My 8 yr. old ds is set on playing football this fall. I am not too thrilled. My problem is that he only weighs 53 lbs and his age group goes up to 85 lbs max. I can't image an 85 lb boy hitting him. Dh thinks it is better for him to play now and see if he likes it. We had an asthma recheck yesterday and his doctor was trying to talk him out of it. She said most of the injuries she sees are from football. So, for those of you that your boys play football. How is it? (Melanie, I know your boys play)

So any opinions, advice. I am hoping that if we let ds play he won't like it. I know, shame on me. He already plays baseball and basketball and excels at both. I wish he was happy just playing those.

By Melissa on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 01:25 pm:

I think if he wants to do it, you should let him, if you feel the team and coaches know what they are doing and are safe as can be for that sport. I don't know anything about football but my dd is horse crazy and at 8 has started jumping- I don't love that at all- it scares me! But it is important to her and her trainer is very skilled and focused on safety. Watch with your eyes half shut, it helps!!

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 01:31 pm:

Sorry this worries you...
I'm surprised she hasn't seen more injuries from soccer! I've seen more torn ligaments and more *serious* injuries from that sport. Maybe she sees less serious injuries from football since she's a general physician. Maybe you should ask the ER doctors? I bet they'll say soccer!

And, coming from a science perspective...

Force = Mass X Acceleration

They might have more mass, but they might lack the acceleration! People don't think about that...and thank God for pads. ANd, who knows, he might quit just as soon as he starts and find out it's not really for him!

By Melanie on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 01:56 pm:

My boys are 10 and 8. The ten year old has played two seasons (currently weighs 68 pounds and will be moving up to the PeeWee division this year). The 8 year old has played one season (weighs 65 pounds) and will play at the Mighty Mite level for two more years since he should have no problem making the lower weight division both years.

I would definitely let your son try it. These coaches take safety very seriously. The kids are taught how to hit and be hit. They coach them on where to put their heads, where to put their hands and so on. The coaches do not hesitate to take a kid off the field who isn't using proper technique.

Some kids are out on that field and are all fire, always ready to make or take a tackle. Those kids are put in the positions where they can do that. Other kids aren't as aggressive. They are put in the positions where they are less likely to make contact.

We had a 7 year old on our team who weighed 45 pounds. The uniform was huge on him. The kid was tough-he was always ready to get in the action. But the coaches never put him in a position they didn't think he could handle. They watched the match-ups and made sure he was never up against someone who towered over him.

The kids are well padded and are taught how to use those pads. Kids who are in the positions where they are expected to make a lot of tackles often wear neck pads in addition to the shoulder pads. Our oldest is a quarterback which requires his arms to be up exposing his ribs. So he has a padded vest he wears to protect that exposed area.

I say let him try it. It is a tremendous amount of work. Our kids practice five days per week, 2 hours per day for the month of August. Their first game is Labor Day weekend and from there the practices are three days per week, two hours per day plus a game on the weekend. The kids are worked hard-lots of running, push-ups, all sorts of drills...it's amazing to watch. Amazing because the kids love it and really rise up to the challenge. It will blow your mind to see what your son is capable of.

By Crystal915 on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 02:16 pm:

There are lots of sports that have more injuries than football. Honestly, I would let him play, he wants to do it, and it's not as if they will just throw him out there to be crushed by a bunch of kids. My husband and his brothers all played football from peewee league through HS, and other than my one BIL having a back injury in HS, none of them were seriously hurt through the years. They hurt themselves more just being boys (jumping off things, doing stupid stuff LOL).

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 02:44 pm:

I would let him play.

By Cat on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 03:09 pm:

I've heard all the stats for injuries and how football's safer than other sports and blah, blah, blah... Jmho, of course. I share your concern, though. My boys want to play football this fall, too, and like your ds they're small for their ages and I'm afraid they'll get squashed like bugs! lol Robin's 12 and weighs in at about 80lbs (on a good day) and Randy's 10 and is about 68lbs. My dh isn't a big guy (heck, he was downright skinny when I met him! lol) and he says he played football and loved it. *sigh* I guess us moms need to learn to let go, huh. Hugs, Debbie. I'm right there with ya.

By Janet on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 03:58 pm:

I am so glad I have girls! But I feel for you.. I have a good friend whose son plays. It's nerve-wracking, for sure. Still, it seems that with all the protective gear they wear these days, the boys are pretty well covered.

By Kaye on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 04:22 pm:

In high school it is true that a lot of sports have high injury rates. However at age 8-10, most sports do not have injuries. Football is that exception. They don't know how to hit, they don't know how to fall and they can be too big for their brains to figure it all out. Our rheumy does not allow my son to play football until jr high. She says overall growth plate injuries are too common and unfixable.

However that being said, we love football and looked into it. Can't wait till jr high. You can't keep them in a bubble forever. But we looked into our local team, before the doc said no. Here at age 8, 2nd grade, they practice for 3-4 hours 5 days a week. YIKES. During season they drop down to 2-3 hours 4 days a week. Really it is just too much for us!

By Conni on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 04:39 pm:

My oldest (14 this june and made the 9th gr team for next yr) has been playing since 4th grade?? He is certainly not the largest guy on the team. At the younger ages I was not that concerned. He is avg and he is tough. However, the kids just arent that big yet and it isnt too bad really. Now this last yr in 8th gr oh myyyy they are like giants on the field. My ds didnt actually weigh enough to be on defense- but he is such a fearless defensive player the coach ended up putting him there. You would not believe the size of the guys he was too block. All I could do was laugh!! They were huge. Sometimes he blocked and sometimes they ran right over him. LOL He loves it. Practice didnt get hard for us until Jr High. They practiced ALL summer last summer. This yr will be all summer (so basically its like no break from school- i still have to get up and drive him there all summer), plus in Aug i think they go to 2x a day morning and afternoon practices.

I would let him try now, while all the other kids are still *learning* too play.

We have a kid with asthma- a couple of times they called for his inhaler. We had one get his arm broke afew yrs back. One kids hurt his ankle last yr- but went right back out on the field a few min later. My main concern is heat exhaustion.

By Debbie on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 05:19 pm:

Well, dh has done some checking today and there is no Pop Warner in the area we are moving to. The only league is Gateway Football League and they have no max weight limit, they just go by age. I don't know if I like that. And like you said Melanie, they practice 2 hours - 3 times a week and then have games on the weekends. They do have a big flag football league, which may be another option.

I just remember my brother playing in grade school. He broke his right arm and he struggled through school trying to write left handed. LOL. I was only in 2nd grade and I still remember it.

Thanks for all your input, dh and I are still discussing it. I am sure if it comes down to it, we will probably let him play if he really wants to. I am still hoping he ends up not liking it.