I've never had a kid get hurt because he is overmatched. I've had kids take some shots they shouldn't of because of a player either. I'm all for developing kids. Heck you have to be since football numbers are shrinking. I've got kids that are just there because of food and being a part of something. I don't knock them for it. But football is unique in that if you screw up you can get someone hurt pretty bad.

 

I don't disagree. But I've seen far more serious injuries in Baseball than football. Injuries are a part of every sport, and yes you should do everything you can to prevent them. And my thought process was pretty much the same up until a few years ago. Then one year I was forced to play some kids that never would have seen the field because I feared for their safety. Turns out, not only did those kids survive, they actually did ok.

If the kid is not ready then you talk to the parent and try to figure out if the kid should play or not.

 

If a kid wants to play, I've never seen a kid at the pee wee level that could not get reps on the field.

If a kid wants to play, I've never seen a kid at the pee wee level that could not get reps on the field.

 

Agreed. Even at the Middle School level, most kids can get reps on the field. And even though things start to change in Middle School and especially high school, even then you don't see many injuries as a result of kids being overmatched. How many kids get hurt during big blowouts in first round playoff games?? The "protecting kids from being hurt" is a tired excuse, especially at the youth level, used to justify playing a core few both ways to win a championship.

I don't disagree. But I've seen far more serious injuries in Baseball than football. Injuries are a part of every sport, and yes you should do everything you can to prevent them. And my thought process was pretty much the same up until a few years ago. Then one year I was forced to play some kids that never would have seen the field because I feared for their safety. Turns out, not only did those kids survive, they actually did ok.

 

Well I have yet to see more serious injuries in baseball than football, and I have experienced a lot of football and baseball at many levels. (Check the statistics on that one!) Football is a physical game of "constant" collisions, and some kids just don't want that. We can coach proper technique and safety until we are blue in the face, but that doesn't mean every kid is going to receive it and execute it. Football is not for everyone. To just throw a kid out on a football field and say oh he'll survive, is very risky and a system that I hope no parent would ever want their kid in. I've been coaching for 20+ years and safety has always been a priority and even more so now with the increased knowledge of concussions and other football related injuries that can be prevented if the kid is properly prepared and ready for the game.

Well I have yet to see more serious injuries in baseball than football, and I have experienced a lot of football and baseball at many levels. (Check the statistics on that one!) Football is a physical game of "constant" collisions, and some kids just don't want that. We can coach proper technique and safety until we are blue in the face, but that doesn't mean every kid is going to receive it and execute it. Football is not for everyone. To just throw a kid out on a football field and say oh he'll survive, is very risky and a system that I hope no parent would ever want their kid in. I've been coaching for 20+ years and safety has always been a priority and even more so now with the increased knowledge of concussions and other football related injuries that can be prevented if the kid is properly prepared and ready for the game.

 

Again, I'm not saying "just throw" a kid out there. And I'm not saying that football isn't dangerous, or to completely ignore safety. Football can be dangerous, but all sports have some inherent danger. My comparison to baseball is that I've seen several life altering baseball injuries (a hard ball traveling at 80+ mph can do some terrible things). And while I've seen some serious football injuries, the majority are minor(even though there may be more in sheer quantity). My point, is that sometimes, we are way too protective. People, and especially, kids learn to adapt. Often, we spend so much time protecting them (and that's not just in regards to football), that we never give them the opportunity to adapt, or make their own way. There definitely are some kids that football is a bad fit for. But if these kids never see the field, or are under constant protection, they'll never be able to adapt and evolve. WE must put kids in the position to decide whether football is or isn't for them, by giving them opportunities to play. Standing around during practice and games is not giving them a chance to make that decision.

Well I have yet to see more serious injuries in baseball than football, and I have experienced a lot of football and baseball at many levels. (Check the statistics on that one!) Football is a physical game of "constant" collisions, and some kids just don't want that. We can coach proper technique and safety until we are blue in the face, but that doesn't mean every kid is going to receive it and execute it. Football is not for everyone. To just throw a kid out on a football field and say oh he'll survive, is very risky and a system that I hope no parent would ever want their kid in. I've been coaching for 20+ years and safety has always been a priority and even more so now with the increased knowledge of concussions and other football related injuries that can be prevented if the kid is properly prepared and ready for the game.

 

I've never seen any kid execute proper technique on every snap during a game. So at what level of execution do you decide a kid Shouldn't be on the field? If they can't execute 60% of the time? 40% of the time? Plus, I've seen instances where the more talented players displayed poor technique because they are trying to show a "sportscenter top 10" move or tackle. But the coach never pulls that player out for a "safety" reason. Wonder why?!?

 

You're right, football isn't for everyone. But this thread is talking about pee wee, not high school and beyond. If a kid wants to play pee wee, the kid should be allowed to play (and not just watch from the sideline the whole game).

Highlands success has a ton to do with the FTJFL. The Birds typically have a lot more depth than other teams and that is why they win imo. The more that kids get to play at the younger age groups the more depth they are building at the hs level. For example 5 or 6 5th and 6th grade teams equates to 5 to 6 qbs' date=' 10 to 12 rbs etc. This model has worked for many years and will continue to work.[/quote']

 

How many players are on a team if they have 5 or 6 teams per grade level? Highlands is not as big as a Boone County school.

How many players are on a team if they have 5 or 6 teams per grade level? Highlands is not as big as a Boone County school.

 

Lately they have only had 4 or 5. I would say low 20's. Remember a lot of the kids that go to NCC live in Ft. Thomas also.

Grant County chose not to go because the league they were and continue to be in is being run people who do not want to give up control. The President and Vice-President, who also ran the Grant County Booster program told them that if they left for Boone County than the Boosters would cut off all funding. These people have no kids at any level playing football in Grant County. On a side note, the Grant County Football Boosters chose not to fund the Grant County High School football team this year and also are not funding the Middle school this year. They chose not to fund it because high school and middle school parents were not volunteering to work bingo. Parents are staying away because no one on the Boosters Executive Board have kids playing ball at any level. 90% of the voting body of the Boosters do not have kids playing at any level. Parents are also afraid that the Boosters are not a transparent organization. The organization brings in over a million, yes I said a million, dollars at their bingo every year. After paying the bingo players their winnings and the rest of their bills they have about 90k left to fund the youth league, middle and high school programs. The Boosters do not have an accountant and their treasurer does all their tax forms. The Boosters treasurer was recently found guilty by the State of not keeping receipts for many so called food purchases and other expenses. This same treasurer is still the acting treasurer. Parents do not want to be a part of an organization with questionable accounting procedures and is run by people with no vested interest in football in Grant County. A sad time in Grant County for sure.

Clean out your pm box so you can get a message

Can't say I agree. Like I said earlier it's about kids having an opportunity to play and learn fundamentals. These additional teams along with most opting to play middle school football once the reach the 7th grade, have weakened the senior programs in the NKYFL and BCPWFL, however as a whole, the 6-11 age groups are still doing pretty well despite lower numbers (and football numbers at the youth level have been going down for some time now). Look at the success SK is having, the improvements Dixie has made, Scott with a strong freshman class etc. All a result of having quality youth programs, and continued development at the middle school level.

 

 

 

Feeder programs don,t help one bit. As long as their is quality peewee football around good schools will get the good kids to come to them. Every coach has his own game plan etc. As long as the kids are getting experience they will learn the system when the get to high school. You don't have to run the same plays as the varsity for kids to learn quality football and to develop.

True and not true. YES there are exceptions that have never played before and can come star in high school with no experience. BUT A GOOD PEE WEE PROGRAM THAT PLAYS TOUGH COMPETITION always benefits high schools in that same area. How would it not. Sure open enrollment helps but if your getting 25 or 30 plus kids that have never played a snap your in trouble. You need a foundation of kids that have played quality pee wee football to filter into your school. Reguardless of the area they come from.

Sorry but I agree only reason some of these youth programs were started because of a disagreement, which is fine people can do what they want. BUT no denying its watering down pee wee football in florence , Union etc. When they were all in one league competition was WAY BETTER. Yes kids are playing and that is good but if they aren't playing against decent comp when they get to high school and the level goes up they cant compete. And i cant speak for Highlands but the COLERAIN FEEDER you guys speak of wasn't always a colerain feeder. THE little cards used to be the K of C Rebels and were always good and tough but the got kids from ALL OVER THE CITY. So most didn't even attend Colerain in high school. Colerain just because relevant in the late 90s. K of C was good way before that. Point being the little cards get kids that some MAY go to colerain but they come from ALOT of other areas as well.

Based on the level of competition when the jags and union raider kids were still in bcpwfl. As compared to how the league is now. The league was tougher. Yes 40 kids on a team is to much I agree. BUT the league was still feeding kids to Boone, Ryle, and Conner. Your just dividing the same core kids. And some of these teams haven't been better because of the FEEDER progams. And I have seen some union raiders teams with 25-30 kids on them. SO whats the point of breaking away. Ryle, nor cooper has benefited from it yet. And the good core kids each has coming in played in the BCPWFL at one point anyway.

I have to chime in on this BCPWFL football conversation. I personally don't understand why everyone from BC thinks the BCPWFL is such a great league. I have personally never been part of a team that has lost to a BCPWFL team. I started coaching Pee Wee football in Cincy in the Buckeye League 8 years ago. The Buckeye League is the home of the Hilltop Hawks, Forest Park Rams, Winton Woods Warriors, Western AA Warriors, Mt. Airy Chargers and a couple of teams out of Dayton. This league has the most talented and competitive players I've every seen. The parents and coaches get a little carried away, but that's everywhere in youth sports. I coached against a couple of teams from the BCPWFL those kids would be Soph & Jr. this fall. We blew out the teams from BC. When my son played 1 year for the Bengal Tigers a couple of years ago we played the Bandits and won a hard fought game 8-6. Instead of being good sports about it and wishing us well for a good game, we were called thugs the claimed our RB was too big and they vowed never to play us again. They sad we played dirty football. The week before my son joined the Bengal Tigers they play the Cougars and lost by 3 or 4 scores. It was a blowout to say the least. That Bengal Tiger team had a great run that year and lost the their Super Bowl to a team that had high school players on it, but I digress.

 

All this talk about which league is better and feeder programs for high schools is all well and good, but what's the point if you're not going to settle it on the field?

 

Have all the Pee Wee league champs play a tournament at the end of the season and let the kids determine who has the best team and league.

 

Just 1 football parent/coach/nut's opinion. Good luck this year everyone.

I have to chime in on this BCPWFL football conversation. I personally don't understand why everyone from BC thinks the BCPWFL is such a great league. I have personally never been part of a team that has lost to a BCPWFL team. I started coaching Pee Wee football in Cincy in the Buckeye League 8 years ago. The Buckeye League is the home of the Hilltop Hawks, Forest Park Rams, Winton Woods Warriors, Western AA Warriors, Mt. Airy Chargers and a couple of teams out of Dayton. This league has the most talented and competitive players I've every seen. The parents and coaches get a little carried away, but that's everywhere in youth sports. I coached against a couple of teams from the BCPWFL those kids would be Soph & Jr. this fall. We blew out the teams from BC. When my son played 1 year for the Bengal Tigers a couple of years ago we played the Bandits and won a hard fought game 8-6. Instead of being good sports about it and wishing us well for a good game, we were called thugs the claimed our RB was too big and they vowed never to play us again. They sad we played dirty football. The week before my son joined the Bengal Tigers they play the Cougars and lost by 3 or 4 scores. It was a blowout to say the least. That Bengal Tiger team had a great run that year and lost the their Super Bowl to a team that had high school players on it, but I digress.

 

All this talk about which league is better and feeder programs for high schools is all well and good, but what's the point if you're not going to settle it on the field?

 

Have all the Pee Wee league champs play a tournament at the end of the season and let the kids determine who has the best team and league.

 

Just 1 football parent/coach/nut's opinion. Good luck this year everyone.

 

You coached against this league just after it was sucked dry by the emergence of two middle school programs that took most of the best players of the league. That being said, no question that there is more talent on your side of the river. Shows up at every level.