"Intensity" of Jr. High programs in your area

We have it, but it is WAY less intense. I wish it was more intense than it is but in order to do more you must have the support of numerous parties and that support just isn't available in this area unfortunately.

Our seventh grade scrimmages other teams and there are no special teams.
Eighth grade plays full out games.

IMHO, that is RIDICULOUS. Where to start? I choose to run the incoming frosh lifting over the summer because I trust myself to intro them the best and get them just to learn the ropes. I would say at least 1/3 of them are not yet physically mature enough where they are ready for heavy lifting. And yet they are having 6th graders go 3X a week, bad.

To be fair, I think a lot of people go overkill on the HS level, but to do so on the youth level is uncalled for. I've never been in an area with dirret MS feeders, but have been in places with a lot of big time youth programs (NYS, Pop) that have seasons going year round. Ive seen a fair number of kids ware down (both physically and mentally) because theyve been going full contact 8-10 mos. a year since they were 10 years old.

I just don't get guys who act like they're freaking Lombardi to a bunch of 11 year olds; but lord knows theyre out there. Convincing parents that what they do will help lil johnny get into the best HS and a college scholarship.

As obvious I am VERY much against this, and think that we should all do whatever we can to prevent things like this from becoming the norm.

For comparison, we have...

beginning in May, 3 days a week speed and agility sessions, 90 minutes each. Only one session each day, 7th and 8th work together. Sometimes a fourth day for passing league games. Our biggest rival begins workouts in November...

7th and 8th each play a separate six game regular season schedule with a scrimmage and a jamboree, possibly two additional games in the playoffs for each grade level.

no spring football, but there are influential people fighting to change that (to 10 practices)

three coaches (but five supplements, so five is possible), but that is the total for two teams (7th and 8th).

---I picked less intense, but after reading what I wrote, I'm thinking it's not much less...

Agreed..with the cutting of the coaching stipends (i am sure you have recognized this was the school that coachnix was referring too in his thread when discussing "jumping ship") But I don't think losing a few coaching spots, or athletic PE in JR. HIGH (I can't believe that one) would really temper the "intensity" of the program. They would just have a few less position coaches.

The "genie" here, is the idea that success = state championships, and in order to reach that level then programs must be run like LSU or Bama.

I sure as heck wouldn't want to be the guy who came in and said "Ok, we are going to do less here...and remember that this is jr high ball... not the SEC" You would have to win almost a decade of titles to prove your method valid....

What state is this in?

We don't have Junior High/MS Football.

Heck the Ann Arbor Public Schools just cut funding for all Freshman sports except Football. Junior High athletics were cut earlier.

Arguably the most successful program in my state since the mid70s has junior high football but they play no games. Everything is intramural. Massive numbers.

Here we have spring ball, 7 on 7 (held by some of the colleges and schools), some off season conditioning type work, play 10 games plus 2 scrimmages and have a 3 class state playoff system for 8th grade and a single class 7th grade state championship.

For use personally it goes like this. This year we threw for 30 min before school 2 days a week for the past 2 months or so. We have full pads spring for 2 weeks starting tomorrow with a spring game. A couple of 7 on 7 with local schools. We also have a speed box that will be arriving this week. Take part of the summer off and come back in July.

Now one of the best schools in the state does not have Jr high football. They do the a local league of about 4 teams. Have a few guidelines and some 8th grades will play frosh football. I honestly think it is the best way to go. They develop sooo many players this way and they play versions of the HS offense and defense all the way down. They include rules that require a certain amount of passes in a game. Homer Rice set the whole thing up when he was the HC at the HS and its been a tradition ever since.

Calling BS on this. I've trained with and studied under some of the top strength and condition coaches in the country while I was in college. One that coached at the Pro, D1 College level, and Olympic level. They all have done studies on this theory about lifting at young ages stunting growth and having negative effects; all of it was found to be false. We had a community weight training program in our gym for youth lifters and we had kids age 7-18 in the program. One of my coaches original lifter from when he started this program trained for 11 years with him and reached the 08 Olympics. No kids have had any issues and the program started in the early 90's.

I'm originally from Texas and we had the exact program (much like the original post) with 5 days of lifting all the way through middle school and high school. Our program was very successful 17 playoff appearances in 20 years 3 trips to the state championship. Most of us could bench body weight and squat 2x body weight by freshman year; we weren't freaks either just a bunch of country boys that work hard.

I'm currently a H.S strength coach and we lift 4-5 times a week since I've been there and I have seen great improvement. The reason these kids seem not physically mature is because most kids never do any weight training til their freshman year. They sit on couch eat fat loaded food and play video games and watch TV.

By starting kids young they get that 1-2 year motor development stage knocked out while their in middle school. Therefore, they get solid gains starting freshman year or maybe even 8th grade. Kids that do not lift in middle school don't start getting them big gains til 10th or 11th grade. Ive noticed in 3 years at this position that the kids that do have weight training 3-5 times a week in middle school usually start or contribute on varsity sooner and have a better chance of getting looks by college. Were a small private school and get kids from all over most middle schools do not lift here in Louisiana.

The key is to start very basic with nothing but a bar on every lift kids cannot increase weight til they have perfect form for all reps. That rule applies even as they get older and stronger. There should also be NO sharp stabbing pain (soreness is okay). If kids feel pain they lower the weight immediately.

2 MS/JR Hi in our district that feed us, each school
-8th grade team
-7th grade team
-6 total coaches
-8 game schedule in their 'conference'

In SC, no 6th grader can compete in interscholastic competition, and you aren't a 7th grader until you 'graduate' from the 6th grade IE leave the building/grade. So that means you can't practice in a sport until the summer before your 7th grade year, so no spring ball is allowed for rising 7th graders.

Rising 8th graders will go through 10 days of spring ball, but NO contact is allowed per state rules. We schedule the MS practice before the varsity practice so we HS coaches will work with them as well.

Rising 9th graders also fall under this rule since football is a collision sport and you are not allowed to participate in varsity level/HS level competition until you 'graduate' 8th grade. So the rising 9th is allowed spring ball BUT can't put on pads either. So the rising 9th works with the MS kids during spring ball.

MS kids right now work out 2 days a week. They are bused over to the HS and work out for about 90 minutes. Basic movement lifts, with emphasis on technique instead of weight. They will continue this schedule into the summer, with the skill kids splitting this time between lifting and throwing. The OL kids split their time between lifting and OL specific work.

Coach--just to be 100% CLEAR.. I wasn't posting this in anyway to try and pass judgement. I was just curious as to what the environment was in other places. Also, I find it nearly shocking that this type of intensity just started in 2009. I would have guessed it would have started way back when Don took over WM in the 90's.

Curious if you have any idea what the Jr. High programs at Ruston or Ouachita typically look like. I would also be interested to see what the Jr High teams that feed Acadiana do.

For all the excess of our JH stuff, the youth league has the opposite problem. Like Dave, we only have two weeks from the league standing up to the first game, with only two practices a week. Unlike Dave, the vast majority of these kids have never seen a real football before. It's a major safety issue trying to get these kids contact-ready and getting 6 plays installed. With the rules they have to mandate passing you lose a lot of practice time teaching hitches, which are rarely completed, because you spent practice trying to teach them how to block and tackle. There has to be a better balance.

I coach at Calvary in Shreveport,, at mid-term we get the 8th graders that will be 9th graders in the fall lifting and running with the varsity. It has helped bridge the gap with the older and younger players. The 8th grade has a 7 on 7 team that has joined a league of 7 on 7 in Marshall Texas. The kids lift from the 7th grade on. We played 10 to 11 junior high games last year but this coming year only plan to play 9 if everything works out. We have a 7th grade team and a 8th grade team. We also have a youth Cavs league from 2nd grade though 6th grade. These young 8th graders will be more than ready to play their frosh schedule in the fall with possibly 3 or 4 that will start. We had 2 start as frosh last year at corner with us playing a 2A schedule but playing Carencro, West Monroe, Teurlings Catholic and Natch Central in nondistrict. It has certainly helped our kids for sure.