Mano Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 My son, who turns 10 in September is debating whether he wants to play football or competitive soccer this year. He has always been into sports, and really enjoys playing basketball, football and soccer. He played on "non competitive" soccer teams for 3-4 years. Last year he played football with his friend. He enjoys playing both, but doesn't like that the first month of football practice is every day. He is good at both, but he is tall and heavy for his age, so he has to play on the interior line in football, so doesn't get to score. In soccer, he is one of the better shooters for his age, and has always been one of the leading scorers. He started and played both ways in football, and was the second or third best linemen on his team in his first year playing. Does anyone think I should nudge him towards one sport or the other? I have concerns with football with all the new concussion data coming out. But football is the popular sport, and likely help out socially as he gets older. I am probably biased, because I played and follow football. I have been trying to be supportive of whatever he wants, but he seems torn. I could probably talk him into either. What do yo think I should do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydlck Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Do both. Flag football for now, less demanding schedule than tackle, and do the more competitive soccer team. Allows him to stay in the football game developing skills, less likely to get roped into lineman only and can jump back to tackle when he feels like it. Not sure soccer any better for concussions tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row Z Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 14 minutes ago, trickydlck said: Do both. Flag football for now, less demanding schedule than tackle, and do the more competitive soccer team. Allows him to stay in the football game developing skills, less likely to get roped into lineman only and can jump back to tackle when he feels like it. Not sure soccer any better for concussions tho. This is what my 8 year old is doing. There is almost no chance my wife will let him play tackle football though, so he better get his highlights in playing flag football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBug708 Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Soccer and train him to play left fullback. If he's fast, maybe a signal. It's as good as a golden ticket as being 7'2, able to pick a 45 yard field goal, or being a left handed pitching specialist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAC MAN Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Mano, i played 2 1/2 seasons on the interior lines in football in high school and had migraine problems in college even if I didn't play college football. Those migraines continued for a decade and after reading about concussions, I suspect I had two or three concussions that were never diagnosed. Those happened in practice and interior linemen gets more blows to the head. Even at that time, if soccer was available, I'd have gone out for soccer instead of football. That was 20 years ago. I believe we will get the 2026 World Cup and that could cement soccer as the #1 sport perhaps by the 2030s. If I had any kids, I'd be steering them away from football and hockey. I wear CU and Rockies gear far more often than Broncos gear so it could rub off on my nephews and nieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueDuck Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Why soccer? Even if I was scarred of football, there's plenty of sports to choose from. Unlike Jalepano, I played football from 3rd grade until college (mostly DB although some LB and WR) and never got a concussion or even any major injuries. Maybe I was lucky. Lacrosse looks fun, hockey, or have your kid play basketball year round. Hell there's a major shortage of catchers theses days, if your kid is big and heavy for his age I doubt soccer (sorry to be blunt) is going to be his sport long term, get him a set of shin guards and a catchers mitt and teach him how to catch and throw out base runners. If he can do that and his .225, he could play a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueDuck Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Here is a study that shows concussions, while lower than football, are still a very real reality in soccer. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2015/07/14/health/youth-soccer-safety/index.html Whatever sport you and your kids choose, don't let the fear of injuries be the reason you push them one way or another. Especially at 10, there's a good chance he or she don't even play sports past 15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glduck Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 3 hours ago, Jalapeno said: Mano, i played 2 1/2 seasons on the interior lines in football in high school and had migraine problems in college even if I didn't play college football. Those migraines continued for a decade and after reading about concussions, I suspect I had two or three concussions that were never diagnosed. Those happened in practice and interior linemen gets more blows to the head. Even at that time, if soccer was available, I'd have gone out for soccer instead of football. That was 20 years ago. I believe we will get the 2026 World Cup and that could cement soccer as the #1 sport perhaps by the 2030s. If I had any kids, I'd be steering them away from football and hockey. I wear CU and Rockies gear far more often than Broncos gear so it could rub off on my nephews and nieces. i like the enthusiasm but soccer will not be the #1 sport here in twenty years. we've hosted the world cup before. soccer is still behind cars racing in circles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBug708 Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Baseball and basketball are also behind car racing in some circles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mano Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 3 hours ago, RogueDuck said: Why soccer? Even if I was scarred of football, there's plenty of sports to choose from. Unlike Jalepano, I played football from 3rd grade until college (mostly DB although some LB and WR) and never got a concussion or even any major injuries. Maybe I was lucky. Lacrosse looks fun, hockey, or have your kid play basketball year round. Hell there's a major shortage of catchers theses days, if your kid is big and heavy for his age I doubt soccer (sorry to be blunt) is going to be his sport long term, get him a set of shin guards and a catchers mitt and teach him how to catch and throw out base runners. If he can do that and his .225, he could play a long time. He likes soccer. It is what they play at school at recess. I have tried to get him to play baseball and hockey but he has no interest. Lacrosse is starting to gain in popularity here, but they don't have leagues for kids his age. Fall Soccer and Football seasons both overlap, so he is going to have to choose between them. I played football from grade 7-12 as a linemen, and I don't believe I have had any issues. Maybe I was lucky. I worry with all the attention concussions in football has gotten, but the worry is me not him. The soccer league doesn't allow heading the ball, so while concussions still possible, certainly much less likely than football. Sports were important to me growing up and in high school. Football is a demanding sport, and I worry that he could get burned out by high school ( when it was most fun for me and had the most social benefits ). I would prefer he play different sports each season than focus on one at this age. He is a smart kid, and I don't expect sports to be his living or even get him into college, just something to be fit, have fun, learn team work, build character, etc. He is a head taller than most of his teammates, and a bit overweight to boot, but still does well. The running should help with the weight, but he is pretty skilled and has more competitiveness than most kids his age, he will do fine in either sport, just in soccer he will actually likely get to score. Watching the tryouts today he will likely be a starting forward if he decides to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAC MAN Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Agree with you about multiple sports...I played basketball in middle school, baseball frosh year of high school, football soph, jr, and sr; and track my senior year. I always tell my wife that if I was to do things again, I'd not go out for football. And yes, you are fortunate to have not suffered serious head injuries playing in the trenches. I suspect my second high school had subpar helmets compared to my first high school. Given the attention on concussions these days, I believe there would be better helmets today than what I wore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGRDON Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 16 hours ago, Mano said: My son, who turns 10 in September is debating whether he wants to play football or competitive soccer this year. He has always been into sports, and really enjoys playing basketball, football and soccer. He played on "non competitive" soccer teams for 3-4 years. Last year he played football with his friend. He enjoys playing both, but doesn't like that the first month of football practice is every day. He is good at both, but he is tall and heavy for his age, so he has to play on the interior line in football, so doesn't get to score. In soccer, he is one of the better shooters for his age, and has always been one of the leading scorers. He started and played both ways in football, and was the second or third best linemen on his team in his first year playing. Does anyone think I should nudge him towards one sport or the other? I have concerns with football with all the new concussion data coming out. But football is the popular sport, and likely help out socially as he gets older. I am probably biased, because I played and follow football. I have been trying to be supportive of whatever he wants, but he seems torn. I could probably talk him into either. What do yo think I should do? Unless you are concerned about injury, don't do anything except be supportive, present and excited about his choices and accomplishments. He will figure out what he likes and what the social benefits are. The only thing I would advise, and of which you are probably already aware, is that it's good to get some skills in individual sports as he gets older because the opportunity for team sports disappears. Exposure to squash, golf, tennis, racquetball, handball, etc., Will be good for his career and health. Most guys wish they had had more exposure to these sports. Maybe even some running because as he grows and matures the weight may be less of an obstacle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mano Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 4 hours ago, KUGRDON said: Unless you are concerned about injury, don't do anything except be supportive, present and excited about his choices and accomplishments. He will figure out what he likes and what the social benefits are. The only thing I would advise, and of which you are probably already aware, is that it's good to get some skills in individual sports as he gets older because the opportunity for team sports disappears. Exposure to squash, golf, tennis, racquetball, handball, etc., Will be good for his career and health. Most guys wish they had had more exposure to these sports. Maybe even some running because as he grows and matures the weight may be less of an obstacle. He is more interested in team sports right now, but have had him taking swim lessons with his sister who is 12 the past several years, and I have signed them up for tennis lessons this summer. Although I am concerned about injury, I realize there are risks in all sports. The only things I have pushed him into are swim, because I think it is a valuable skill that he will need, and I pushed for him to try tennis this summer, but will not make him continue if he does not like it after trying it out. If he wants to do one or the other, I will be supportive. As he seems pretty torn over which to do, I want to be able to give him pros and cons for each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGRDON Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Sounds like great parenting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAC MAN Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 Agree with Don...hopefully your kids choose individual sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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