Why you should let your young kid play tackle football

[Anonymous]

I won't let my kids play football for similar reasons as to why I won't let them ride motorbikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

Tackle football is just not that important. My kids play flag. They really enjoy it. Nothing wrong with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

Tackle football is just not that important. My kids play flag. They really enjoy it. Nothing wrong with that.

Out of curiosity, have your kids asked and you said no? Or are they just content with flag?

And yes, I totally agree. If they are happy with that, that's awesome. nothing wrong with that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

Tackle football is just not that important. My kids play flag. They really enjoy it. Nothing wrong with that.

Out of curiosity, have your kids asked and you said no? Or are they just content with flag?

And yes, I totally agree. If they are happy with that, that's awesome. nothing wrong with that

Yes, my son has asked to play tackle. We said no. He is in travel soccer, however, and we cannot swing tackle football given the sheer number of soccer games that we have in a weekend..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

Tackle football is just not that important. My kids play flag. They really enjoy it. Nothing wrong with that.

Out of curiosity, have your kids asked and you said no? Or are they just content with flag?

And yes, I totally agree. If they are happy with that, that's awesome. nothing wrong with that

Yes, my son has asked to play tackle. We said no. He is in travel soccer, however, and we cannot swing tackle football given the sheer number of soccer games that we have in a weekend..

Sure. That's a good, honest reason. At least you're not one of those people saying no to football because of concussions and then acting like concussions don't happen in soccer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

So this is the wrong advice. If you kid wants to play in high school I would let them. No pressure and they have to want it. But the hits before high school are just not needed. Anyone can learn football starting in high school. Heck there are people in the nfl that only played two years of college and no high school. Research is pretty strong not to start early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never. Absolutely never. Football in schools won't even be a thing in 20 years. Don't do this to your child's brain and future. What a terrible thing to do. There are so many other sports to choose from that don't cause brain damage and future suicides and violent tendencies.

And yet tons of doctors, lawyers, ect who went to hs from 1930 to 2000 played his football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

So this is the wrong advice. If you kid wants to play in high school I would let them. No pressure and they have to want it. But the hits before high school are just not needed. Anyone can learn football starting in high school. Heck there are people in the nfl that only played two years of college and no high school. Research is pretty strong not to start early.

Nah. Go watch a practice. Watch the first year 8th grader or 9th grader who's never gotten hit before.

You learn proper tackling young. And then the hits aren't so bad. You want your first bad hit to be from a kid that weights 80lbs, not from a kid weighing 180.

There's also little to no evidence of long term dangers from youth tackle football.

Yes, its more dangerous in that it results in more injuries. But the studies have shown no long term damage.

And that's not even considering all the improved coaching and equipment, compared to when we were younger

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

So this is the wrong advice. If you kid wants to play in high school I would let them. No pressure and they have to want it. But the hits before high school are just not needed. Anyone can learn football starting in high school. Heck there are people in the nfl that only played two years of college and no high school. Research is pretty strong not to start early.

Also, people seem to think youth football is dead. It's not. It's far from it.

If your kid things they'll walk onto the field and get a spot on the team having never put a helmet on before, that's probably not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never. Absolutely never. Football in schools won't even be a thing in 20 years. Don't do this to your child's brain and future. What a terrible thing to do. There are so many other sports to choose from that don't cause brain damage and future suicides and violent tendencies.

And yet tons of doctors, lawyers, ect who went to hs from 1930 to 2000 played his football.

I really would like to see the research on kids who just play youth or maybe high school football. I am very nervous but we did give in. He was asking incessantly. And I really didn’t find much about the dangers of just a few years of playing one season. The research is all on college and nfl players. That’s very different, isn’t it? I’m asking sincerely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never. Absolutely never. Football in schools won't even be a thing in 20 years. Don't do this to your child's brain and future. What a terrible thing to do. There are so many other sports to choose from that don't cause brain damage and future suicides and violent tendencies.

And yet tons of doctors, lawyers, ect who went to hs from 1930 to 2000 played his football.

I really would like to see the research on kids who just play youth or maybe high school football. I am very nervous but we did give in. He was asking incessantly. And I really didn’t find much about the dangers of just a few years of playing one season. The research is all on college and nfl players. That’s very different, isn’t it? I’m asking sincerely.

IMO, yes, though I am not a doctor or medical researcher. In my kids' league, there were some weight limit rules for playing certain positions. Also, a lot of the kids are simply not that large or that good at that age. In middle school and high school, however, kids start becoming or are adult-sized, and yes, that is concerning. Football is still played at Ivy league schools and service academies, btw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

So this is the wrong advice. If you kid wants to play in high school I would let them. No pressure and they have to want it. But the hits before high school are just not needed. Anyone can learn football starting in high school. Heck there are people in the nfl that only played two years of college and no high school. Research is pretty strong not to start early.

Not sure about this for the average athlete. What position would you play if just starting in high school?

[Anonymous]

Football is for losers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, no thanks. Both my son and daughter are hoping to do flag, though, which is fine by me.

Flag is just as good as tackle football; in many way its better!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a elementary or junior high son who really wants to try tackle football, let him or her. Even, and especially, if they are small. Find a youth program that matches kids by size, not age. That way, they will play only against kids their own size. Tackling at that age isn't intense; the kids just aren't that fast or strong. If you wait until kids are "bigger" or in high school, they will have to play against kids of all sizes and the risk of injury increases immensely, if they ever see playing time.

If you don't let your kid play tackle football when they are young, they may never get a chance to play at all.

So this is the wrong advice. If you kid wants to play in high school I would let them. No pressure and they have to want it. But the hits before high school are just not needed. Anyone can learn football starting in high school. Heck there are people in the nfl that only played two years of college and no high school. Research is pretty strong not to start early.

Not sure about this for the average athlete. What position would you play if just starting in high school?

Left bench. That's where they would play.

Football numbers are increasing. And parents think their kids can walk on to the HS team and get a spot. I know many don't do cuts (though some are starting to do it again), but a varsity team may carry 50 players. And they only send 11 on to the field at any time.

And I promise you, the kids starting on the offensive line are likely the same kids on the defensive line. The starting WR may also be the starting S.

So, sure, you're kid may have a 'spot' on the team. But they aren't going to see much playing time if they don't know the language or the technique when they tryout as freshman