Should kids play Pop Warner Football?

85fish, I don't think you have to worry about getting banned on here, everybody (at least from this area) knows that Warden is an idiot that cannot spend five minutes of his life without causing a conflict.

This makes my 3rd year helping the youth football league in McDowell County and I respect every person that takes their time to make the league possible for the kids in the county. As earlier said the youth football program gets absolutely NO support when it comes to the county gov't.

I think its absolutely pointless if the youth league tried to run the exact playbook of the high school, Warden, do you honestly believe a 12 year old kid will comprehend everything in 8 hours of practice per week when some 17 year old may not understand the exact same thing after 20 hours of practice per week?

My personal take is that you, the player, has to have the right mindset to be successful at football. The sport of football requires much more individual commitment compared to any other sport. The good football players are the ones who go out there and works out year round and works on fundamentals on their own time, its not like basketball or baseball where you can play AAU, the average football player has to get better on their own accord. The one problem I see a lot of times has as much to do with some parents as it does anybody else. As 85fish said, Pop Warner's purpose is to make the sport fun and not to dwell too much on winning or losing. I've seen too many kids (in all sports) who will quit in middle school because they don't "win" like they did in youth/rec leagues. A lot of that can be accompanied by parents and their expectations. I remember the first year Dave Haynie was coaching at McDowell, I went to every single practice for the first month of the season and I was hearing parents say stuff like..."Well, my son and players A, B and C did well in Pop Warner, why dosen't the coach try it here?" That's IMO the absolute wrong approach, all kids change greatly between the ages of 10 and 16.

 

Ok, I was just trying to add to a discussion, I wasn't flaming anyone. It was a civil conversation until I was called out. If you wanna get on someone's ass, get on 85Fish's back.

You call me an idiot, but yet you never played in the league. So I do know what I am talking about. An idiot is defined as someone talking about something they don't know what they're talking about - SO CLASSIFY YOURSELF.

If you'll read the entire thread, Cleotis Junebug mentioned and I agreed, that a simplified version of the plays could be passed down and the kids began to learn them. I don't expect the kids to learn anything unless the coaches do their job. All Im doing is looking at other counties that implement their offensive and defensive schemes in the youth leagues and middle schools and they are successful. Why can't we do the same?

 

the two of you maybe could stop with the insults. Don't comment on it, just let it go. If you two don't mind, that is.

What's the big deal with knowing plays? Are kids not smart enough at the high school level to learn a simplistic system if they've not known it for five years already? How hard is it to learn a bucksweep, and if it actually is, shouldn't that just help the kids smart enough to learn a play after weeks of practice?

 

The one thing about kids at the Pop Warner age that I have seen is a lack of patience. For example you'll see kids who won't let the play develop on a sweep and they'll take off back across the far end of the field.

 

in McD county it might take a few years to learn bucksweep right....just sayin

 

we did the same thing in Mooresville when we ran the option under then mhs head coach mike carter. he gave clinics each year for the pee-wee and midget coaches. we dumbed it down to where the only read the qb had to make was either to pitch to the hb on the de's pursuit angle or keep it. the plays were numbered the same, same blocking scheme and practice technique/format. we did hit alot in practice which probably wasnt the smartest thing but our kids won alot due to their toughness. some kids who played qb at the hs level had been option qb's since they were 7 years old. mooresville plays in the southland football league. its members include teams from sherrills ford and balls creek (Bandys), boger city (Lincolnton area), e. lincoln, w. lincoln, newton-conover, bessemer city, cherryville, dalls (N. Gaston) and mooresville who has 4 teams at each level of play. the league is now split into two divisions due to its number of entrants. the football is hard nosed with no coaches on the field and special teams play just like the big boys. ive seen alot of young men rise from this league to star on friday nights. i see them on tv and read their names in the paper and remember when.

our hs offense has changed away from the option these days and there does seem to be some variation in regards to everyone being on the same page but we're still playing on saturdays. i've been announcing football games for the program for the last 12 years or so. id rather watch these little guys go at more than the big boys sometimes. its a good deal all the way around.

 

Running the same plays

The warden said, in one of his posts that the junior high coaches refuse to run the high school offense. Does anybody ever stop to think how much transition there has been at the high school over the last ten years compared to the junior highs. How many coaches have been at the high school? I bet probably 3 or 4. The junior high coaches probably get tired of constantly trying to adjust to a new coach's system. By the time you teach the system to the kids in McDowell County and get comfortable with it, "poof" here comes a new coach. I am just saying that would get on my nerves if I had to constantly adjust to a new system that may not even be in place by the time the kids your teaching in junior high or little league football even get to the high school. Maybe that is why they stick to their own stuff, and maybe the junior highs would have more success if the 7th graders in the county played in junior high instead of the youth leagues.

 

I try to teach my kids to have fun (5-7 yr. olds)! Learn a few plays, and keep them off the soccer field!!!!!! JOKE, sort of. Don't worry to much about High School football just yet,let them have fun being a kid, and try to remember the kid is more important than the game. HIGH SCHOOL comes soon enough. YES ITS GOOD FOR KIDS TO PLAY EARLY DONT WORRY ABOUT THEM BURNING OUT, JUST DONT PUSH THEM SO HARD.

 

I can speak for this southland football league. I coached the West Lincoln team for years and have run the wing t formation as our high school coach has requested. Heck if you have any relationship with your coach they will be glad to come to practice and help you. The coaches have even went as far as to let us practice on there field with them. So I think if you have some give and take that you will get a lot farther than doing it your way.
And I remembers some Alexander kid playing for Mooresville ... quick as lightening then ..... there were two brothers that played years ago for the bluedevils and they played southland, though I cant remember there names.. anyone know them?

 

Corey Alexander went on to play for Lou Holtz at South Carolina. he held the NCHSAA rushing record for a season or two before some other kid broke it. he usually only played one half of football on Friday nights before coach Carter sat him down outta respect for the other team. otherwise, he woulda set the bar really high. i coached in the SFL for 6 years (93-98), two as an assistant with the Terminators and then as the head coach for the newly formed Hornets, pee-wee then midget. you may very well know me as im the announcer on game day at Mooresville. we had some slug-fests with you W. Lincoln country boys in our day and it really pleased me to see that you had some recent success at the high school level. i recall the kids names when i watch FFN and read the box scores on Saturday. your coaching staff always did well with what they had and the talent seemed to improve as well. if you're ever in Mooresville on game day, stop by the press box and ask for RD.

those brothers you mention just may be Ray and Chris Winford. Ray went on to be a WR for Mooresville and Chris, a HB, who led the Blue Devils to an appearance in the Western Regional finals before losing to Ragsdale in 2000. Chris also had a very good 4 years at Lenoir-Rhyne. i saw his face plastered all over the place when i took my son for Freshman orientation.