peewee training

Question
First and foremost I would like to thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and for any help you guys provide. My son turned 5 this spring and we enrolled him in peewee football. He is so excited. The problem is that I've heard that the coaches around here won't let just any kid play in the games. They have to either be really good or their parent's have to know someone. Since I'm new to this town I was wondering what advice you had to help me get my little 39.8 lb ball of energy ready for training. Anything that you think would help him get a head of the competition and perhaps get selected to play in at least one game or so this season would be great. Thanks again guys.

Answer
Buck
Thank you for your question.  Unfortunately I am not sure I can help you.  I would recommend you try to find a flag football league for your soon where they let kids play.  The reason for this is you want your son to have fun and play with peers while learning the fundamentals of the game.  It doesn't sound like peewee football coaches in your area are open to this philosophy.

I am afraid peewee football training is a bit out of my area of expertise especially for 5 year olds.  Based on my years of experience, as a player, coach, football official and athletic trainer I am of the opinion tackle football should not be played until a player has started high school.

Players under the age of 14 are still growing and their joint spaces, growth plates are soft and susceptible to injury, they also don't have the bone strength and muscle mass developed to protect them.  So from a safety stand point I do not recommend tackle football for players under age 14.  I do recommend flag football where the injuries are less but they can learn the proper way to play the game, learn the fundaments and have the opportunity to play multiple position.

In my opinion, the key you want your son to play and have fun.  You want him to learn the game and the fundamentals and most important you don't want him to suffer injuries while he is still growing that could affect him the rest of his life.  Having played college football and having come from a football family (dating back to 1898) it is my experience that most of my team mates (and my brother's teammates) did not play tackle football until high school, the kids who plaid tackle football before high school rarely played beyond the 12 grade - likely because they burned out.

The only advice I can give for your "peewee in training" is to teach him to have fun and the importance of team work.

This way if he doesn't get to play in games he understands he is part of the team.  you need to encourage him to have fun and to listen to the coach and work on his fundamentals such as 3 point stance, keeping his head up, etc.

Best of luck and I hope you son some day becomes a star player at what ever level he plays.  Please let me know how his season goes.

Victor Winnek
NCAA Football Official