When to Call Off the Dogs in Youth Football
I watched Illinois play Purdue recently and fortunately for me the Fighting Illini won the game 44-10. Illinois has a moderately successful football program and they don’t blow a lot of teams out. Purdue was without their top 2 quarterbacks so they weren’t playing at full potential but I didn’t care. Illinois played a lot of younger players themselves, including a freshman quarterback.
Late in the game Purdue still had their first team defense in and Illinois had rotated in a number of players but kept the starting quarterback in the game. With 2 minutes left and a 37-10 lead Illinois passed for a touchdown and it really upset the Purdue coach. I see his point but Illinois was working in subs at nearly every position and trying to get as much experience for the young quarterback as possible. Was that rubbing it in or not? The Purdue coach thought so but Illinois didn’t. It got me thinking about youth football and how often this truly goes on out there.
Every coach in youth football has a responsibility to the kids first. It is about the experience that those kids are having and making sure that it is a positive one. The love of the game needs to be developed and while each kid isn’t going to go on and play high school or college football, each one of them will have an experience that is unique to them that they will never forget.
Having said that… I firmly believe in winning games, just not at the cost of demoralizing people. Coaches need to look at the whole of the situation and do what is right for the kids, not for the moment. If you are playing a particularly weak team, then make sure that the subs are in the game and you aren’t running up the score. I’m not saying to tell your kids not to play, but make sure that the situation is treated correctly.
My brother-in-law coaches a youth football team and has a play that he runs every so often when he comes across certain competition. He describes it as ‘acting or faking’ but I know what he really means. He uses it when they play teams that haven’t scored a touchdown or are getting blown out. He tries to create a positive for the opposing team’s kids and also teach his players something. He has several stories of games played where this play was called and it made the other team’s season. He lets his kids know that football is not the most important thing and he shows them that by his actions.
Life lessons are all around us every day. They are around us in football practice especially when we have the task of shaping young men’s lives. The lessons taught by youth coaches are never forgotten. Years from now those kids won’t remember the wins and losses as much as they will remember how they felt by showing true sportsmanship. That is something that I think is truly paid forward throughout someone’s life.
