My wife and I have a tough decision to make...and I'm looking for some constructive opinions. My wife recently found out about a local peewee (tackle) football team that was in need of players. The league they play in encompasses boys from 5 to 8 years old. My son, who turns 6 in November, had no interest in playing because it was tackle football. My wife and I decided that we should go to one of the practices and let him see what it was all about before he shunned it completely. When we made it to the practice, my son was very hesitant to watch or interact with the coach (the coach is a family friend of my wife's family from Hawaii)...who was real personable and patient with getting him involved. Initially, we had planned on my son to just watch the practice (he was in shorts and slippers)...but the coach told him to come participate in a few drills (basics are what this age group of players/teams work on during their season). My son was quite shy about it...but jumped in and started doing some of the drills. After a bit, the team had a water break and my son wandered back to my side and didn't return to the practice when it started back up. At this point, he started watching with a little more interest and eventually wandered back over to the team to participate in some dummy tackling drills. By the end of the practice, he was right in the middle of everything that was going on. As we were walking away, we asked him if he was interested in football now...and his answer was yes. No biggie...right? Wrong. My wife and I are overly protective of our kids and, naturally, don't want anything bad to happen to them. My son, unfortunately, is almost a carbon image of his old man, a bean pole. He's barely pushing 45 pounds, and that's probably soaking wet. He has an unlimited amount of energy...and really enjoys interacting with others...so he's really revved up about football now. The only problem is my wife and I are concerned about his safety. Most of the other boys on the team are about his same height and probably weigh more than him. None are dominantly larger than him...so I'm not worried so much about a controlled practice situation. Have any of you guys (parents) had similar choices? Is five/almost six years old too young to start? We thought about flag football...but there are no leagues here in Henderson (Vegas) for his age group. He's also starting soccer soon, but seems to be really interested in football now. We're also getting some suggestions of ice hockey. tldr; version: skinny son, 5, should he play peewee tackle football?
I say let him play soccer. See how his body holds up (there will be spills and bad tackles) through the soccer season. If you see he can handle the scrapes then put him in football next year.
I'm confused. If you are so concerned about him playing football, then whey did you try to get him interested in it in the first place when he had no desire to play? Anyway, if he's too skinny, the solution is obviously roids.
Just let the kid play. You guys took him there thinking he may like it and then he ended up wanting to play. Dont let him down now by being scared. He will be fine.
Wait, if you knew you were going to be afraid to let him play tackle football, why did you bring him to the practice in the first place? I'd say let him play if he's excited about it. As long as your coach friend knows what he's doing, nothing too serious should occur.
Captain hindsight here; but why did you go to such lengths to get your son interested in football if you didn't want him to play it...? I'm against football for any kid, really. Big or small. There's a ton of non-contact sports options out there to keep him occupied.
Unless it's a very laid back league with limited practice times, I would keep him away. Otherwise he could be burned out on the sport before he's even in junior high due to all the practice time...and football practice is not fun for a 5 year old when it happens multiple days per week for a couple of hours at a time. That's what happened to me anyway. At that age I would do basketball, soccer, or t-ball in a laid back league (maybe YMCA?) that doesn't overdo it on practice time.
Tackle football at 5 is stupid. Let him play soccer. Its a lot more fun at that age. Let him start football after he reaches puberty.
Its a lot easier to get a academic scholarship. All my nephews and nieces who got accepted to Texas, were offered almost full rides to UH.
I don't know what you were thinking bringing him to the practice in the first place. If you do it, be sure you can withdraw again without causing too many waves. Your son may change his mind again when he gets hurt. 5 year-olds probably can't cause major concussions. It's probably safer to play at this this age than when he's older.
Dude. Let him play. My mother didn't let me play when I was younger and I always felt like it was a huge mistake. I have the kind of build that people often ask if I played football....but I didn't. I ended up having a physical hobby via surfing in High School and later on I played Rugby, but I always wonder what might have been if my mother hadn't been such a p***y about it. He's a kid, let him play. Beanpoles can be really wiry-strong... look at Randy Moss. (BTW, my son will be 6 in November and is around 45 lbs....he's interested in football and we're throwing him in the fall league)
so instead of risking him getting injured physically, you will damage him psychologically? "son, let's go try some football and if you like it, you can play. oh what's that? you like it? SIKE!"
