Youth Football feeder system or rec league.

[Smashmouth#1]

This question has been posed before, and there have been various responses. The question is.....What is Youth Football supposed to be about? What is the main focus?

IMO, I feel that it is a blend of the two. For some, you are joining the Youth League to learn the game and prepare yourself for the next level. For others, you are there to learn a game, get some physical exercise, and learn some other very important things about life. There are other reasons too, to include because all of your friends play or because Mom or Dad thinks that it will toughen you up...or because it's the politically right thing to do for even some others.
Whatever the reasoning behind it, you are there as is your son. What is should the main focus be?

Personally,
-Will my son play ball in High School? Don't know, That's his decision, and I will support whatever that decision is.....will I offer advice, absolutely.

-Will he be good enough? Absolutely. It doesn't matter if he's a starter, superstar, or a waterboy, that's for him to earn.

-Will he be "big enough"? As far as height and weight go, what exactly is "big enough" to play football. Will he have the determination, the fire in his belly, the intestinal fortitiude...absoulutely. So, I guess yes, he will be "big enough" to play football.

So having said that, To what should we focus on at the Youth Level?

I think we focus on the kids. That's why we are all here, ok most of us. Whether or not they will play ball in HS or not shouldn't really be a concern. They are here now, and want to play. Football is more than just preparing our HS teams of the future. It 's a reflection of life, as I have gone in depth on here more than once. In short, (because I am getting long-winded again), we need to focus on the kids that we have in front of us and allowing them to grow and mature through this fabulous game. Will they be "prepared for HS?" Absolutely.....they will go into the Middle and HS programs knowing the game. Do they need to know the plays, the formations, every nook and cranny of what the Middle School and HS programs run? NO.....Some have gotten away from the fact that we are dealing with kids, and we need to let them be just that, kids. It shouldn't be an endoctrination camp for future HS teams.

[greendad]

I agree with most of this smashmouth. all kids should be allowed to play, actually play the game, not just join and practice. I think you know what im talking about.
all kids, BIG and small. its about our kids

as far as what you say about them needing to be getting ready for HS ball or not.
well, the boys have to learn plays, formations, defenses anyway. Why not school them in scaled down HS playbook ? thats exactly what we did this yr on byf varsity. the boys had no problem with it.

[green pride]

How did that work for you since the high school plays are going to be changed?

I agree with most of this smashmouth. all kids should be allowed to play, actually play the game, not just join and practice. I think you know what im talking about.
all kids, BIG and small. its about our kids

as far as what you say about them needing to be getting ready for HS ball or not.
well, the boys have to learn plays, formations, defenses anyway. Why not school them in scaled down HS playbook ? thats exactly what we did this yr on byf varsity. the boys had no problem with it.

[thepolster]

I agree with most of this smashmouth. all kids should be allowed to play, actually play the game, not just join and practice. I think you know what im talking about.
all kids, BIG and small. its about our kids

as far as what you say about them needing to be getting ready for HS ball or not.
well, the boys have to learn plays, formations, defenses anyway. Why not school them in scaled down HS playbook ? thats exactly what we did this yr on byf varsity. the boys had no problem with it.

That is what is missing, teaching kids the fundamentals of the game. We have to get back to that in Springfield's youth.

[GRPride86]

So, are we advocating a two league system where one is for rec purposes and the other is for a "feeder" system?

[Smashmouth#1]

So, are we advocating a two league system where one is for rec purposes and the other is for a "feeder" system?

no, I asked a question. read the post. Quit stirring the pot. Looking for points of view.

[Smashmouth#1]

I agree with most of this smashmouth. all kids should be allowed to play, actually play the game, not just join and practice. I think you know what im talking about.
all kids, BIG and small. its about our kids

as far as what you say about them needing to be getting ready for HS ball or not.
well, the boys have to learn plays, formations, defenses anyway. Why not school them in scaled down HS playbook ? thats exactly what we did this yr on byf varsity. the boys had no problem with it.

let's take this point by point. First, the kids learn to play football at practice, not in a game. They earn a spot in a game. If they dont show up....how can they play. This is less true at the lower levels. All our kids showed up, mentally and physically, so they played.

Ok, I've given several reasons not to have the hs playbook. First, a fair amount of the plays won't be executed correctly, due to age. I'm talking more passing on that point, less on the run. 2nd, why show your hand as a HS coach, 3rd-football formations, plays and assignments...most use very similar or the same terminology, therefore going to ms or hs isn't an issue, as long as they know fundamentals, 4th-familiarity breeds complacency. Here are some of the reasons.

[GRPride86]

IMO, I feel that it is a blend of the two. For some, you are joining the Youth League to learn the game and prepare yourself for the next level. For others, you are there to learn a game, get some physical exercise, and learn some other very important things about life. There are other reasons too, to include because all of your friends play or because Mom or Dad thinks that it will toughen you up...or because it's the politically right thing to do for even some others.
Whatever the reasoning behind it, you are there as is your son. What is should the main focus be?


I'm not stirring the pot at all, I'm reading your post. As you stated, some are playing to go to the next level and some are not. All kids don't get to play in the current league, so should there be two leagues? One rec and one feeder?

[Smashmouth#1]

no...............that would then cause a division in the community, much like travel baseball.........oh and there is competition, people doing all that stuff.
My point is you need to have your priorities in place. Your allegiance in the Youth League isn't to the HS it's to the kids of your community.

[GRPride86]

no...............that would then cause a division in the community, much like travel baseball.........oh and there is competition, people doing all that stuff.

You've mentioned travel baseball a couple of times before. I don't think travel baseball divides a community. I know that Green has a couple of travel teams, Green Extreme and Ohio Bombers. The simple fact about travel ball is that there are only so many spots on a team. There has to be multiple teams, especially in Green with their population.

Question:

Isn't your local school system a major part of your community? Isn't your community judged by the success of your educational system? And when I say educational system, I mean all aspects of it, Education, Athletics, Intramurals, Special Education Programs, etc.....

[Smashmouth#1]

You've mentioned travel baseball a couple of times before. I don't think travel baseball divides a community. I know that Green has a couple of travel teams, Green Extreme and Ohio Bombers. The simple fact about travel ball is that there are only so many spots on a team. There has to be multiple teams, especially in Green with their population.

Question:

Isn't your local school system a major part of your community? Isn't your community judged by the success of your educational system? And when I say educational system, I mean all aspects of it, Education, Athletics, Intramurals, Special Education Programs, etc.....

as far as travel baseball goes. You forgot the storm. And trust me, talking to people, their is a ton of animosity and resentment generated from those teams. I'm not talking sour grapes, I know that when I hear it.
As far as Green's community goes, true the school system is touted throughout the area, as one of the best for academics.....sports seems to be downplayed, probably due to some of the lack of success of the major sports in the past couple of years.....the more minor ones have been successful though. That was not to dog on anyone here....

Lets get back on topic.

[GRPride86]

My point is you need to have your priorities in place. Your allegiance in the Youth League isn't to the HS it's to the kids of your community.

The last part of my post was on point. The school system is part of the "kids in our community", so, yes, I would say that your allegiance should be to the HS. But of course that's just my opinion.

[Buckeye29]

That is what is missing, teaching kids the fundamentals of the game. We have to get back to that in Springfield's youth.

Exactly!!!! Fundamentals!!!!! You hit it right on the head. If we send the high school fundamentally sound football players they don't have to waist as much time teaching them in that level. I believe that would be way better than trying to teach them plays that they may or may not run.

[Irish87]

That is what is missing, teaching kids the fundamentals of the game. We have to get back to that in Springfield's youth.


Are you saying your child was not taught fundamentals and proper Techniques last year on the varsity? Just curious.

[thepolster]

Are you saying your child was not taught fundamentals and proper Techniques last year on the varsity? Just curious.

You said it for yourself, Dillon isn't a player you have to tell twice. He wasn't your average player* I do feel and allot of other players thought defense wasn't a top priority last year. When you got to many chiefs and not enough injuns you will have that, especially when it came game time. I can go on and on about last year but I don't want to talk about it. Makes me very upset.

[Irish87]

Understood, but you shouldn't feel so dissapointed. I really think if you would have seen the first game in Florida, you would have been proud. The kids played their hearts out and gave everything they had, including #20.

A 7-1 Regular Season record is nothing to be ashamed of. The kids fought hard in the Playoff game vs C.F. but came up a little short.

Trust me, I know what your feeling about how last year ended. Nobody, and I mean nobody, took it harder than I did. We learn from our mistakes and go on.

[thepolster]

And yes SYFL is a rec league. And to answer your Question Smash, I haven't heard back from the people who control my strings yet.

[Smashmouth#1]

And yes SYFL is a rec league. And to answer your Question Smash, I haven't heard back from the people who control my strings yet.

Only for some, those that wont play in hs. I was going to respond to your second comment but I have a bit more class than that. I'll just say that I'm glad that I don't have that issue.

[Buckeye29]

I believe that if too much emphasis is placed on either league being a feeder system for high school ball, some of the fun might be taken out of it for the kids. One thing is for sure, if the boys aren't having fun now, they're not going to want to play in high school. I think either league can teach the fundamentals that they will need to take into their high school careers. I also believe that if parents just pay more attention to their kids and keep them out of trouble that would be a good feeder system. I don't know how many guys I played with in youth ball that were really good ball players, but by the time they got to high school they were either in trouble constantly or on dope. Just my opinion.

[Smashmouth#1]

I believe that if too much emphasis is placed on either league being a feeder system for high school ball, some of the fun might be taken out of it for the kids. One thing is for sure, if the boys aren't having fun now, they're not going to want to play in high school. I think either league can teach the fundamentals that they will need to take into their high school careers. I also believe that if parents just pay more attention to their kids and keep them out of trouble that would be a good feeder system. I don't know how many guys I played with in youth ball that were really good ball players, but by the time they got to high school they were either in trouble constantly or on dope. Just my opinion.

Good point here.

[Smashmouth#1]

I also posed this question on the general forum for HS football and got similar responses. check it out. It's probably on the 2nd or 3rd page by now and titled requesting opinions here.

[GR1FAN]

I think its both because if you get to play the more talented kids more often then it only provides a awesome future for the h.s.