The cool nights and the leaves changing colors mean fall is here — and so is football season. Football is one of the most popular sports in the United States, and many kids want to participate at a young age.
Little league football is an excellent opportunity for your child to learn the game of football and have fun. Before you sign the kids up, remember these six things about playing peewee football.
Stretch Before Playing
Stretching is an essential part of warming up for anybody at any age doing any physical activity. It’s even more critical when your child plays football. Stretching keeps your muscles strong and flexible, creating a wider range of motion in your joints. Children who play football need to be agile and able to move in any direction at a moment’s notice.
When you stretch, you also are taking preventative measures against injury. Before practice or a game, your child probably sat in a chair at school throughout the day. Sitting idle causes tightness in places like your hamstring. Going straight into exercise without stretching these muscles puts a strain on them and puts your kid at a higher risk for injuries. If they’re not doing so in warmups, make sure they stretch before they get on the field.
Wear Protective Gear
Football is one of the most physical sports available for children to play. Every snap requires contact between the linemen and players from the defense trying to tackle the ball handler on offense. With the high amount of physical contact comes injuries.
Unfortunately, injuries are a common occurrence in football. They still happen in non-contact versions like flag football. Because of injuries, it’s crucial to make a checklist of protective gear to ensure your child’s safety during practices and games.
They need to wear many pieces of equipment, including a mouth guard, knee pads, shoulder pads, a protective cup, and proper cleats. Train yourself and your child to ensure they have all their protective gear with them at every game.
Require Commitment From Your Child
After-school activities are an excellent way for your child to get out of the house and be active with their friends in a non-school setting. However, the amount of time football requires every week can be a distraction for some children and their families.
Every week, they’re likely to have practice for two or three days for a couple of hours. Then, there’s a weekly game that will be a couple of hours long, and it may be on a weeknight, depending on your league’s schedule. Your child must be able to balance football and schoolwork because many leagues require good grades to be eligible to play.
Require Commitment From Yourself
Football games under the lights are fun, but it takes a lot of work to get to that point. Do you know the saying that it takes a village? It holds football leagues from peewee football to high school and beyond. Little league football requires commitment from the coaches, the players, and all the parents to ensure the team has a smooth season with enough help to get through every game.
One of the most important things a parent can do is help with the monetary aspect of the league. Teams will often have the kids fundraiser to earn money. You can help these fundraisers by selling items at your work, church, and neighborhood and contacting your family. At the games, you can contribute by working the concession stands, running the scoreboard, and more.
Emphasize Fun
Whether it’s football, soccer, basketball, or any other sport, the primary objective of little league sports is to have fun. If your kid isn’t enjoying themselves, what’s the point of stepping on the field? You’re only young once, so help your child have fun and make lasting memories.
One way to start is by checking yourself and how you approach your children playing sports. Some parents heavily invest in their children someday going professional in a sport and end up micromanaging their kids. These parents often go overboard and deprive their children of the joy of playing sports. Help your child succeed, but go easy on them and remember — it’s just a game. The odds of your child going from peewee football to the NFL are astronomically low.
Remember the Human Element
Telling yourself peewee football is just a game bears repeating. Some parents take things too seriously with their children because they want them to be the next Tom Brady. Others get frustrated and take their anger out on other adults in the vicinity.
Little league games often have referees who are volunteering. They don’t have the training and experience of college football or NFL referees. These people may run a small business in the community or work for the local government. If they mess up a call, there are ways to hold them accountable without starting a riot at the games. Talk calmly with the referees after the game or contact the head officials of the league to see what they can do moving forward.
Referees are human, and it’s also critical to see the human element in coaches. These people are likely doing this for free — they don’t have to be doing what they’re doing. If you have an issue with the coach, you must communicate any problems early and fix them before an issue worsens. A good coach will understand relationship management with players and parents.
Have Fun and Be Safe
Football is a fun sport and can be a fantastic way for your child to learn how to play on a team. Teams win championships more often than individual talent does. Before signing the kids up for youth football, remember these six items. Peewee football takes commitment from you and your child, but it’s well worth it when you see the kids shining under the lights.
