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Post by davecisar on Nov 7, 2012 11:57:04 GMT -6
We are giving back to our youth football coaches again this year Recognizing them for their efforts this season- Our Youth Football Coaching Awards for 2012: Deadline to apply is December 15th
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Post by davecisar on Nov 2, 2012 11:40:08 GMT -6
Nervousness, STEALS the joy kids have when they play youth football, it can also make your team play very poorly. Some things I do to help keep the kids loose- ESPECIALLY as many of us are playing Championship Games now:
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Post by davecisar on Oct 30, 2012 13:25:09 GMT -6
Deuce
Well done! Congrats
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Post by davecisar on Oct 30, 2012 11:55:29 GMT -6
Every week is a crap-shoot... That has not been my experience. I see teams that win consistently all of the time, and I don't think that they are recruiting better than other youth programs. I agree Here the best coached 7-8th grade teams pretty much consistently win This isnt my first year coaching youth ball- over 20 years of obsercations in many different leagues- different cities etc There may be a "perfect storm" year every 5-7 years, but it is VERY rare. They do it with average kids. Go 8-1, 7-2, maybe 6-3 with average kids, when they have a great bunch they go 10-0, when the perfect storm hits, they go 3-6 etc
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Post by davecisar on Oct 30, 2012 11:47:04 GMT -6
2012 Season Results- 3-4 Grade 10-1 Division Champions Won 2 extra out of state games against pretty good teams Scored 460 pts and first team D only gave up 48 Lost 1 player All signed up to play again next season
Eagles 48 -6 Eagles 38 -0 Eagles 26 -6 (non league) Eagles 48 -14 Eagles 34 -0 Eagles 49 -8 Eagles 48 -6 Eagles 54 -12 Eagles 26 -32 Eagles 48 -8 (non league) Eagles 30 -6 (non league)
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Post by davecisar on Aug 14, 2012 18:22:56 GMT -6
Make sure that the troublemaker is NOT welcomed back- send him on his way to be a pain in someone elses behind
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Post by davecisar on Aug 7, 2012 7:35:18 GMT -6
No clue why any youth team has to start practices before the 2nd week in August. Starting before that is crazy. This is youth football, not high school. If you start playing games on August 18th you would We start practice on July 30th- 3 weeks until game 1 We will practice less than our competition and in the last 5 years we have had the best winning % as an Org in a 100+ team league Up North is starts snowing in late Oct, early Nov Also with daylight savings time no lights after late OCt MANY leagues want to be done by then We arent a rec league- the kids want to play 10 games That is the Clue
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Post by davecisar on Aug 7, 2012 7:32:42 GMT -6
Be fair IMO 2 Years ago I had a very good team returning The other team was very young and not as talented After our first week- I sent him a level 8-9 player. He would have started 1 way for me- would start both ways for the other team and be "the man" The following year I was in his boat and he helped me out What goes around comes around
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Post by davecisar on Jun 14, 2012 9:13:20 GMT -6
The only thing negative that is coming out of this is that my opponents will probably be forced to bird dog plays which will make them better LOL- good one Weve practiced with our helmets off for 1/3 of pratice for maybe the last 10 years You can get GREAT at tech without full contact to the ground Probably a bit of reach- goal is to get guys away from making kids hit straight up in LARGE spaces- which is where most of the head injuries happen in youth football.
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Post by davecisar on Jun 14, 2012 9:10:47 GMT -6
Shotgun had best answer IMO Keep them together- run same system- same drills- coaching philosophy But split teams evenly via draft Stacking teams is unethical and will tear an Org apart IMO Leverage the good coaches you have across both teams- via combined practices- indys together, groups side by side, team- side by side Build your coaching staff- when your best O-line coach is coaching ALL the O-linemen during indys and side by side in group- ALL your O-line benefits from his coaching AND you are building new O-line coaches- those that are listening etc Best of luck
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Post by davecisar on May 25, 2012 13:06:58 GMT -6
Coach.
36- divide into two teams of 18 each- VERY doable 23 is the perfect number at that age IMO
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Post by davecisar on May 17, 2012 11:41:59 GMT -6
Youth Coach here- something that's worked for me: Call the cadence The scout QB seems to like wasting time and giving his buddies as long a breather as they can make happen 3 X 5 cards with plays We let the C go early and set up then we break Run to the LOS- as soon as the linemens feet are close to being set I start calling the cadence Looks sloppy early on By game 2, going pretty quickly
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Post by davecisar on May 14, 2012 9:02:58 GMT -6
From my blog today:
Defending Our Game If you haven’t been camping out under a rock for the last few months, you know our game is under attack. The game we love and devote so much time to in order that our sons and players can gain the life lessons most of us learned from the game, is being viciously assaulted on many fronts. Some are calling for an out right ban on youth football or not allowing kids to play until age 13. One of the major problems in today’s society is that perception is reality and that perception is shaped by those who are yelling the loudest and the most often. In all fairness, there are football people who did offer up some kindling to get this firestorm started. The NFL and it’s “Bountygate” scandal didn’t do the game any favors. It is disappointing and reprehensible that to think this was allowed and encouraged to happen by both management and players. While the youth game isn’t the NFL, many soccer moms think that youth football is a microcosm of the NFL and what happens in little Johnny’s league is just a mini version of what happens in the NFL. We also had some youth coaches who didn’t understand how to teach safe blocking and tackling or how to recognize concussions. While those coaches are rare today, their legacy lives on. And like it or not, soccer moms make a lot of decisions on whether little Johnny is allowed to play youth football or not. As most of you are well aware, Bountygate is the least of our worries. The concussion issue is what is dominating the airwaves these days. Concussion diagnosis and prevention has been a point of emphasis for the last 2-3 years. More fuel to that fire was added when Hall of Fame player Junior Seau died of an apparent suicide last week. Speculation was that his depression and subsequent suicide was caused by concussion issues. The Seau suicide was a tragedy, by all accounts Junior was a solid citizen. However there is no evidence that concussions played a role in his death or even that suicide rates are higher among NFL players than the general population. It should be noted that Samoans have one of, if not the highest suicide rate in the world and the US has a very high suicide rate compared to other developed nations. Another interesting scientifically verified statistic is that former NFL players live much longer than the general population. Did you have any idea that was a verified truth? Many would have you believe that all these former NFL players break down and die prematurely in their 50’s. Well that isn’t the case at all, they are OUTLIVING the general population. A study was commissioned by the players union to study this very topic. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh), began it’s data collection in 1990 and released its findings in January, 2012. They studied 3,439 players who were in the N.F.L. for five seasons or more. They found a lower death rate among former N.F.L. players than among men in the general population — the institute had expected to find that 625 members of the group it studied would be dead based on estimates from the general population, but instead found that 334 of the retired players had died. Yes, those alive were almost DOUBLE the number compared to the general population. These numbers are amazing considering the number of 300 lb plus players and African-American players who are in the NFL, since these groups typically have much higher early mortality rates than the general population. So the next time someone spouts off that National Enquirer like “stat” that NFL players are all dying prematurely in their 50’s, please set them straight with the facts. When it comes to youth football, again it’s an entirely different game. We don’t have 300 lb players who can run 4.8 40 yard dashes and who can bench press 225 lbs 35 times. Statistics say that 70% of youth players won’t play High School football, let alone be part of the 2-3% that go on to play College Football or be one of the 1 in 20,000- 30,000 to go on to play in the NFL. The NFL is the cream of the cream of the cream of the crop, genetic freaks who have honed their bodies into athletic machines capable of inflicting significant hits to one another. But the NFL players abilities have very little correlation to what the average 10 year old can do with his body and in turn to other players. In fact the Mayo Clinic did a study of 913 youth football players on 42 different teams age 9-13. Back in 1997 they found that “most injuries that occurred were mild and that youth football injuries were uncommon.” According to Mayo Clinic spokesman Michael J. Stuart M.D the findings showed that “the risk of injury in youth football does not appear greater than the risk associated with other recreational or competitive sports.” Most of the injuries were mild and the most common type was a contusion, which occurred in 33 players. Four injuries (fractures involving the ankle growth plate) were such that they prevented players from No player required hospitalization or surgery. Again scientific fact flies in the face of those who would want you to believe that you are somehow an irresponsible Neanderthal parent if you want your son to play youth football. Most of us coach youth football because the game did something for us and we want to pass that same thing onto others. We want kids to experience being part of a team, teamwork, perseverance, selflessness, goal setting, commitment, hard work, making friends, being coachable, delayed gratification, humility, grace, overcoming obstacles, competition, having fun and much more. There are people out there who for whatever reason either don’t understand what youth football is about, had a bad experience from a “bad apple” program of coach or simply oppose kids learning and embracing some of those traditional character traits listed above. Don’t let the haters and naysayers dominate the “debate.” Know the facts and Share the data so people can make legitimate and honest decisions about their child’s involvement in youth football. An additional footnote, I’ve coached youth football for over 25 years and not a single one of my players have ever been diagnosed with a concussion from anything they did on the football field.
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Post by davecisar on May 9, 2012 9:32:15 GMT -6
Public Youth Coaches Clinics Denver on June 6th and Seattle on June 23rd
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Post by davecisar on May 3, 2012 12:18:32 GMT -6
Updates to my clinic schedule Both are private clinics but the coaches running them are good fellas and will let you attend if you arent competing against them- e-mail them directly- all up to them and I imagine they will charge you something
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Post by davecisar on May 3, 2012 8:18:20 GMT -6
Unfortunately, this is the world in which we live Can we change it? Probably not That's one of the reasons I wont ever go over 50 pts= I dont want my kids not to have a place to play One season we scored 3 TDs in the first quarter of 8 games- yet never went past 49 pts etc That in a 100 team league- no one else would take us Im sure- we cant even get outside league teams to scrimmage us or play extra games etc Be self aware and understand who you are dealing with- you cant cut off your nose to spite your face when it comes to kids- lots of ways to influence them without winning in blowouts every week etc
Even when you bend over backwards and do everything right, those that fail will look at you and cast stones to make themselves out less to blame for their failure- even if it is just in their own minds. Many youth coaches dont have a clue what is actually possible with the right priorities, pace and teaching methods
If you have other- better options- go for it Sometimes you dont- or have exhausted your options Whenever you leave, do so with a smile on your face and with no hard feelings- you just never know what the future brings, circumstances change, leadership changes etc Best of luck
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Post by davecisar on Apr 21, 2012 7:08:00 GMT -6
thanks for the input. It sounds like this is more common than i thought. There are people that are willing to step up and not just complain but the problem is that none of the sitting members will vote them in because they know that their way of running business would be in jeopardy. Our fund raising coordinator is new and they are running her out of town because she does bookkeeping for work and saw that nothing is being documented correctly. Instead of fixing it, some members are "bullying" her and talking trash about her to the parents. An example of how crooked the org is, our league lost its non-profit status for not filing taxes. Some of our sponsors are backing out because they cant write off the $ they donate because we arnt non-profit anymore. Instead we have to fundraiser our butts off. We usually raise $7-8K for fund raising on top of our regular registration. The league is making $ but no-one can see where the $ goes. All that $ coming in and no taxes being paid out. We will be lucky if the IRS doesn't take our assets. Our latest issue was someone spent $600 at BJ food club, but no-one would say who spent the $. The parents are not happy having to spend all this time/effort using their kids cute faces asking strangers to buy raffle tics, donate etc. just so the checking account gets bigger for a loose board to use it as they see fit, which some suspect the $ goes into certain pockets. Its not like our equipment is top of the line. Most helmets are about 8 years old and the pads are entry level. Its just very frustrating knowing there isn't much we can do other than find another league. Thanks for letting me rant. You can get instant non profit status by signing up as an AYF team, paying the $25 per team and doing the subjogated 501 c3 with them You dont have to play in an AYF league to do so
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Post by davecisar on Apr 16, 2012 17:54:46 GMT -6
Where I live- the Jr High programs- 7-8th grade play 4 games- 8 minute quarters and just 2 weeks to prepare for their first game- 6 week season. By state law, I kid you not, they can not play more games. Some HS teams allow the younger kids to lift with them- a few- nothing in Spring etc, maybe a 2 day camp in the summer
Most of the better youth players play club football. They all vary as to start dates, end dates, practice times etc League we are in Starts practice 8/1 and gets done 10/30 While many of the teams practice more- we go 3 nights a week- once school starts 2 nights a week. We go 2 hours a night, never more. We play 8-11 games depending on how deep you go into the playoffs and if you decide to do a travel game etc We do a 2 day camp We dont do spring football etc Seems about right for this area Not sure how you get 40 kids in during an 8 minute quarter, 4 game season Our quarters are 10 minutes long and we limit team sizes to 25 and we play everyone
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Post by davecisar on Apr 13, 2012 7:53:40 GMT -6
Have youth coaches speak to youth coaches Youth coaches understand the equation- lots of HS coaches dont
Where are you located?
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Post by davecisar on Apr 5, 2012 13:51:34 GMT -6
We imbed messages in text boxes in the film
First player to e-mail me the words- "film junkie" gets a Nestle Crunch bar at next practice First player to e-mail me the words- "I'm watching" doesnt have to carry gear this week
We imbed the "secret word" for the film and every player has to be able to whisper it to us if we ask that day
If you include a lot of positive reinforcement in the film via text box, the kids will watch
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Post by davecisar on Apr 5, 2012 10:55:19 GMT -6
We dont do full contact for more than 1/3 of our practice for the last 16 seasons We work a ton on tech, progression steps, fits, footwork etc We dont even have our helmets on for 1/3 of every practice You can learn the basic fundamentals and scheme work without a ton of full contact work- of COURSE it has to eventually be repped at full tilt, but that portion of the learning proccess doesnt have to be more than 1/3 of practice Also- note the teams I see scrimmaging the most- usually have the worst records, those that are perfecting tech and fundys are the very best After the first month BTW we only team scrimmage about 10 minutes per week
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Post by davecisar on Apr 4, 2012 7:13:40 GMT -6
Doug
We do weekly Character Themes for all 3 of my teams We do an e-mail story, poster they print out and we do a discussion on Thursday The players that exhibit that trait in a big way that week are awarded one Kids LOVE that kind of stuff and wear them to school--show off- free advertising for your program
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Post by davecisar on Apr 2, 2012 13:49:04 GMT -6
This was posted on the HS side of this site I know a lot of youth guys dont go over there much We use both dog tags and wrist bands to help us teach and reward character themes and reaching different "levels" Great place to buy these- and very very inexpensive: www.theawristocrat.com/personalized-id-dog-tags.html
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Post by davecisar on Apr 2, 2012 10:17:27 GMT -6
We will be in Baltimore in 2 weeks- 4/14 Will be near BWI- anyone know of a good local spot to eat at? Will not have a car- cant go to the Inner Harbor or Fells Point etc
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Post by davecisar on Mar 29, 2012 16:59:22 GMT -6
We spend equal time on offense and defense and do them on seperate days Dont forget about special teams- they're important too
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Post by davecisar on Mar 28, 2012 8:42:46 GMT -6
If youre happy with it, the entire deal, fits your needs, that's all that matters Looks good to me Best of luck
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Post by davecisar on Mar 11, 2012 16:51:18 GMT -6
Call me crazy, but our kids love splatter drill without pads. And the splattee seems to learn that contact doesn't hurt. Pads and gear are scary for some kids. Has not been my experience at all SPlatter is a great way to ease kids into contact once we have mastered the fundatmental form of tackling with our snug progression, angle form fit and line fit "tackling" With the last 16 teams Ive had- really can think of only 1 player still turning his shoulder and trying to avoid contact After those 3 form movements Splatter is next Then close quarters- zero room full contact tackling Then to circuits, those that can handle more distance are given it Then 3 SLot Challenge Then Open Field- one move, 10 yard box, circle the wagons, Oklahomas, 3 level Oklahomas, Stalk Keep Away Tackling, tackle baseball All on circuits so kids are in groups with drills they can handle Doesnt count the 100s of tackle fit movements we do that are tacked on to almost every defensive indy drill we do- Ms, Tugs, slide run slides etc etc
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Post by davecisar on Mar 9, 2012 11:30:58 GMT -6
If you guys are in Nashville I get in early enough to meet for dinner and drinks- PM me if you want to get together and talk some football:
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Post by davecisar on Mar 5, 2012 9:23:24 GMT -6
My QBs have been going to Coach Slacks camps We use his videos to train our coaches how to coach QBs I recommend both
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Post by davecisar on Mar 5, 2012 9:21:45 GMT -6
Splatter tackling is what we use for that AFTER he has perfected the base snug, angle form fit, baby steps fit After Splatter, then it's close quarters tackling- they are less than 1 foot apart, dummys set 10 feet apart- no room for big hits Base block destruction form- then form with tackle fits Eventually all brought together live Been a long time since we had one of those- that went past the first 30 days without ever getting over fear of contact If he doesnt get over it, you put him in zero space so he doesnt get hurt
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