF. That gets me insurance discounts of over $1200 last year over what I could get if I was on my own. Any other fees we pay are to our league which goes to fields and refs- NONE of the league guys make a dime and the poor guys put in 100s of hours with little thanks. The fees we charge to play are less than what it costs to play baseball here and pretty close for basketball. If you add up all the individual tournament fees and travel- we would be less than wrestling. I have no idea about soccer. Our fees are much lower than what I pay to have my kids in gymnastics, swimming, dance, theatre etc etc etc
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Post by davecisar on Feb 15, 2017 10:29:50 GMT -6
As to cost MOST programs including mine turn down no one due to fees We scholarship kids every year
When I had my inner city program we had about 400 kids playing for free No youth programs are making any money off kids playing I know of no paid staff in any of the programs in our state and I know most of them High School coaches and admins get paid to coach- youth coaches do not
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Post by davecisar on Feb 15, 2017 10:26:23 GMT -6
Ive coached youth football for over 20 years Just 2 diagnosed concussions in that time for my players If the game is coached well- concussions arent an issue We have had our helmets off for 1/2 of practice for 17 years now
Over 90% of our kids go on to play High School football because they develop a love for the game early
Which states have the HIGHEST amount of numbers % wise and support for HIGH SCHOOL football? Most would probably say Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee Which states have the lowest participation numbers % wise- New York, Maine, Vermont Look at how THOSE states do things In Texas the kids start out VERY young
Remember we compete with other sports for players Many sports like soccer, baseball, basketball are now year round even at the youth level Then there are video games, the internet- more
Hook the kids early- they will continue to play
Equipment is not an issue-it never has been- unless your program sized you poorly
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Post by davecisar on Feb 15, 2017 10:16:28 GMT -6
Do away with football below the Freshman HS level and you just killed off the Sport. If you think for one minute that a kid that has never played football pre HS but has played all the others Sports is just going to show up out of the blue his 9th grade year...you are a fool. Youth Sports, all of them are fast becoming a specialization thing. Like it or not....agree to disagree all you want....I live it every year. Its a real thing. May as well do everything possible to keep football in the conversation regardless of what you may think otherwise. I disagree. Kids who don't play organized youth football still play football. It just won't be organized, padded football. They'll play 2 on 2, 4 on 4, or whatever in their yard or whatever patch of grass that they can find. None of my HS teammates played youth football because there was no youth football. One thing that we all had in common was that we couldn't wait to get to HS so that we could play on a real football team. P.S.: Very few of our OL played youth football. Couldn't make weight. Over 70% of youth leagues out there today are unlimited weight Most of those are unlimited weight just on the line between the tackles Pop Warner is in the minority now
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Post by davecisar on Feb 15, 2017 10:10:44 GMT -6
This is a study on flag vs tackle: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2325967116686784#pq=X2hXJCThe Conclusion: "Rates of injury in youth football are relatively low. Youth flag football has a higher injury rate than tackle football. A significantly different rate of severe injury or concussion between tackle and flag football was not identified, but players did return to play more slowly after an injury in the tackle leagues than they did in the flag league. Furthermore, we cannot conclude that youth flag football is a safer alternative to youth tackle football"
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Post by davecisar on Aug 9, 2016 15:48:25 GMT -6
I added another team this year so we are at 5 teams in rural/suburban area
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Post by davecisar on Sept 30, 2015 14:04:08 GMT -6
When I first started doing coaching clinics- I was taken aback by the negative attitude some of the HS coaches had towards youth ball. A love/hate relationships in some places.
Part of it is earned, part of it isn't and part is laying the blame for some of their own lack of wins on someone other than themselves. It happens just like it does in youth ball- youth football coaches are some of the biggest excuse makers known to man.
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Post by davecisar on Sept 30, 2015 13:02:17 GMT -6
True--this thread has veered from the OPs original question, but I really think it shows just how big the divide can be between youth and Varsity coaches..even really good ones like 19delta and coachcb who both (even if they are crappy coaches) frequently make insightful and intelligent posts on this board. Agreed. That divide is surprising too me. Mike
You don't get out much
I see it everywhere I go- very common problem
Most of the consistently successful HS coaches "get it"
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Post by davecisar on Sept 30, 2015 12:44:55 GMT -6
jrk5150 I think the point here is the HOW. "How" does a team go about winning. Do they do so by playing the best 11? In a youth game with 8 min quarters, it is easily conceivable to play the same 11 kids on O/D/K and not have any negative effects due to fatigue. That is the underlying issue when coaches talk about "playing to win" at the youth level. The HOW. That various across the country because youth league set ups vary across the country. Interesting thread, it seems like some people may be suffering from a very small sample size and are attributing that to the entire nation. Ive done over 200 youth coaching clinics in 30+ states. Youth football varies from place to place. First of all MOST play 10 minute quarters, not 8 - less than 10% play 8 minute. Another 5 % play 12 minute quarters. I get to see a lot of great guys coaching for the right reasons, to teach safe, fundamentally sound football while trying to develop a love of the game in their kids. The fact is- if you teach GREAT fundamentals, your teams are going to consistently win games. If you combine that with the right practice priorities and can bring teams together- you will consistently win championhips. In todays video game reset environment where kids have MULTITUDES of options- they better see some team and individual success. That means if they dont do that and they dont feel like they are part of the team or contributing, they will often times move on to something that does fill that need. The teams with the highest drop rates: losing teams. WINNING, teaching great fundamentals, playing and retaining kids ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. My teams consistently win championships- 20+ years worth and I rarely lose a player. In last 6 years maybe 4-5 total who started the season- ended the season and signed up to play again the following year. Very doable, 100% retention is always the goal. Winning is a habit. To think that a kid doesnt care about or teams shouldnt care about winning until the kid is a Jr in HS- and suddenly he magically turns on the juice is ludicrous IMO. Do I see some knuckehead youth coaches who do what the OP talks about? Sure but they rarely are the consistent winners- they eventually are exposed and better coaches/programs gobble up those kids. BTW over 75% of youth football leagues nationwide have minimum play rules- so the OPs point doesnt really hold water. Of the 24 clinics I did last year, all of the leagues but 1 had a minimum play rule.
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Post by davecisar on May 6, 2015 6:00:18 GMT -6
Seth
Best of luck
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Post by davecisar on May 6, 2015 5:58:17 GMT -6
Seth
The deal is- most youth coaches dont want to be test animals. They want to follow something that has consistently worked over the long haul with a variety of teams and age groups.
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Post by davecisar on May 5, 2015 8:13:53 GMT -6
You are right, most dads dont have the time to get on the net or go to a bunch of clinics to develop their coaching skills. Most coach for 3-4 years and then are done when their son ages out. That is just about the time, they start figuring things out. Yes, there are some guys like me who have coached for 25 years and through trial and error, clinics, study etc have been able to put together a template for success based on real world experience and results. but there arent many. Best of luck.
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Post by davecisar on May 2, 2014 6:24:41 GMT -6
I spoke to them again today They are willing to play any varsity team and brought about 45 kids to Texas this Easter
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Post by davecisar on May 1, 2014 15:20:14 GMT -6
Ive done coaching clinics for a program in Germany for the last 2 years- they are now good friends of mine. They've asked me to help them get a game here in the States next year.
They are looking for a game on Easter Weekend in the States next year for an age 15-17 team
They played this year in Texas and beat a team from Canada
They are pretty good sized but not terribly athletic
They would prefer something in Texas or Florida. So Im guessing either a smaller or middle sized private schools team or a large schools JV team.
I realize guys have rules they have to go by. If you can pull something like this off it is a lot of fun for your community and kids. Their players stayed at the homes of the teams they played. Yes, almost all speak pretty good English.
Some of the kids are now interested in exchanging in the US for a year.
Only PM me if you are serious and think you can get approval for a game. We already have the clinic set up for this year- so please don't PM me about clinicing them.
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Post by davecisar on May 1, 2014 15:12:55 GMT -6
The keys are: SHORT drills that are disguised and fun stuff- we do a LOT of things like that- Deer Hunter, Dummy Relay Races, My Towel Game Everything is very inclusive and fast paced Everything is a competition Team Game stuff at the end- if they meet some goals Everything taught in language they can understand and in progressions For the youngest kids 60 minutes For everyone else 90 minutes is more than enough
Big fan of the Ready/Focus method in my book about how to get and keep kids attention
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Post by davecisar on Apr 2, 2014 13:17:07 GMT -6
Thanks I appreciate it very much
Yes they do broadcast a handful of games every weekend on radio
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Post by davecisar on Apr 2, 2014 11:43:21 GMT -6
Thanks Coach, I'm hoping that message got out there. Appreciate it.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 2, 2014 8:48:31 GMT -6
I was pretty happy with it- on my blog today:
On Sunday March 23rd I was part of two panel discussions on the season ending wrap up show for Esquire Network’s Friday Night Tykes television show, the show was called “Tackling Tykes”. Like any television show of this type, not all of the discussion aired on the show, about half of it did. I don’t think this is part of any grand conspiracy to harm the game, just the everyday process most shows go through to put out a watchable show.
I was on two segments with Mike Martz, Clinton Portis, Brandon Jacobs and Dr Ameer. I’m just going to present the questions I commented on that didn’t make the cut. All of the The answers are all by memory, I don’t have a transcript of the taping.
Is the concussion problem a real problem or a perception problem?
It’s both. USA Football came out with a study that found that about 4% of youth football players get concussions, that means the vast majority of kids, 96% don’t get concussions. With the huge emphasis on concussions these days, anything that is even close to a concussion is being diagnosed as one. There is no incentive for Doctors to be anything less than over cautious, which means that 4% number is probably a little high. I have no problem with that, 4% is too high. Can we get that 4% number to 2% or 1%? I think so.
As to perception, yes that is a huge problem. Lots of people think that 30% of youth players get concussions, well the number is about a tenth of that perception. Lots of people think all these NFL guys are dying off in their 50s. The truth is the NFLPA did a study on 3.439 former players that showed the life expectancy of the NFL player is much higher than that of the average US male. Most people don’t know that.
How do you solve for the concussion problem in youth football?
Anything you do has some risk, so nothing anyone does can make the game concussion proof. Heck there’s danger in driving back and forth to practice and games in your car. But with proper coach training and practice approaches teams can have fewer concussions. My personal teams have had just 1 diagnosed concussion in the last 25 years I’ve coached. Of course we do a tremendous amount of progression based form tackling and fits that gets our kids muscle memory for tackling in a very safe position that keeps their heads out of contact. We add to that by practicing without our helmets on for about half of every practice, combined, that has worked for us. While most youth football leagues have mandatory coach training or clinics, maybe it’s time for all of them to have it.
Would you let your son play youth football?
Absolutely, I have one who is a Senior in High School, he played from 2nd grade all the way through High School. My youngest is 7 years old and he can’t wait to play.
How important is winning in youth football?
Winning is important, winning and losing are part of life. Winning validates you are doing the right things. It shouldn’t be the only or highest focus in youth football, but there’s nothing wrong with getting kids in the habit of doing what they have to do in practice to be in put in a position to win games. Winning is just the by-product of doing everything else right.
What were the most egregious error you saw from the Friday Night Tykes Coaches?
First off, each of these coaches did both positive and negative things. Some just did a lot more negative than positive. The worst one had to be Charles telling his kids to target the heads of their opponents. You just can’t do that, when combined with him telling one of his players to tee off on a defenseless Center to “set the tone of the game” was awful.
What advice would you have for the coaches of Friday Night Tykes?
Take a step back and rethink what your mission should be, why you coach. Work with some other successful coaches that you respect to come up with a mission statement. Then work on a plan to execute that mission by investing some time and effort into becoming a better coach. That may mean attending clinics, buying books or DVDs or even getting mentored by someone who can help you become a better coach. The specifics need to include; no more cursing in front of players, safer tackling and practice methods, less space in your drills, keeping the head out of tackling and a refocus on the kids fundamentals instead of obsessing on end product goals. Emphasizing the process goals of getting better fundamentally every practice as a player and person rather than winning championships. If you take care of the process goals, the winning and championships will take care of themselves.
I would like to add that the FNT crew were very professional and did an excellent job on logistics every step of the way. The host was a real pro along with everyone we came in contact with for the show. We had a youth football coaches clinic we did on that Saturday in Boston. We flew Omaha- Boston on Friday. After 7 hours on my feet doing the clinic on Saturday, we flew 6 1/2 hours that night to LA and got to the hotel and in bed at about 3:00 am. The FNT people kept the TYFA coaches and us in different hotels, different green rooms, we never mixed. We here at Winning Youth Football sincerely appreciate FNT and 411 Productions for giving us the opportunity to present the youth football coaching perspective to the show, they didn’t have to do that. They treated us with respect and great care and we appreciate that.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 1, 2014 9:36:27 GMT -6
I don't know- I will ask someone that coaches there
I will be on the show tonight as one of the panelists- Mike Martz, Clinton Portis, Brandon Jacobs and some Drs
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Post by davecisar on Apr 1, 2014 9:34:21 GMT -6
Im a panelist on the show tonight. It's a 90 minute special thing- Im on with Mike Martz, Brandon Jacobs, Clinton Portis and some Drs
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Post by davecisar on Mar 18, 2014 12:38:40 GMT -6
I thought it was important to watch the show because parents and haters of the game are going to be watching it and talking about it. If I don't know anything about the show- I wouldn't be able to talk intelligently about it. It would be like ignoring the concussion issue and saying lalalala with my fingers in my ears.
My take: Ive done over 160 coaches clinics all over the US, including a bunch in Texas. This is NOT a fair representation of what happens on most youth football teams. Most are run by well intentioned guys whose goal is to help develop a love and passion for the game in their players- so they continue to play. If that isn't the case where you live, then do something about it- it doesn't have to be that way. Ive started 2 programs from scratch and we retain over 95% of our kids year to year- Ive lost 1 kid on my own teams in last 6 years- and won 90% of our games. All but 1 of the kids Ive coached through 8th grade played HS ball except 1- who weighed less than 90 lbs as a frosh.
You can have fun, play everyone, retain kids, teach great fundys and win- they aren't mutually exclusive at all. Do everything else right and the wins take care of themselves- a bonus.
The show- you have 1 really poorly coached team Broncos with a nutjob- that is 1 of 14 teams in that age group You have 1 team that is poorly coached- but don't see much damage being done- good to the kids- Rockets JUDSON- which is a legendary power in HS football in that area 1 Pretty well coached team with positive focus Predators 1 Fairly well coached team Outlaws- whose coaches use profanity. They tackle a little high- but do a lot of things fairly well 1 Fairly well coached team- Colts- whose coaches use profanity. They don't sustain their blocks well or tackle consistently but do a lot of other things fairly well
In all fairness- if any of us had several cameras on us 24x7- someone could put together 3-4 minutes of unflattering footage. That doesn't excuse the poor behavior we saw by the Broncos- Colts or Outlaws. You don't see the every day drills or stuff that goes well- you see what will draw an audience. This isn't 1970 or 1980 when you played football or did nothing in the fall. There is competition for getting kids to play football in 2014. Many areas of the country including mine- the best youth programs are in the areas with the best HS football- absolutely the case here- Millard, NE, Elkhorn, NE.
Teaching fellas to coach youth football is pretty easy to do and most when approached properly are willing to take help. And its SO MUCH MORE than running the HS scheme- that should be about 10th on the list of what a HS coach teaches a youth coach IF the goal is retention and building a passion for the game in that player.
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Cost
Mar 11, 2014 12:06:29 GMT -6
Post by davecisar on Mar 11, 2014 12:06:29 GMT -6
Areas differ greatly on how much they charge BUT not all fees are calculated the same and what do they provide.
In my league the Programs charge their fees and then those Programs pay the league a fee for each team which comes out of what they charge.
It's a medium sized league maybe 2500 kids: The variety: Us $175, $150 early bird. We provide all gear and uniforms NO fundraising X- $195 all gear except helmets- no fundraising Y- $175 no gear except uniforms- no fundraising Z- $150- all gear and $100 minimum fundraiser
I live in Nebraska where the cost of living is pretty low- the NATIONAL AVERAGE "all in price" with the org providing gear is in the $230 range
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Post by davecisar on Jan 22, 2014 11:10:42 GMT -6
I did a coaches clinic for about 5,000 of the TYFA coaches back in 2012 and I also interviewed the Executive Producer of the show. Did an extensive article about it on my blog. I know some of the admins fairly well and have had several conversations with the show's producer.
TYFA is a very competitive youth football league of about 25,000 kids in Texas from Austin- Houston- Rio Grande Valley. Huge league.
The show shows some very inappropriate coaching and parenting, it's not what the majority of TYFA or youth football is like. However is does play to the perceptions of many, unfortunately.
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