TV Review—Friday Night Tykes Episode 1: “Weakness Leaving the Body”

via Hollywood Reporter

“You have the opportunity today to rip their freakin’ head off and let them bleed. If I cut ’em with a knife, they’re gonna bleed, red, just like you.”

“If you believe in yourself, you can do whatever it is you want to do in life.”
— Charles Chavarria, Head Coach, Jr. Broncos

There are a ton of quotable moments in Esquire TV’s new documentary series “Friday Night Tykes,” but those two—said by the same coach at almost the same time—perfect encapsulate the thorny and complicated series.

Which, in turn, perfectly encapsulates the complicated nature of youth sports in America in general, and football in particular.

Before we get too much further here, a few things you should know about the show and the world surrounding it.

In Texas, football is king. Roll your eyes if you want, but it’s true—you need only read Buzz Bissinger’s excellent book Friday Night Lights (which you can bet the title of this series meant to evoke) to know that it’s not hyperbole to say it.

Even before I started coaching youth football last season, I’d heard stories about the intensity with which the game is played at a young age in Texas. To be fair, I have heard stories from throughout the south which echo the same fanatical intensity you hear about in Texas.

So when you watch this show, you have to know going in that this is going to be ratcheted up a few notches beyond what 90 percent of anyone attached to youth football—player, coach or parent—has experienced.

Beyond that, remember that this is a “reality series” more than a documentary. Which is to say, editing for drama is a must.

Which also means we are not seeing well-rounded people—actual people—so much as characters. Because a multifaceted person doesn’t always make for compelling television.

Finally, this organization—the Texas Youth Football Association—does not appear to be a Pop Warner football league, though it may be associated with USA Football, which is the governing body of youth football in America.

They are not associated with the NFL’s youth football safety program, Heads Up Football, according to the website For the Win.

You can tell it’s not a Pop Warner team because not everyone plays—in Pop Warner, everyone has a set amount of plays they are required to participate in, based on the size of your roster.

My son has played youth football both on Pop Warner and non-Pop Warner teams, and both were good experiences, though it is hard to watch from the sidelines when your team is losing and you know you aren’t getting in.

The problem this show—and because of the show, youth football—faces is that most people won’t know any of the above. So this show—for good and ill—is now the face of youth football in America.

And yet, the uncomfortable reality is the picture isn’t all that far off.

In every league, in every city, you have the super-intense coach, the more “positive” coach, and the “lifer” coach. You have the parents who have their son playing because they miss it as much as because their kids want to play, the parents who are clearly uncomfortable but not wanting to make waves and the parents who don’t know enough to know when their kid needs to step away.

Watching the initial trailer, I was put off for a myriad of reasons—not the least of which is that making a documentary or reality show about 8 and 9 year old kids makes me uncomfortable—but as the first episode progressed I recognized that there was far more nuance than I expected.

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty to shake your head at.

image via Awful Announcing.com and Esquire TV

Jr. Broncos coach Chavarria may love to try and give a rousing speech like Vince Lombardi, but he’s far from able to do it.

While he comes off as a blowhard, as you watch the show you can see what he’s trying to do—he just doesn’t have the words or technique to pull it off. Nor does he seem to have the understanding that the way you might fire up or drive a high school kid isn’t likely to work well with grade schoolers.

The most over-the-top coach we see in the initial episode, Chavarria is the one who has a kid puking mid-practice and then praising him for “playing through it.” He’s the one telling his defensive player to jump a whistle and hit the center early to “set the tone” and the coach who is saying he doesn’t care if the other team gets hurt or injured.

Every series needs its villain and Chavarria serves as Tykes’ bad guy.

It’s hard to blame it all on editing either. You can’t listen to him for five minutes and not come away feeling at least a bit off about him and some of his techniques.

But—and here is a hard truth—if you hang around August football practices, you’ll see a slightly less intense version of some of what Chavarria does. Kids run in the heat, kids get banged around and kids sometimes get yelled at. Chavarria may take it to an extreme, but the work is hard and the expectations often high (though it can be said that for 8 and 9 year olds, these expectations are too high).

image via USA Today

The most disturbing moment of the episode is that aforementioned vomiting.

Colby Connell, a 9 year old returning player, gets sick running laps and ends up throwing up pretty violently. Chavarria praises Connell in a voice-over that ‘the kid didn’t quit’ but you’re left with the feeling that maybe the parents and coaches should have made his take a seat for the day.

And here is the difficulty the series will face—while we see a coach pull Connell aside, we don’t see any examination or steps being taken to make sure he is fit to continue playing. And yet, as a youth coach, I find it hard to believe that there weren’t precautions taken. There must have been some time taken to make sure that he wasn’t about to collapse with heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

You don’t see it though, so you’re left wondering whether the Jr. Broncos coaching staff didn’t care or if the editors and producers felt that spending time showing the staff making sure Connell was OK robbed the moment of drama.

And that, more than anything else, was my issue with the show. All too often I was left wondering how much was left on the cutting room floor. I’m pretty sure, for example, that the coaches spent time on proper tackling technique—if just so their own players aren’t hurt. You’d never know it though, as barely a minute is spent total on any sort of coaching beyond admonishing the kids to hit harder, faster and more brutally.

Having been on the practice field, I can tell you that any practice has moments during which a team or coach looks bad or harsh. The team I coached, we spent countless hours drilling the kids on proper technique but if you just filmed our tackling drills, I would imagine we’d look a lot like these coaches. If you filmed only portions of our practices, you might see us yelling at some of the kids (that we were dealing with 12 year olds is besides the point) but not see the positive reinforcement we constantly gave them.

You might see the kids who came early trying to lose weight so they could play sweating and moaning and stumbling, but you wouldn’t see the extra time, effort, support and praise we gave them.

I know all these things and even I had a very hard time trying to keep perspective on what was happening during this show. I can imagine that parents or people who are not or never have been involved in football will look at it and be horrified. And while some of that is certainly justified, some of it is also unfair as we know we aren’t getting a balanced view of anyone.

You’re left with the impression that most of these coaches are insane but the feeling that something is missing.

The show does have a counter-balance to Chavarria and the other coaches in Brian Brashears, the head coach of the Predators.

image via EsquireTV

Brashears, while certainly tough and demanding in his own way, is far more of what people might feel is the “ideal coach” for youth football. While winning is important, he clearly wants his kids to have fun (he even says so—a rarity by any adult during this show) and seems to come across as there for the kids, not because he wants to be Bill Parcells.

During the final ten minutes or so of the show, the Jr. Broncos and the Predators square off and there is definitely a bit of a “good vs. evil” vibe to the setup. Chavarria is angry, grouchy and has a player take a penalty early to “set the tone” (which may seem like poor sportsmanship but is not an uncommon tactic). Brashears encourages his kids, tells them to have fun and comes across as supportive, relatively calm and cool.

In true Hollywood fashion, the white hats beat the black hats but even that feels a bit empty and staged.

Overall, the show is far more intriguing and nuanced than I expected it to be. I came into it assuming I would be disgusted and horrified for 43 minutes—and to an extent that was the case. However, while there are moments that make you cringe, there are also moments which were good food for thought and debate. There are concerned parents, struggling with how far to let their kids get pushed. There are kids who make you wonder how long they’ll be able to—or want to—put forth the massive effort required. There are coaches who go too far and some who seem even keeled.

While I mistrust a lot of what I see and feel that a lot of the events will be made out to be far worse than they are, I am interested to see if the show can strike a balance between the inherent drama of yelling adults and colliding kids with the positive aspects I have seen in my son’s three years playing. How kids can learn leadership, how they can learn to work as a team, how they can overcome adversity.

While Chavarria might seem nuts—and he does—he isn’t wrong when he says that you can learn how to overcome anything if you believe in yourself. You can learn that on a football field and I have seen many kids do so.

Whether we see that in this show is something I am interested in finding out.

My recommendation is to watch, but to take it all with a grain of salt. As I have said before, football isn’t for everybody and every team is very different. Don’t paint every one of them with the same brush as these teams.

Even watching this show, we really don’t know what’s real and what is manufactured.

You can catch the first episode at Esquire.com.

Hey, are you following Dad Moon Rising on Twitter or Facebook? Why the hell not?

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Coaching Dad: Two Practices Down, a Billion to Go

Shit just got real. I have a whistle.

So as you may remember, I started coaching youth football last week.

We had a couple of false starts due to enough rain to make the field too much of a mess to practice on, but we finally got practices in on Friday and Saturday.

It’s a big group of kids and we don’t know where everyone will go right now—different abilities, age ranges and weights aren’t set into their various categories. And more kids will show up over the next week.

Right now I’m not sure exactly what they need me to do—in part because I don’t know where Alpha Tween will be and I will be coaching his team.

We don’t put on pads until we have 10 hours of conditioning at minimum, so until at least the middle of this week, we’re just running, doing agility drills and throwing footballs.

I’ve been—I was going to say “utility infielder” but that’s the wrong sport, H-Back fits better for football—helping out everywhere.

Basically I do whatever they need me to. Friday it was try to direct little flag football kids to run where they were supposed to run, while Saturday (in the rain) was passing the football on short routes to the older kids (which angered the flag kids

streeeeeeetches

who weren’t getting the ball).

It’s been a lot of fun so far and Alpha has been OK when I coach him. He’s been a lineman to this point, so I’ve been working with him and the other kids to get their stances down.

He can be a little silly—not paying attention or goofing around. But it’s the first week so I’m not worried.

Once they put on the pads, he’s always more focused.

It’s been fun so far.

Even if Saturday saw me icing my shoulder for the first time in a decade.

I’m off to practice #3, so we’ll see what I’m icing tonight.

Hey, are you following Dad Moon Rising on Twitter or Facebook? Why the hell not?

ow ow ow ow ow

The Coaching Expirement Begins

So today has been another high-stress, nothing-going-according-to-plan kind of day.

The reward for not losing my mind is to make kids run laps at Youth Football practice today.

Yes, today I become a coach—really more of a coach’s helper.

I can’t be at games on Sunday because that’s when I do my NFL video gig. But as it stands I can help coach for practices.

The aim is to help Alpha Tween’s team as much as I can, once he’s officially on a team (that will depend on his weight in a few weeks).

I have mixed feelings about this for a number of reasons.

First, it is incredibly hard to coach your own kid. Many parents are either too easy or (more often) too hard on their children. Some parents will favor their kids because they’re in a position to do it and think their kid is special. Some parents will be super hard on their kids to avoid the appearance of favoritism.

Then I’m also nervous because while I write about football, putting it into practice with kids is a whole different thing. My responsibilities will probably be minimal, but still I don’t want to screw up.

Finally, I just found out we have coaches meetings tomorrow and Sunday at 8:30am.

So, there goes that sleep.

Anyway, I am excited and this should be a lot of fun.

Hope you enjoy the experience through our eyes as well.

Questions to Consider Before Letting Your Child Play Youth Football (part 2)

So this is the second part of the earlier post on what to consider when thinking about letting your kids play youth football. You can find the first part here.

I say kids because, while not common, it’s not unheard of for girls to play—especially among the younger groups.

Mind you, there are probably a whole host of questions I haven’t covered for the parents of girls which haven’t occurred to me because, well, I don’t have them.

Girls, I mean, not questions. I have plenty of questions.

Back to the point though, in this segment we’ll talk a little more about supporting your kid without being “that parent,” choosing the right team, and checking your (and the kid’s) expectations. Among other things of course.

So there you guy—again ask questions in the comments or on twitter if you’d like. I’m happy to help.

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How do I Support Without Becoming the Next Craig James/Marv Marinovich?

image via theridgewoodblog.net

Ah, helicopter dads.

One day, when I have millions of hours of free time (which is to say, never), I will start a blog called HelicopterParents.com (sidenote from 8/1/13 – It’s going to be a recurring post here at DMR) and fill it with all the horrible and ridiculous things I have seen parents do in many, many different sports.

How can you be supportive without crossing the line? Sure, invoking James and Marinovich is pure hyperbole, but I’ve seen parents do some pretty stupid things.

It can be a fine line between cheering your child on and pushing them too hard, harassing their coach for more playing time, and shouting plays to the kids on the field.

I once saw a dad pull his kid out of a basketball huddle at halftime to coach him up, while the coach was talking. That’s not even the worst of it, but I can’t repeat the rest without dropping language we here at Bleacher Report try to avoid. (sidenote: We here at Dad Moon Rising DO encourage such language so you’ll hear that tale soon in full glory)

There are a few ways to avoid this.

First, make sure your child is your guide. Learn your kid’s limits and respect them. I’m not saying you can’t push them to do better, I’m saying don’t be the parent haranguing their kid when they are in tears and begging to stop playing.

I’m saying be the parent who focuses on the positive, not the negative. You can point out where he or she can play better. Just don’t make that the only thing you point out.

I am in constant dialogue with my son. He’s expressed an interest in playing college ball, and that’s great (he’s 10, next week he could want to be Eddie Van Halen). He’s asked for my help, but I make sure he knows that he is in control, not me. If he tells me “Dad, enough,” then I back off.

That hasn’t happened yet, but that’s not the point. He needs to know if it does happen, I will listen.

Second, let the coaches coach.

image via youthsportsny.org

Both last season’s coach and my son’s new coach have welcomed parent involvement overall, but also have been clear that, on the field, our kids are now their kids. The coaches are in charge.

You want to work on catching the ball, tackling, running routes with your kid? Great. Do it outside practice or game. Sure, you can sneak little tips in during a water break—my son always checks in and asks if he did this or that right. But you can’t do it when the coach is coaching.

Maybe you think I’m being ridiculous, but I see it all the time.

Here’s another thing about letting the coaches coach—be careful not to contradict what they are doing. If I’m going over something with my son and he tells me they do it differently, then I learn how they do it and that’s what we practice.

Finally, control yourself. Again, you think it’s simple but something happens to a great many parents—moms as well as dads—when a game starts. They start out cheering and the next thing you know they sound like that obnoxious fan two rows behind you at an NFL game, screaming at the refs, the coaches, the kids and other parents.

The Incredible Hulk looks at these parents and says “Dude, seriously?”

image via ndcdfw.com

Look, I get it because we all get lost in the heat of the moment when the game is close and the ref blows a call/a kid fumbles the ball/the coach calls a bad play.

You feel your temper rising? Walk away, cool off, breathe. Come back and cheer.

Because that’s all your kids want to hear. They want you to cheer. They don’t need you screaming about a missed tackle. They’ll probably beat themselves up without your help.

If you need to be more involved, get more involved by coaching or becoming a team parent.

What Sort of Conditioning is Suitable for Still-Developing Bodies to Help Prepare Them for the Rigors of Even a Youth Football Season?

This is, to me, a dicey issue because it’s really easy to screw it up. Many parents will assume that getting your kid in shape is much like getting yourself in shape. However, their bodies—even teenagers—respond to certain exercises much differently than adults.

Dr. Bramel cautions parents to ease into it. “Grade-school age kids and teenagers can be prone to overuse injuries if they do too much, too quickly.”

In my experience, coaches suggest keeping it real simple. Stretching exercises, sit-ups, push-ups and jogging to build endurance.

image via the Maine Morning Sentinel

Coach Serrette feels the same way about not going overboard. “You see people buy tons of equipment but most of those people cannot move their own body weight.”

“I am a big fan of body weight exercises,” he says. “You will see me do planks, burpees, mountain climbers with the players.”

Core exercises are key as well, something that I learned watching players train under Travelle Gaines several years ago in California.

“It is the key to overall fitness,” agrees Coach Serrette, “That is what the entire core craze is about. People spend all this time working body parts but you need to do more things that work your entire body.”

Again, I remind parents to keep an eye on their child’s limitations.

Keep in mind that your child will be working out multiple times a week with their team. So once the season starts, I make sure my son cuts back to an easy routine of sit-ups and push-ups a few times a week and I make sure he listens to his body.

If he’s too sore, he skips.

With football, the mentality is to play through pain, but for a child that can be dangerous. If it hurts, you have to give it attention (this goes for conditioning as well as in-season injuries).

“Pain is the body telling you to pay attention to the area of the body that hurts,” Bramel reminds us. “If simple things like rest, ice, stretching and/or a short course of anti-inflammatories don’t alleviate the symptoms, talk to the trainer or see a doctor before returning to play and risking further injury.”

Bramel also suggests that before you start any regimen, you speak with your child’s doctor for advice. I would add that you should talk to their coaches as well. Remember, these are resources and they will have practical experience that can help you avoid mistakes.

Check Your Expectations

You are about to spend an awful lot of time as your child plays football. If they fall in love with it, you could be doing this for years on end. So it’s natural to wonder where it’s all leading.

Can my child play in high school? If they’re good enough, could college ball be a possibility? Will they play in junior college? Division II? FCS? Maybe even FBS?

What about the pros?

As I have said several times in this piece, it may seem crazy to you, but I see parents (and kids) get carried away all the time.

One thing Coach Serrette does is send his parents a little reality check in the form of a link to an NCAA study which lists the percentages of high school athletes in several sports who make it to the collegiate and pro levels.

A table from an NCAA study tracking kids who go from high school to Pro Level (image via NCAA.org)

I was surprised to get this but realized that for many parents, there isn’t always a guidepost on where this could all lead. What is pretty common knowledge given my line of work is not always obvious to other parents.

Coach Serrette doesn’t do this to discourage parents or kids, but to give them a realistic idea of what they face.

“I always tell my players the same thing. Do not shoot for the pros, shoot for college.”

Using football to get an education is certainly attainable for many players according to Coach Serrette.

“There as tons of colleges that will give you money to play for them in the FCS or D-III and I have had more of my players that have gone to smaller schools and received a free education than I have had gone to the FCS schools. I think the goal should always be to play to get that money for college because THAT is truly doable.”

Like everything else, it’s important to go into this with both your and your child’s eyes wide open. Not every child becomes the next Drew Brees, or even Danny Amendola. Many children can use football to help further their education.

What is the Right Team/League for My Child?

This is a critical question, maybe the most critical because it combines a lot of what we’ve already talked about.

via bendbulletin.com

If you’re like me, you may not be spoiled for choice. We didn’t have many teams within a reasonable distance from where we live in Queens. We lucked into what I feel is a great organization in the Queens Falcons. (sidenote and update: Now living in New Jersey we once again have hit a fantastic organization in the Montclair Bulldogs. Seriously, we’re 2-2 which is a blessing.)

If you have a choice—and hopefully you do—you need to research those choices as thoroughly as possible. Search for the organization’s website (most have them now). Call and talk to the president of the group. Talk to the coaches your child will play under. Attend a practice or two.

Many teams will allow a child to try out for a practice or two to see if they want to really play. I assure you that a lot of kids will know the moment they get hit whether this is the sport for them.

Even though we were really looking at just one team, I did all the above. I read everything on the website. I emailed the Falcons’ president. I talked to the coaches. We went to check out the practice.

Think hard about what you’re looking for in a team, how much practice you feel comfortable with, the personality of the coaches, the personality of the kids—heck, the personality of the other parents.

Other parents, by the way, are an excellent resource. While your child is talking to his potential teammates and watching drills, chat with the other parents. More often than not, they are very friendly and happy to tell you what the score is with the team you are looking at.

via gawker.com

Even if you do all of the above, you could very well decide to sign up and, midway through the season, decide that this isn’t the league for you and your child.

That’s fine. You can always continue the search the next offseason, now armed with an even better idea of what you’re looking for.

Even if your child plays a minuscule amount of time, the key is that any team they join is a place where your child can enjoy themselves.

“I try my best, although it is not easy, to make everyone feel a part of the team,” says Coach Serrette. “It does not matter if you play 40 minutes or two, you are a part of the family. You will see that as they get older no one remembers many grand stories of their accomplishments, but they can relive many laughs and jokes from practice.”

What’s the Upside Here? What Is My Child Going to Get out of Playing Youth Football?

Aside from the obvious physical benefits of conditioning and physical activity in a world which sees a greater and greater percentage of childhood obesity, as well as far more interest in playing video games than being outside, youth football has a greater benefit.

Let me illustrate with another anecdote about my son.

image via NY Times

My kid plays a lot of different sports because he’s a natural athlete and he just loves to play. In fact, as much as he loves football, he’s played basketball since he was six or seven.

He’s normally a very quiet guy on the court. He’s an OK player who tends to let others take the lead on the court and is rarely vocal (unless, as kids are wont to do, he’s complaining about a non-call). He’s had the same coach for three years now and that coach has been begging him to step up and be more of a leader. It didn’t happen the first two years, which is fine. We figured, it’s not his thing.

Just over a week ago, he stepped onto the court for his first game of the season and I have to tell you, he was a totally different player. He played more confidently, took more shots, played more physically, and was far more vocal than I have ever seen him playing any sport prior to football.

Confidence. That’s what it was. The first thing his basketball coach said to me after the game was, “That’s football for you.”

If your child plays, chances are you will see a huge difference in their self-esteem and confidence. The change in my son, while also a part of growing up, comes in large part to the confidence he gained playing youth football.

The environment, the intensity, the pure joy of achievement after all the practices, sweat, bruises and hard hits—at the other end of it, knowing that you took everything someone could throw at you and walk away—that’s a big deal.

image via popville.com

Your child will also learn what it’s like to be on a team—a true team where you know that the guys around you  deserve your best effort, because that’s what they give you.

Coach Serrette believes it’s an important part of a boy’s development. “The biggest benefit of youth football is the teaching of responsibility…it’s about the first true introduction into what it means to be a man in society.”

Like football, being a man, Coach Serrette says, isn’t always easy but has its rewards.

“At the end of the day the score means little, but the team, the family, trumps the needs of you as an individual. Understanding that prepares you for fatherhood.”

The coach knows he’s getting a little deep for his charges, but thinks the lessons will linger anyway. “I know an 11-year-old may not see it that way, but it’s the truth and it is a collective lesson of maturity and responsibility, that they will carry throughout the rest of their life—if they get it and what we are selling.”

There are many other benefits you get from a team sport—working towards a common goal, dealing with success and failure.

However, the rigors of youth football can prepare a child for much more. I truly believe, in the right situation, it can build a child up with such confidence, they will believe anything is possible.

And that confidence will serve them well, regardless of what they do long after football is done.

It’s clear that I think highly of the benefits of youth football. I’ve seen the positives with my own eyes and believe it is a great way to build character, confidence and conditioning.

It’s also not for every kid or every parent. More than anything else, you have to make sure that the choice is the right one for your family and your child.

Hey, are you following Dad Moon Rising on Twitter or Facebook? Why the hell not?

image via radioboston.wbur.org

Questions to Consider Before Letting Your Child Play Youth Football (part 1)

image via How Stuff Works

So it’s that time of year, the time when many families are putting together their schedules for the fall and deciding what activities their children will take part in.

As a football writer and a huge fan of the game with two boys, I am often asked how comfortable I am having Alpha Tween play tackle football with all the concussion concerns at the collegiate and pro levels.

So a year and a half ago I was asked by a site called Bleacher Report to pen the article you are about to read. I’m reprinting the whole thing here, but you can always head over there to see it as well as all the other stuff I do.

And I am more than happy to tackle any concerns or comments you have as well.  (sidenote: I’ll be helping assist the coaches on Alpha Tween’s team this season.)

It’s a long article so I split it into two parts. I’ll post the other one later this afternoon.

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It’s a struggle more and more parents are dealing with every year: Should I let my child play football?

I know it may seem a bit soon, but early sign-ups are just around the corner, and many teams (my son’s included) are running winter team workouts as we speak.

Once upon a time the answer was simple. If your son (or in some cases these days, daughter) wanted to play football, then gear up, pop in a mouthpiece and off they go.

No more.

We’re busier now than ever before and time is hard to come by. Children have a ton of schoolwork to keep up with and we are all worried about over-scheduling them at a young age.

Of course, there is the question of the physical toll football can take, something we’re more aware of now than ever before.

Image via Harvard Medical School

As the NFL and NFLPA learn about and discuss the long-term effects of concussions, and doctors and trainers publish articles on the dangers of focusing on one sport alone, all parents will need to do their due diligence before giving their child the green light.

There are questions you have to ask when your kid decides they want to play youth football. Today, I’m going to tackle some of the most important ones and help my fellow parents do the one thing they must do before making any decision: get informed.

First, a little background about me beyond what you see in my B/R profile. I have two kids, one of which began playing tackle football this past fall. He wasn’t going to do it—which was fine by me and my wife—but changed his mind mid-summer. So we did our research and dove in.

It was an eye-opening experience in many ways, despite the fact that I, more than many parents, know what is involved in a football season.

I’ll get into this more later, but for all the hard work and time-consuming aspects of this past season, it was an incredibly fulfilling experience for both my son and I. I’m not saying it will be for everyone, but it can be.

Hopefully I, along with some experts, can help you navigate your way to the right decision for you, your family and, most importantly, your child.

Here are the questions I think parents most need to consider before they gear their child up for a season of youth football.

 

Is there a Right Age for My Child to Become Involved in Tackle Football?

I make a distinction between tackle and flag (or two-hand touch) leagues, as the games are very different. I know, you’re thinking, “Well, yeah,” but if you haven’t played or know someone who has played, figure that even then you are underestimating how different.

Image via bayouthfootball.com

I do recommend having a child learn the basics in a flag league first, so they get a taste of it. I did that with my son and I believe it helped him get the basics—different defenses, offensive theories and plays—down so he was a step up transitioning to full-on contact.

There are two aspects of this question that I believe you must consider: physical and mental/emotional.

Like flag and tackle, these are two different entities and your child might be more prepared in one way than the other. In both cases, the answer varies from kid to kid, but there are some general guidelines.

“There are reasons for parents to be concerned about collision sports at any age,” I was told by Jene Bramel, a fellow Footballguys.com staffer and a doctor who has worked on the sidelines as a team physician for a local high school football team since 2006.

“Younger kids aren’t as likely to generate enough torque and force to tear ligaments or severely strain muscles, but broken bones and concussions are possibilities at any age.”

Dr. Bramel suggests that parents consider their child’s development as they decide. Do they know how to protect themselves well when hitting or being hit? Do they know how to fall? Can they focus during practice to learn these techniques from their coaches?

“After that,” Bramel says,”every parent has a different comfort level with injury. Some parents are comfortable allowing their child to play football at the peewee level, others prefer to wait until closer to middle school age.”

Dr. Bramel says to remember that every sport—soccer, basketball, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, etc.—carries a risk of injury. Football may carry some more risk, but your child can be injured playing just about anything.

image via randyjarosz.blogspot.com

For myself, I was worried about how my son’s body would hold up to the practices and drilling as much as the hitting. I knew it could be a grueling season for him and was determined to monitor him closely.

It was actually far more intense than I expected (more on that in a minute) but he rose to the occasion and was a lot less of an issue than expected.

Emotionally, I was also concerned for my son. He was a physical kid, prone to rough-horsing around, but aside from a few scuffles in the schoolyard, had never been hit. Certainly not like he would here.

A lot of parents forget that aspect of football. “Tackle football is a mental game more than physical,” Queens Falcons coach John Serrette told me.

Coach Serrette has been coaching in the Queens and New York City area since he was 16, becoming the President of the Rosedale Jets at 21 and coaching the Bayside Raiders to a Pee Wee championship in 1999.

He runs his own website, 3ointstance.com, on which he loads instructional videos and other footage to support his players and parents. In the interest of full disclosure, he’s also my son’s coach.

“It is a game where you have to conquer your fears at the door and believe that as one unit you will be trying to attain a goal and that goal is not winning,” he stated. “It is perfect execution of what you are taught. If you execute what you are taught on offense and on defense, the result will be what it needs to be. It is scary for the child at first but again, they get used to it and have to overcome their fears.”

This was my experience with my son.

I talked to him a few times about the rigors of a game and practice. How you can become exhausted mentally as well as physically and how it can be difficult to stay focused for an entire practice, much less a game.

I also wanted him to know that if it was too much, he could let me and the coaches know. While I’d prefer him to finish the season—he’d made a commitment to his team, after all—I’d never force him to do something he didn’t like.

In my opinion, this is critical and both Coach Serrette and Dr. Bramel agree.

Your child has to know they can tell you “enough.” They (and you) have no idea how they’ll respond to that first hit. Or the second. Or the 50th.

You may think your child is a tough little guy, and he or she may break on that first hit. You might think your child isn’t

image via Examiner.com

going to last a snap and they may fall in love with colliding with a ball carrier.

Either way, you have to give them an out. How do you know if your child is emotionally and mentally ready? Can he take instruction? Can he take criticism? Can he hold together when the going gets tough?

All those questions are ones you can answer. Still, you have to be prepared for those answers to be wrong the moment that first hit happens.

 

How Worried Should I be About Concussions?

It’s the hot-button topic of the decade in football, and it should be a concern for every parent. I don’t mean to scare you at all, but it has to be on your mind.

Dr. Bramel agrees. “There’s still much development that happens in the grade school and teen years. Head trauma, even when mild, can affect that development, especially when there are multiple injuries.”

Proper technique and equipment are vital. The technique is ultimately in the hands of the coaches, as will the equipment be at times. However, there are certainly some things you can do to help your child avoid concussions, including making sure they have a properly fitted helmet and chin strap, as well as wearing a mouthpiece on every play.

image via cdn4.sportngin.com

I’ll go a bit further. My son’s league requires a mouthpiece for every player, on every play. I would hesitate to play in a league or team that didn’t.

As we know, players will get their “bell rung” on occasion, and Dr. Bramel says that a child who experiences that—even if they just have a mild headache—must be carefully watched and screened before returning to action.

“It’s just as important to have a healthy respect for head injuries and to keep a watchful eye for even mild occurrences,” says Bramel.

Of course, concussions aren’t the only way your child can get hurt. So I asked Dr. Bramel if there was any way parents can limit injuries, especially through other pieces of equipment like flack vests or rib protectors.

“Parents shouldn’t feel the need to wrap their kids in Kevlar before allowing them to play football,” he says. “If the concern is that high, football may not be the right sport for their child.”

Dr. Bramel did follow that up by saying that thigh and hip pads can help prevent bruising that can lead to other injuries, and “forearm pads, neck rolls and other pads can be helpful depending on the position the child plays.”

So while it is impossible to prevent every injury, we can mitigate some of them with a little extra precaution.

Still, one things must be abundantly clear: this is a collision sport. Players intentionally run into each other as hard as they can. People get hurt. Your child will get banged up and bruised, ankles tweaked and fingers crushed.

If that makes you cringe, I echo what Dr. Bramel said—this may not be the sport for you.

 

What Kind of Time Commitment Should I Expect?

Every league is different, but across the board I can say you will be looking at a significant amount of your child’s time taken up with practices. That’s your time too; you or your husband/wife will be shuttling your kid back and forth to practices as well as games, some of which are on the road.

If that makes you cringe more than the thought of your kid having a 125-pound tackle fall on them, again, this may not be for you.

I will be totally honest here. I knew it was a big time commitment and I was still under-prepared.

My son’s team practiced three times a week—twice on weeknights and once on Saturday morning. Then there were games on Sunday. The practices generally ran about 90 minutes and Saturday were normally two hours.

That’s a huge chunk of time. Consider that this is on top of school and schoolwork (which, for his organization, was a big deal. You don’t do well in school, you don’t play) as well as all other activities.

image via BostonGlobe.com

Twice a week I scrambled to get out of work, drive to pick my son up from his after-school program, get my other son from his after-school program, then drive to practice, which was about 30 minutes away with traffic.

That’s a lot. Now factor in weather, feeding both kids, entertaining the one not playing, and the occasional team-building

bowling trip and suddenly you’re wondering when you signed up for football instead of your kid.

The truth is, you signed up the moment he did. This can be a serious time commitment, even for the littlest guys. You can help alleviate some of the duties by doing things like finding carpool partners, but it’s still a lot of time.

So the two things to consider here are the following.

First, can your child handle the time commitment? I mentioned what can be required of them—multiple practices on top of homework, school and other activities. Remember also that your child will be learning plays and schemes which will be mentally taxing in their own right.

Second, are you willing to sacrifice your time—your evenings, your weekends, your free time—to make this happen for your kid?

Can you find leagues that require less than ours does? Probably. That’s certainly another option. But I will say that the older your kid gets, the more frequent the practices get. So at some point, the question still stands.

Good coaches will give you the tools to help both your child and yourself.

image via youthmuse.com

Last season, my son’s coach made sure the kids were doing what they needed to in school and was in contact with the parents via the team mom to make sure we knew what was going on at all times. He didn’t need us out there at practice, but liked us there because it gave our kids a visual reminder that, hey, we’re here for you.

Coach Serrette told me that, really, that’s much of what a coach wants.

“For a parent, I expect more of the mental support of reinforcing what we teach your child during the week. It is not easy and we will throw a lot of terms at them and we just hope that you help support the staff that way,” he said.

As I mentioned earlier, Coach Serrette utilizes a website to keep his players and parents informed of the goings on. There’s so much, and he doesn’t want anyone lost.

“I always try to keep my parents informed on the ‘why’ I do things. What to look for in the videos on 3pointstance.com—where I load all the game videos as well as instructional videos to help the players to understand our concepts—and how they can improve their child’s performance.”

Every coach supports their team and parents in different ways, just as every parent supports their child in different ways.

Together, parents and coaching staff have to have the child’s back when it comes to making sure they have the emotional, mental, as well as physical support they need.

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So that’s the end of part one. Part two will post later and deal largely with helping your kids get mentally and physically ready, choosing what league is right for your family and what to expect you and your child to get out of youth sports.