A call for end to Tackle Football for kids.

[skinzfan]

forget football, get a 7 iron in the kids hands

 

[BottleWalk]

Those sports are expensive as fuck.

If you knew about lacrosse you might be aware that a large number of the greatest players of this generation continue to come from dirt-poor Indian reservations in the northeast, where they make their own sticks and goals.

The best example are the Thompsons, Lyle and Myles Thompson, the former of whom was one of the best shooters in college lax history, grew up on the Onandaga Indian Reservation...

If guys like the Thompsons didn't have lacrosse they wouldn't have much at all. And if they were richer, they wouldn't have been any better at it at all, either.

 

[broncosmitty]

The area I grew up in the schools didn't start tackle football until the 7th grade. But there were also some restrictions. No kickoffs for example

No school in the league had Rocket Football when I was in school.


Starts in 3rd grade now. Pro and Cons. Since that first 3rd grade class
Came up thru the ranks, they've made the state finals every year but one.

But there has been no Freshman team since that started. Kids are weeded out at ten instead of HS. Some years there is no JV even. So less involvement when kids need to be involved for their own good, but clearly inscreased skill level.


About the only thing in my community I don't support with time or money is youth football.

 

[broncosmitty]

If you knew about lacrosse you might be aware that a large number of the greatest players of this generation continue to come from dirt-poor Indian reservations in the northeast, where they make their own sticks and goals.

The best example are the Thompsons, Lyle and Myles Thompson, the former of whom was one of the best shooters in college lax history, grew up on the Onandaga Indian Reservation...

If guys like the Thompsons didn't have lacrosse they wouldn't have much at all. And if they were richer, they wouldn't have been any better at it at all, either.

Im not a dirt poor Indian.


Lacrosse is expensive as hell to participate in here.

 

[handicappers]

I played a lot of hockey. In fields, backyards on ponds and at the park. Wherever there was sortve smooth ice. Never was on a "team".


Never skated on a rink until I got to college either.

Hell, there wasn't one within an hour of me till I was about 15 and the casino donated money.

Did you eat squirrels and possums?

 

[Thruthefog]

I played football in HS and college then coached briefly. Not in favor of peewee football. For one thing, kids below high school are growing at different paces. You always have the one kid who is more physically mature then the others and he and Daddy think he is a superstar. 2-3 years later everyone catches up with him. Then you have the kid who hasn't hit the growth spurt yet and gets discouraged because he's getting pushed around but in fact is a pretty good athlete. If kids want to learn the game play flag football, get the fundamentals without the contact.

Its also pretty annoying watching a 7-8 year old waddle around in helmets and pads that are way too big and heavy for him

I remember playing peewee football. Me and a friend of mine played in one of those uniforms you got in a toy store. I cried a lot back then.

 

[Center Ice]

Play hockey, kids. Play lacrosse. Just don't pussy out and choose soccer.

If I had had a son, I would not have let him play football as a kid.

Enjoy the game while you can, because in 20 years it will be a shadow of its former self.

Yep

 

[BottleWalk]

Im not a dirt poor Indian.


Lacrosse is expensive as hell to participate in here.

Just for kicks, what do you believe are the reasons lacrosse is expensive where you are? There is one big expense of playing lacrosse, it is having a lacrosse stick. In fact when i played lacrosse as a kid my team even gave us sticks. Otherwise you need a goal and a field. This is pretty much it.

Where you live lacrosse is probably not a big thing and it must be hard to get into it but that doesn't put it anywhere on the level of truly expensive sports like sailing or hockey.

 

[RobBase]

Never skated on a rink until I got to college either.

Suburban Ice is behind our sub. The twins started skating a couple of weeks ago. Hoping the boy takes to hockey.

 

[Debbie Does]

Just for kicks, what do you believe are the reasons lacrosse is expensive where you are? There is one big expense of playing lacrosse, it is having a lacrosse stick. In fact when i played lacrosse as a kid my team even gave us sticks. Otherwise you need a goal and a field. This is pretty much it.

Where you live lacrosse is probably not a big thing and it must be hard to get into it but that doesn't put it anywhere on the level of truly expensive sports like sailing or hockey.

Boys' lacrosse requires a lot more equipment than girls' lacrosse. It's a much rougher game and the sticks are used to hit the other players, which the girls don't do.

Still, I was glad that my daughter did not show any interest in hockey. The equipment and ice time cost a fortune. Skiing is no bargain either, by the way, but I'm glad she liked swimming, skiing and cycling, because now, as an adult, she has sports that she's good at that she can still continue to enjoy.

 

[broncosmitty]

Suburban Ice is behind our sub. The twins started skating a couple of weeks ago. Hoping the boy takes to hockey.

That's pretty damn convenient. Lol


We'd flood the backyard. But there was no Zamboni.

 

[broncosmitty]

Just for kicks, what do you believe are the reasons lacrosse is expensive where you are? There is one big expense of playing lacrosse, it is having a lacrosse stick. In fact when i played lacrosse as a kid my team even gave us sticks. Otherwise you need a goal and a field. This is pretty much it.

Where you live lacrosse is probably not a big thing and it must be hard to get into it but that doesn't put it anywhere on the level of truly expensive sports like sailing or hockey.

Coaching? Idk.

Tennis shouldn't be expensive either, but it is.

Sailing is expensive? I mean, there's the boat, but what else are the costs? (I was in a regatta once. My boss needed a fill in. But we're both not small people. 450 lbs wasn't exactly setting us up for success. That and I had no idea what I was doing. I'd rather ice boat race. That shit is wild.)

 

[broncosmitty]

Did you eat squirrels and possums?

Not possum.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Did you eat squirrels and possums?

How about nuts and berries?

It is wartime afterall....

 

[sonnyblack65]

My son started playing tackle football in 4th or 5th grade Pop Warner, and because of his weight( tall) he always had to play against kids 2-3 years older and only made him that much better. No Jr Pee Wees , one year of Pee Wees and then Midgets. He then played for an Catholic all male HS Div 1 that won 7 SB's in a row and a few former guys made it to pros and one of his team mates that was his backup ( 1 year younger) at DE plays for Michigan right now. He also played Rugby and Lacrosse and thankfully he never got concussed , injured or missed a game. Only time I saw his head banged up was from any teammate during Rugby practice. I'd do it all over again

 

[BottleWalk]

Boys' lacrosse requires a lot more equipment than girls' lacrosse. It's a much rougher game and the sticks are used to hit the other players, which the girls don't do.

Still, I was glad that my daughter did not show any interest in hockey. The equipment and ice time cost a fortune. Skiing is no bargain either, by the way, but I'm glad she liked swimming, skiing and cycling, because now, as an adult, she has sports that she's good at that she can still continue to enjoy.

I'm from Maryland. I went to hopkins undergrad. I played lacrosse when I was little and I've probably been to a few hundred college lax games in my life, although I lost count decades ago.

It may be a more expensive game than some but it really does pail in comparison to hockey in that regard.

 

[BottleWalk]

Coaching? Idk.

Tennis shouldn't be expensive either, but it is.

Sailing is expensive? I mean, there's the boat, but what else are the costs? (I was in a regatta once. My boss needed a fill in. But we're both not small people. 450 lbs wasn't exactly setting us up for success. That and I had no idea what I was doing. I'd rather ice boat race. That shit is wild.)

If you are a competitive sailor, and you intend to sail after the middle of October or before the middle of April, which the rest of the sailing world does, you need probably both a dry suit and a wet suit for various conditions and each of those, if you want quality, will cost well upwards of a hundred dollars. Probably your practices will be held at a local sailing school and there was a steep membership fee for the brief time I did it when I was a kid.

It isn't by accident that the kids who sail are primarily rich, preppy white kids, and this is even (much) more the case than it is in lacrosse lol.

 

[broncosmitty]

Suburban Ice is behind our sub. The twins started skating a couple of weeks ago. Hoping the boy takes to hockey.

Did you move to Lansing?

 

[RobBase]

Did you move to Lansing?

Macomb. There's one at 25 mile road.

 

[NEPatsfan]

Play hockey, kids. Play lacrosse. Just don't pussy out and choose soccer.

If I had had a son, I would not have let him play football as a kid.

Enjoy the game while you can, because in 20 years it will be a shadow of its former self.

Injury rates are often higher in soccer, including concussions.