Boy im pissed off..

I feel your pain. This is one of the joys of coaching in a community. I also think you need to bite the bullet on this one and let them play but also council them that they need to take care of themselves by not diving for fly balls (ESPN style) or sliding, or anything else that would ... and this is what we stress to our kids ... "Cause you to miss out of the FUN of playing football!" We stress that there are many things that you will want to do but what if that one thing kept you from playing football? We let them choose, but if they choose to participate, we ask them to please be smart and remember that they have something coming up that is a little more important than who won "field day softball game." Good Luck!

I feel your pain - just lost our center/Sam/Kicker for 3 months when he sprained his MCL sliding into 3rd in the last baseball game of the season.

Oh make no mistake about it.. there is not placing of value on football above community..

Its going to be this simple.. if you want to play football.. then during football you do no outside activities that will injure yourself..

This goes for AAU Basketball.. softball.. cow tipping.. whatever else they like to do around here..

True story, I was coaching a middle school football team and attending the varsity camp. during camp I see my projected starting qb, the varsity head coaches son, standing on trashcans and leaping into some crash mats. I said to the kid " take it easy, we NEED YOU healthy" and Dad, the head varsity coach heard me and said "ygotta let em be kids coach" and while I dont have any issue with him raising his son any way he wants, I did have issue with being undermined by another coach - his son played our football season with a cast on his arm and had about 6 fumbled snaps. Great kid, great coach, but man that situation still irks me.

You cant control the kids in every decision. We lost a kid who tried to throw a brick onto a roof, the brick went up, came right back down and shattered the kids face. Same season we had a kid try to jump off his roof into his pool. Came up about 4 feet short of the water and was casted.

Kids sometimes do stupid things.

Good point. Last year we also had our Will total his Jeep when he lost control and flipped it...like a NASCAR crash. Came away with a bruise on his a$$.

He walked away from that and the kid pushing a toilet down the street couldn't walk for 3 months. Go figure. Where do you draw the line? Kids can get hurt doing anything.

As long as we're telling our stories, last year our starting QB shot himself in the foot with a spear-gun! Right through the foot! happened early in the summer and he didn't miss a snap but it was telling, as he continued to do "the same thing" on the field at crucial times this season . Still ended up signing with Holy Cross for next year. You can't watch them 24 - 7 and putting restrictions on their personal time seldom work. Sometimes you just gotta laugh - to keep from crying

It is frusterating........


But we don't place limits on what the boys can/cannot.......


We've recruited a ton of skateboard kids. nuff said.

I LOVE skateboard kids!

Had a kid set our season record for passing yards once he came off the skateboard and another one become a 2 time State Pole Vault Champ!

Balance is the single most important attribute for football players, and these kids are not short on it.


Plus, they ain't scared of anything.

I second that!!!!!!

Using the bucket and saucers method of prevention I see....

When everyone talks about these kids doing stupid things...what did you do when you were their age? (Not an attack on anyone.)

Was he a stud? I've been trying to implement a breeding system similar to that in our program. We take our best LB and spread his seed to three of the biggest, nastiest, meanest women in town. We do the same with our best DL. We do it every 3 years.

The finer details of the program still need to be worked out, but I think I'm on to something.

I think as coaches, by nature, we are control freaks and sometimes fail to see the big picture. I am as guilty as anyone else. But I have learned that you can't really control others, you have to motivate them. They will rebel if you do try to control them, and you will alienate people. Ultimately, you will sink your own ship more so than losing your starting tackle for the year would sink you.

Now, during the season, August to November, I agree with you. Football needs to be #1 sport. But with all do respect, I think you a little over the top Air.

We have basketball kids that play basketball year round. Am I supposed to tell them that they can't for fear of losing them during my season? How can I make them choose between football and basketball? That has to be their choice.

It sucks, but kids will be kids. They run, jump, goof around and......get injured. I wouldn't compare a community softball game to a kid who is jumping a dirt bike off a 30 foot ramp or drinking and driving. Now those are stupid decisions!

If its a big deal to the small community, then you have already lost that battle.

Use your skills and abilities to overcome this adversity and move on. Show leadership to the rest of the team that probably feels pretty down that they just lost their starting OT.

But I would not try to limit a kid from being a kid, whether it is a field day or a softball game.

Just my opinion...

hahaha.