Youth Football... Any Experiences?

[theknight571]

My son (9) wants to play football. (He also plays hockey... but no other organized sport)

I don't really have a problem with it, cause I figure he's just as likely to get hurt while playing football as he is playing hockey.

However, looking at the flyer that was sent home from school, starting roughly mid-August, they practice every day (M-F) 5:00p - 7:30p and Saturday 12:00p - 2:30p... then after Labor day they practice every day 5:00p - 7:00p. All games are on Saturdays.

That seems like an awful lot of practice... Hockey is only 2-3 nights a week, and when I played baseball, we only practiced twice a week.

Is this normal? and Why so much?

This isn't some elite league either... just your everyday "little league football".

So I was wondering if anyone had any experience with youth football either as a parent or as a participant.

 

[ViviTheMage]

we used to have 3 a days in high school, granted your sons only 9.

6am-11am 1pm-4pm 7pm-1030pm

for 3-4 weeks in august i think, then every day after school for 2-3 hours was practice....cant believe I did it all four years -_-

but yeah, that does seem like alot... is it school or association football?

 

[theknight571]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
we used to have 3 a days in high school, granted your sons only 9.

6am-11am 1pm-4pm 7pm-1030pm

for 3-4 weeks in august i think, then every day after school for 2-3 hours was practice....cant believe I did it all four years -_-

but yeah, that does seem like alot... is it school or association football?

I knew about 2 and 3 a days in HS and College... but these kids are 8-9ish... most of them can't pay attention that long..

I'm gonna go with "Association" football, since it's not done through the school.

I know after an hour and a half on the ice, my son is beat... I can't imagine after 2.5 hours of running around.

 

[DougK62]

That's way too much practice for a 9yo, IMO.

And at that age his odds of getting hurt playing football are very low.

 

[LS20]

9yo are tender. let them play.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

We practiced every day. Ususally two days were for conditioning, the rest were for skills and practicing plays. Man, that was a long time ago.

 

[Queasy]

It's been almost 20 years since I played youth football (realizing that just made me feel old) but I don't recall practicing every day during the week. At least not while school was in session.

 

[pontifex]

my coach touched me in my...
oh...you meant like schedules and stuff? i see...well...right...














*** The 1st sentence in my post is a complete fabrication. I never even played football. ***

 

[hdeck]

6 days a week seems like a lot for 9 year olds, unless you live in texas. especially middle/west texas.

 

[Coquito]

Practice was 2-3 times a week, for 2-3 hours when I was 15-16yrs old. Games were on Saturdays.