Jr. High Football

[LeslieG]

My son is in the 7th grade and is now wishing he would have played football. I think he's feeling a bit excluded because a lot of his friends play. I have to take some of the blame. I didn't really want him to play. He's pretty small, and I'm afraid he'll get hurt. But my question is, do you think starting football for the first time when you're in 8th grade is too late? Some of these kids have played even before 7th grade in like a pee wee league. Will he be completely lost?

 

[luvsJack]

My son is in the 7th grade and is now wishing he would have played football. I think he's feeling a bit excluded because a lot of his friends play. I have to take some of the blame. I didn't really want him to play. He's pretty small, and I'm afraid he'll get hurt. But my question is, do you think starting football for the first time when you're in 8th grade is too late? Some of these kids have played even before 7th grade in like a pee wee league. Will he be completely lost?

The best person to ask is the coach.

Here, there is a pee wee league so a LOT of kids play from 4th grade up. But, many of those stop after 6th grade and don't go on to play once they have other sports they can play at school. Some do not play in the pee wee league at all and only begin playing in 7th or 8th grade and I have seen some really good players that didn't start until high school.

So, I say all of that to simply say "it depends", which doesn't help you much.

 

[sonnyjane]

Have you read this thread? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3168713

 

[Colleen27]

It depends is a very good answer. We do have some first timers in 8th and 9th grades, but football is huge in my community and the boys who come in with years of experience tend to be the ones who get the starting positions (not that they always hold them - hard work and talent get you noticed even if you are new to the game). But that's our town, where the youth program is run by the varsity players and coaches and the whole system is designed to build great high school teams from the ground up.

Your experience will depend on the size of the school's program, the quality of the local pee-wee program/what the coaches think about the instruction kids get there, and any number of other factors. Your best bet is to talk to some of the other football parents to try to feel out how the team he'd be joining is run.

 

[LeslieG]

I'll have to do some digging on the coaching staff. Maybe there's one of them I will know from being one of my kids' teachers. He does have interest in basketball, which I would prefer, but it's pretty tough to make the team having a much shorter roster than a football team. I think he'd be good at track, but when you're that age, you want to do what your friends are doing. Not sure how popular track is at our school.

 

[sue1013]

If you prefer basketball due to the worry of injuries don't count on less injuries. My son played football from the age of 8 through college. Other than soreness the only injury he got was a broken thumb. He got that in practice he was on the line and fell over getting into his stance. Basketball he played from about the same age until freshman in high school he decided to concentrate on football. In that time he broke both ankles and too many fingers to count. I would let him try what he wants there's no guarantee one sport is safer than the other.