Football Mommies--Talk to Me

[Jennifer]

Ryan is 6 and has decided that he wants to play football this fall instead of soccer. I have such mixed emotions. I'm not the kind of mom who is worried about every injury, but football at 6 does concern me. There are obviously lots of precautions, but still. I also hate the idea of him just totally giving up soccer because he's very good. He would like to play both, but there's just no way for us to swing it time wise, so football's his first choice.

We've talked and talked and even prayed about it, but we're not coming to any real conclusion. We need to decide, so who better to help me than other sports mommies? What have your experiences been?

Thanks! :)

[DawnMarch]

Is it tackle football? I'd be reluctant to let my kid play at that age. Could you try it with flag or touch to see if he likes it, then he would graduate to tackle as he gets a little older and stonger?

[Julie Billingsley]

wow that is cool that they offer it at age 6 in your area! They don't offer it here until about 3rd grade. At 3rd grade they start offering it through YMCA teams. My husband use to coach the little guys and my oldest (who is now 17) started playing back then. They loved it! It was flag football but honestly they are boys so guys still got pushed. No helmets or pads. I think 3rd grade was a good starting age as they can fight that "follow the ball" urge. (You know what I mean... like in kids soccer when you see a pack of kids all surrounding the ball instead of staying in their assigned zones.)

It's almost high school football time here!! My son's first game is later this month and I'm so excited!!

[Paula]

My son plays football, but he's 16 and weighs 160 lbs. Thinking back to when he was six, I would be very reluctant to let him if it was tackle football.

He starts football practice today as a matter of fact!! Woo hoo!! Football season is HERE!

[Jennifer]

It is tackle. :( Full gear. It is a newer program here that works in conjuction with the area high schools. 1st and 2nd graders play together, 3rd and 4th graders play together, and so on until middle school football kicks in.

Ugh. I'm glad, at least, that I'm not the only one who thinks this may be a bit much at 6.

[ZaCola3]

My Zak is a football player...and there is NO way I would have put him in pads at age 6!
He played flag football until Jr. High...
They now offer the JFL in our area and do start that young-freaks me out!
Check at your local YMCA or sporting facilities and see if they offer flag football.
I still freak out a little before every game...and when Zak goes down-and it has happened...it takes all my self control to not run out on the field in full panic mode...

[kscwgirl]

no way on this earth would i do tackle football at 6. nope.

[schock77]

Jaxon plays flag football and he just tunred 6- they played k-2nd grade and even in flag I was a little nervous. I have a hard time because I want him to try whatever he wants, but would certainly have preferences on which he played if I had my way. And time constraints limit us. He's in swim already and has been for awhile so we're sticking with that--then it was soccer or flag football again this fall... 2 sports is plenty!

[lauren grier]

well..........
I would let him do it. Do you know the league rules and stuff? For instance, my brother was playing hockey at that age.. and they weren't allowed to do full body checks till they were at X level (obviously they were in full gear LMAO it's hockey there's no "touch hockey" haha). If it's something he really wants to do.. then go for it. He'll be protected, and.. well he's a kid.. they all play rough.

[MamaBee]

Even though my kiddo is only 2... and I'm still years out, I worry about their joints and bones that are still growing. My best friends son is 10 and hard core soccer for so many years and he already has a lot of joint and ankle problems... that's a really young age to start with problems that could plague him for the rest of his life... but I'm a nervous mother and have told kiddo that he is that the only sport allow is swimming... :p However, my DH thinks that with our genes, DS will only coordinated to be a super-fan. :unsure: