Post by ajreaper on Mar 24, 2007 9:25:01 GMT -6
Dave- LOL, I've heard words similar to yours before, in fact it is not an uncommon rant made by Pop warner coaches everywhere. It is one reason why many coaches within schools have a strong dislike of youth football coaches- many do nothing but bad mouth and tear down coaches and programs while talking up what exceptional coaches they are (and how in the hell do 12-13 year olds play for "national titles"? that's just silly).
We had an opportunity last year to have our 8th grade teams play against a local youth football "power" (they approached us). I personally opposed it- the team in question had only a few 8th graders- it was mostly 7th graders and a sprinkling of 6th graders but their coach insisted they would compete without any problems. His boys had been playing together for a couple of years they had some gawdy record several had played on a national team or some crap- yada yada yada. To begin with he completely ignored the ground rules we play under- no blitzing, a single defensive front and coverage, no "trick plays" reverses double passes etc. We emphasize blocking, tackling, catching and running at this level. When it was pointed out he had agreed to certain criteria to play teams within our district he said he preferred "real" football and continued to ignore the ground rules he had agreed to- not a very classy way to do business but he was all about winning and building his ego further.
To make a long story short we decimated this team- it was not a game at all. Even with clearing our bench they were man handled in everyway possible. I then I had the pleasure, while picking up yard markers, to hear him tell his players and their parents that he was certain my kids were not 8th graders- we had "cheated".
I am certain of two things- had we never played he'd have told anyone who would listen how superior their program was to ours and since we did play and destroyed him we cheated to do so.
If you love football and the kids who play it in your communitity help build that Jr. high program don't just sit outside of it and thump your chest about how much better your program is- heck you said you had a buddy who was a district AD, you have the connection to truly make a huge difference but you'd rather not try.
We had an opportunity last year to have our 8th grade teams play against a local youth football "power" (they approached us). I personally opposed it- the team in question had only a few 8th graders- it was mostly 7th graders and a sprinkling of 6th graders but their coach insisted they would compete without any problems. His boys had been playing together for a couple of years they had some gawdy record several had played on a national team or some crap- yada yada yada. To begin with he completely ignored the ground rules we play under- no blitzing, a single defensive front and coverage, no "trick plays" reverses double passes etc. We emphasize blocking, tackling, catching and running at this level. When it was pointed out he had agreed to certain criteria to play teams within our district he said he preferred "real" football and continued to ignore the ground rules he had agreed to- not a very classy way to do business but he was all about winning and building his ego further.
To make a long story short we decimated this team- it was not a game at all. Even with clearing our bench they were man handled in everyway possible. I then I had the pleasure, while picking up yard markers, to hear him tell his players and their parents that he was certain my kids were not 8th graders- we had "cheated".
I am certain of two things- had we never played he'd have told anyone who would listen how superior their program was to ours and since we did play and destroyed him we cheated to do so.
If you love football and the kids who play it in your communitity help build that Jr. high program don't just sit outside of it and thump your chest about how much better your program is- heck you said you had a buddy who was a district AD, you have the connection to truly make a huge difference but you'd rather not try.