I forgot about this thread.
I'm assistant coach for a K, 1, and 2 grade team once again this fall. I'm basically the offense and defense line coach. We have 13 boys on our team. Mostly a youthful team with only four 2nd graders. My son, is a second year player and entering as a first grader. 6 years old, 48"tall, 81 pounds, and very strong.
He was nominated as player of the game in last night's scrimmage by our head coach. He's come along way since last year. I have him at center and defensive guard, the same positions I used to play so he's been well instructed and taught so far by your's truly.
In last night's scrimmage he tore it up with 2 tackles for loss in the backfield, one stripped fumble, a multitude of tackle assists, and run hole plugging at guard. We later moved him to inside linebacker and he was making some lateral moves and tackles against the sidelines on the outside (where did that speed come from?). On offense, we plugged him at tailback on a 4th and goal situation and he accepted the handoff up the middle between center and guard, bounced off a couple of linebackers and in for a standup touchdown. Proud Pappa I am. He's come a long way since shying away from contact last year as a Kindergartener. He was almost dominate on our play field yesterday. Now that he has some additional confidence instilled within him I can't wait to see what he will do at tomorrow's scrimmage.
On the sour note...appears we only have about 4 talented kids on our team. We probably won't win too many games but we'll have fun....that's all that matters.
Awesome deal. It's all about being safe, having fun, and developing good fundamentals. My alma mater is McComb, a small D-7 school that is a perennial powerhouse. Our youth and middleschool programs generally don't dominate but really focus on the basics. By the time they get to Highschool they are well prepped and usually a very good team.