My 7 year old son played flag football with a group of kids this spring and they really enjoyed playing together. Now all the kids are going to play tackle in the summer and even though I'm far from the 'never' crowd, 7 years old seems super aggressive to me.
It's going to annoy him when I tell him we're going to hold him out, but that's the direction I'm leaning after I went through one page of the registration form and it required I enter insurance and physician information.
Genuinely curious if there's any legitimate argument FOR kids to start playing tackle football that young.
That being said, after coaching tackle football at the youth level for a little over 10 years, I would be hesitant to allow a kid to play until 4th or 5th grade. That is my opinion.
Just for the record, I spent those years coaching kids in grades 3-6.
I agree 100%. I really believe that kids before high school should play as many sports as they can. It is better for their body, and it may open them up to something they truly enjoy.
Same for me. I don't understand the question- I suspect it gets more dangerous as they get older...I don't want him ever starting.
Flag football is a nice option. My son's league was quite competitive. This wasn't an option when I was a kid, I only played football in the backyard.
I know a guy who played with Steven Jackson (oregon state and Rams star) in pop warner and said he was pretty sorry back then and didn't even start. Conversely I knew a number of guys who were the stud athletes in middle school who never grew up.
As far as the safety aspect goes with CTE, I often wonder about it now, but I wouldn't say anything I did in youth football made any difference there. I didn't get a concussion until summer camp of my senior year.
I agree with both of your positions and is my plan for when my kids get to that age.
In my HS, 8th grade has its own team, so i played then. Played throug high school and into college.
I adore football and think kids should play, but 7 is too young. 12-13 is a good place to start. Flag football is great when younger
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Age overal dosent matter but for each player it does. they have to comit to playing the right way. The rules are more structured the younger you play.
My son is entering his 4th year of tackle this fall as 10 year old. He played 1 year of fall flag and plays flag in the spring. The collisions in flag are just as hard and nobody is prepared for contact and they have no protection.
The questions you need to ask is do you want him to play the game at all? And do you trust him to protect himself?
My son played baseball and basketball growing up and was always better suited for football athletically (big and a bit slow lol). He was interested in football when he was 8-9 but I didn't like the coaches in our town or how they ran the team. They would come to practices and try to recruit him. We held them off and when he was 12, they came back. This time, I gave him the option and he didn't want to play. Too many of his friends had gotten hurt and missed time in baseball and basketball.
So my recommendation would be hold off for now and revisit when he's older. If my son had decided to play, I'd have been concerned for his health but he'd be older and more ready to deal with a coach who's an asshole and a bit more able to protect himself on the field.
sounds about right