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8-year-old dies during football practice

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Smallpotatoes, Aug 5, 2009.

  1. Do they require physicals?
    If not will you get your kid one anyway?
     
  2. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    I have no idea what part of West Virginia this is, but how many of these people even have health insurance or the access to an inexpensive physical?
     
  3. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    There is no such thing as a work ethic for an 8- or 9-year-old, unless you count putting in the appropriate time to learn the alphabet and to count. At that point in your life, every day's a holiday. Or at least it should be.
     
  4. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    Again, I learned a lot playing football when I was 8, 9, 10 and 11. If I would have waited until age 12 to play with pads I would have been in 8th grade.

    I would have one year to transition from full pads, to high school football.

    In any event, to the poster who said there is no work ethic for 8-year-olds, you obviously never played youth football.

    Practice 5 days a week for 4 weeks in August.

    When the season started, practice was 4 times a week, plus a game, for 8 weeks. It could be for 9 or 10 if we made the playoffs. Two hour practices each day, sometimes 2 and a half.

    And we also had playbooks to memorize. Some players played offense and defense and special teams so there were numerous assignments to be learned. Even the lineman had playbooks. Laugh if you will, but these play books, I tell you, we're pretty extensive for 8 and 9 year olds.
     
  5. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Foorball may be the only sport where you can start playing at the high school level and end up with a professional career.

    You can't say that about hockey or baseball.

    And sorry, but the idea of an eight year old practicing any sport two hours a day, four times a week strikes me as ridiculous.
     
  6. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Agree on concept of being able to pick up football later on but not baseball or hockey.

    For Hockey if you have not learned to skate by say age 6 forget it.

    JR - I am surprised there is not more of a time commitment for Mite travel leagues in Canada.
     
  7. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Playbooks to memorize at eight? Belly blocking, double team bliocking, one basic sweep and three or four pass plays is all you need.

    Time spent learning plays is time not spent teaching the basics of the game.
     
  8. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Boom, what's Mite? Is that eight year old hockey? Up here we call it Novice.

    The Greater Toronto Hockey League, the largest minor hockey organization in the world, allows kids eight and under to play only in house league and on the house league Select team.

    You can't start plalying elite (A, AA or AAA) until Atom (9 and 10 year olds).
     
  9. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

     
  10. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    If the kid were 3- or 4-years old, that's one thing. But at 8 or 9, they're already in school and they should be learning how to juggle homework assignments and learning basic responsibility.

    I don't see anything wrong with playing flag football at 8 or 9. I wouldn't want a kid playing tackle until about 12 or 13 at the earliest.
     
  11. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    But on what basis are you choosing the age. Are you basing the age on gut feel or empirical evidence that a kid should not play until they are 12?
     
  12. tapintoamerica

    tapintoamerica Well-Known Member

    There is no such thing as a work ethic for an 8- or 9-year-old, unless you count putting in the appropriate time to learn the alphabet and to count. At that point in your life, every day's a holiday. Or at least it should be.

    [/quote]

    Unfortunately, many adults agree with Morrissey that Every Day Is Like Sunday and that kids should play football as if they were in the NFL.
     
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