That might be too young I'd encourage him to play a sport with involving more skills (t-ball/soccer) to let those skills develop if he still wants to play football at 10 or so than I'd say go for it... I started playing 7th grade I'd say half the kids had never played before and the others started in elementary ...but they didn't have a huge advantage of the ones that never did b/c its really all about size,speed, strength and really at that age just pure fat...... Now a kid that never played basketball,baseball, probably soccer will never catch up to the other kids at that age....... To me by far the best sport to watch but takes the least amount of skill to play....
this video should end your dilemma <embed src="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/player.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="id1=80840478" wmode="opaque" width="567" height="345" allowfullscreen="true" />
We let our kids play any non contact sport until 9, then at 9 if they want to play tackle they can. 5 is just too young for tackle football IMO....and if the kids are 5 - 8, imagine how he will feel when 8 year olds blow through his tackles and he can't catch them? Wait for him to mature a bit. DD
I'm confused. You took him to the practice to see if he wanted to play, knowing that it was tackle football. Now that he wants to, you're concerned about his safety? Why the hell did you take him out there? That said, I agree with most of you that it's way too young to play any sport like that. Why would anyone want to start the concussion train at 5 years old? Plus, there's a huge difference between a kid who's 5 and one who's 8. Just sounds dangerous and kind of stupid.
Can we STOP this cruel game! And allow the boy to keep ONE shred of diginity! For God's sake, I can't STAND to see him in all this pain!! You VICIOUS BASTARDS!! Let him play football!! Is it so bad to see somebody happy?! So just let him PLAY!! For the LOVE OF GOD, let the boy play some football!! Good Lord!! Spoiler
Have the kid play basketball and develop basic athletic skills and hand-eye coordination. It is ridiculously stupid to play football before at least Jr. High. Little boy bodies weren't made for it and there is no way some kid's dad is going to know enough to coach that age successfully. (I guarantee the coach's kid plays QB because the coach was once a second string offensive guard on JV.) How do you pick a position at that age? It's impossible. Their bodies haven't developed, they don't have any strength, etc. Football is way too specialized for little kids. Kids at that age should participate in sports where everyone is more or less equal and you're asked to learn the full suite of skills. Pee Wee football is a waste of time, an invitation to burnout and injury, and teaches kids little about real football. Let your boy develop playing stuff like basketball, baseball, even (shudder) soccer. Keep the pads off of him until at least 7th grade.
6 is too young. Wait till he's 7 or 8. I'm not going to lie, football is a great sport to play when you're pissed off. Its not like I aim for them to get paralyzed or suffer a serious injury that's just plain Kevin Garnett dirty... but if I can send someone on the ground keeling in pain or gasping for breath it relieves a lot of stress and anger, not to mention it feels pretty good. Unless your child bulks up or gets a lot faster he's going to be the one keeling in pain and gasping for air.
This is what I was thinking. There can be a big difference in the size of children between the ages of 5 and 8.
If he starts playing in 7th grade, he will more than likely not see any playing time, and never play. Most Jr. High coaches have 2 teams and 80-100 kids, they are not going to take time to coach anyone up. If you don't play peewee, you will not be on the field in JR high, unless you are a freakish athlete etc. DD
I don't buy that at all. You're telling me an 8 yo kid knows he's going to play defensive end or center or WR in high school and is deliberately working on his technique and getting coaching on his technique in the pee wee years? Before he even knows what kind of body he will grow into (or not)? By Jr High it's not so much about what kind of athlete you are (though being a good one helps a great deal) as to how willing you are to hit somebody and be hit by somebody. If you truly have a Jr. High coach who would not coach up a kid who wants to hit because they didn't play pee wee you have a sucky coach. If your kid is not getting coached up in 7th grade it is probably because he doesn't want to get hit. Nothing wrong with that, just not the mentality demanded by the game. The other flaw in your post is that it assumes you get good coaching in pee wee. No doubt there are good pee wee coaches, but if you're depending on lucking into one of them to coach up your kid so they are ready for Jr High ball, well, based on what I know about legit football coaches I would say that's a losing bet for most people.
hehe...the bipartisan state of the responses falls in line with the feelings we are having. We had no idea the level of contact that these kids would experience...so the visit to the practice was, in part, as much for my wife and I as it was for my son. Unfortunately I have never played organized football. When it was time for everyone to start playing junior high ball, my mother didn't want me to play. I regret it to this day that I didn't get a chance to at least try it. Additionally, there was a team of 10-12 year olds practicing right next to us...and during their practice, three of the kids left the practice due to injuries. Of course they were hitting significantly harder, much larger and running faster than the 5-8 year olds. While I don't want to give my son the wrong idea about "hey, let's get real excited about this and then rip the rug out from your feet", I'd almost rather wait till he's a little older before throwing him into that situation. I think he's more excited about the group interaction as opposed to actually playing the game. Hell, Bobby Boucher didn't bloom until his 30's...so I guess there's hope. :grin:
Football at that age does NOTHING for future football goals. I have a son who didn't start football til 7th grade. He is now a Freshman at College, with a Full Academic AND Football ride. He will most likely start in his First Game next week. An D1-FCS school. Was very close to getting a football ride at an SEC and a Big 12 school.
BTW....play Little League. Baseball is the best sport for ages 5-12, imho. Develops hand-eye coordination.
I would say you probably know your son best. If you have a talk with him and he understands that if he ends up not liking it that he can stop playing then I'd let him try. He might get hit hard and want to quit or he might get hit and get after it. Who knows... I'd encourage him to try as many sports as he can so he'll find something he enjoys.
Nate Robinson says let him play football, but don't listen to Nate Robinson. <iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MuYrxKjzuZY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
