Boys and sports????

AmberK

AmberK

New member
For those moms who have their boys in sports...specifically football, what age did you let them start playing? My youngest is 6 and is a BIG kid and has a lot of energy and likes to tackle. He is just playing around but doesnt realize that it hurts the other kids. He has mentioned football to me several times but Im just so leary of it but it would be a good outlet for him. So my question is.... is 6 yrs old too young to let him start playing football?
 
Up here they start them at 5 doing flag football and learning the game. DS was in 4th grade when he started full pads tackle football, 9 years old.
 
Luke started in 1st grade and it was just flag. They do flag until fourth grade here, too. Then, there's the option of doing flag or tackle. Luke sounds like the complete opposite of your son... so we're doing flag again. ha!!

We have wrestling camp here... maybe check into that, too. Or some kind of martial arts?
 
My son was 7 when he started football (2nd grade). Here, they do full pads and it's tackle football. The tackling aspect is my son's favorite part. Also, this keeps him from having the urge to tackle his little sisters. He got it all out at practice and during games.

However, it can be dangerous. Out of the 4 teams (about 50+ kids), I know of 1 boy who broke his wrist and another who had a concussion. Just some things to think about.
 
My son is playing flag football for the first time this summer. He's 8.

We chose not to put him in football. Around here, you can start them in football as young as age 5. We did once but came to the conclusion that he was just not that into the sport. Afterwards, we decided not go even try again. It's just too much contact with the potential to get hurt. My friends' boys play and already one of them has had his ankle injured. He's only 6.

Instead, my son plays soccer, basketball and baseball during the seasons and is in karate all year.
 
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We also don't do football. John and I both knew kids who got seriously inured playing peewee football, so we agreed it's not for out family.

Of course... Ryan not only does soccer - he's the most aggressive player generally and he is desperate to play rugby, which has a much higher likelihood of injury. lol
 
Well, with 4 boys, we are a football family. My 2 older boys played all through high school. My 2 younger boys are freshman next year and are playing - 6am practices started the day after they got out of school!

However, they did not play tackle when younger. They played flag for years and years. That being said, there is no protection in flag football (or soccer) and it's still a close sport where there IS contact, even if against the rules. The last year my twins played flag they ran smack into each other on a play and one had a concussion, one had a torn lip and was gushing blood from his nose (so fun having 2 insured at the same time! Not.). If it had been tackle, they would have just gotten up and continued playing because they would have had helmets and pads on.

And I do understand serious injuries can happen with football, but a lot of precautions are taken with learning to hit correctly and our school has concussion baselines done before they start playing. And really, kids can get hurt in any sport.

Check out your community and see if they offer tackle at that age. They do here. And if it's something he enjoys, he'll be ready to play when it's offered in school.
 
6 is still flag football here so my boys didn't start playing until they were 7 because they love to tackle. Flag just didn't work for them or they would have started at 5.

They wanted to play until they realized they would get in trouble for tackling. :)

Around here it's two years per team. 5&6 play flag, 7&8 are junior tackle, 9&10 are intermediate and 11-13 are senior, then you go play for the high school at 14. And they focus on different types of plays at each age. They take a lot of precautions with the kids.

We've had more injuries from baseball (balls hitting them in the head, a sprained wrist and a whack to the knee with a bat) than football.
 
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Mary and Stacey - I had to chuckle because DS played tackle football for almost 10 years and never suffered more than a sprained wrist.

DD is only in 7th grade and has had sprained ankles, broken fingers, broken nose, torn meniscus in her knee, and numerous contusions and abrasions from soccer, softball, and basketball (basketball is particularly physical and very rough with no protection at all). Soccer is very physical. Softball not so much, but there's absolutely nothing soft about a softball when it hits you! Cheyanne has the imprint from the stitches of a ball on her leg this week to prove it :D
 
My boys are crazy about football. But, we will not let them play tackle football AT ALL. In our city, they can play flag football through fifth grade, so we are letting them both play this fall. They are 6 and 8.
 
My DH played football through college and his dad is still a HS football coach and athletic director... so it runs deep here. We also live in the South, so there is no such thing as flag football, LOL. They play tackle with pads, etc starting at age 5, although it's just learning the game then. They can play intramural flag at some schools, but it is just frustrating for most kids here.

I have 3 sons and one is crazy about the sport. He started at age 8 and it has helped him stay in shape and keep his weight down during his middle school years. Now he practices all summer/fall and spring and has matured into a leader on his team.

He is a very physical kid and it's helped him with that. Another son runs cross country and plays basketball and the youngest is yet to discover what he loves :).

I have come full circle as a football mom, being timid about him playing to being a proud (and loud) sideline fan.
 
Our boys aren't football material....they are tall and extremely lean...more baseball and basketball built!!! A good friend of mine has a boy that is the same age of Jason (just finished first grade) and he started football in kindergarten....this will be his third season this fall. He did flag one year and then moved him up to tackle because of his size. I think he weighs double what Jason weighs!!!!
 
Ryan started BB practice today so we will just go with that for now. PLUS, the football program has the kids practicing 5 days a week during the summer and then 3 days a week during school. NO THANK YOU. Thats too much for a 6 yr old. And then there is the cost- OY! If he REALLY wants to do it in a few years I think we will do it then.
 
wow that is a lot of practice!

We do 3x a week for 3 weeks before school starts and then 2x a week, plus a game once school starts & it's only $100 to play, which includes all equipment & uniforms except shoes. Baseball is only $45 but it only includes a shirt & hat. The shoes, pants, belt, socks, glove, batting gloves, bat & practice balls also needed put me well over $100 a kid.
 
We do soccer year round here and its semi physcial. Slid tackles are illegal at this age. But we've had several practices learning shoulder bumps. The coach has tried to teach them how to properly attack the other team without being all out physical. I appreciate this. My kid has no issue using his hole body to defend the goal. But here with U8 there's no goalies. So he can not use his hands. He uses his head, chest, stomach, legs, arms, etc. He has taken a few good ones to his chest/stomach this spring that knocked him on his butt/knocked the wind out of him. He's even had a black eye from taking one to the face. After that they learned how to head bump.
I think a lot of sports can get physical but that's part of playing. We practice twice a week and a game a week. So 3x a week is normal to me. I don't know that I would ever let my little guy play football with as small as he is. Though, he is awesome at soccer so I can't seem to hold him back from that.
If they are playing tackle they should have pads, right?
 
Our son plays club soccer here and while we have only had minor injuries up until this point, the game is very physical. We have had our share of players break bones on the field and he in only 13! I worry he will get injured not because of his ability but because of someone who gets frustrated and decides that the only way to stop him or a team mate is to foul illegally. Nevertheless, he has a passion for the game and plays at the academy level...practices are 5 days a week with games on the weekends. We are all in withdrawal right now since he is off for 3 weeks before starting the new season.

I encourage all parents to find the sport and level that fits their child.
 
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