Playing time is one of the most important issues in youth football. It’s a subject that can trigger many different perspectives, but in my eyes, there’s only one way to handle it. If you are a parent who writes that check for the registration fee, then you have every right in the world to see your child participate in the games.

There are some exceptions, but for the most part, if your child shows up for practice, works hard, and is respectful to coaches and teammates, then the child has to play in the game. End of story. There’s nothing worse as a youth football parent than to schlep your kids to practice all week and then get them ready for game day, only to see them play in a handful of plays, or in some cases, not get in the game at all. 

If your child doesn’t show up for practice, doesn’t listen to the coaches, or just goofs off, that’s another story. A coach is not going to put a player on the field who isn’t ready.  That’s just common sense because of safety, because a coach must always have the child’s well-being in mind.

There are a couple of kids on my son Bradley’s team who haven’t seen much action over the first two games of the season, and I think that presents a problem. When it comes to this issue, my wife, Sheryl, and I have been on both ends of the spectrum. After two years of instructional “peanut” football, Bradley moved up to the pee-wee level at the age of six and was lucky to see four or five plays in a game.

And this is a league where every team makes the playoffs and there are multiple tiers of playoff brackets and champions depending on where your team finished in the regular-season standings. My point is that if everyone makes the playoffs, then all the kids on the team should have a chance to play. I can relate to the parents who are going through this because my wife and I have been there, done that, and had that awkward chat about it with the coach that resulted in an email to all the parents asking not to discuss playing time with the coach.

What is the objective here, anyway?

In my opinion, youth football should be a vehicle for kids who love the sport to get an opportunity to play, have fun, get better and make friends. I hate to see kids just sitting on the sideline and never getting a chance, especially the ones who come to practice and work hard. Why should they sit on the bench?  Does it really matter if you win, lose or tie? Everyone is going to the playoffs and the emphasis should be on teaching the proper fundamentals and having fun.

However, once you get the playoffs and a championship is on the line, all bets are off. I think a coach, while he has the responsibility to teach the kids during the season and prepare them for the games, should try to win the trophy once the playoffs begin. I still think everyone should get a chance to play, but the postseason is the time to give the best players on the team the most playing time. Maybe that should be the reward for the kids who have a higher skill level. 

My wife and I have no complaints about Bradley’s playing time at this point. He’s 11 years old and has been his team’s starting center on offense for the last five years. After that rough first season at pee-wee, Bradley showed a desire to play center and a new coach gave him that chance the following season. Since then, he’s played just about every snap on offense and a few plays here and there on defense, so there’s no issue about playing time. But we understand what some of these other parents are going through, because we’ve been in their shoes.      

These kids need to get that experience to get better, especially those who have aspirations to play when they get to middle school and then high school. I know that many coaches might disagree with this, but I think there’s too much emphasis on winning. I understand it’s a league with standings and you always feel better after a win. But we’re talking about youth football and the emphasis should be on the kids getting a chance to play.

When you hear stories about how registration is down in tackle football leagues around the country because of injury concerns, it’s going to be even harder to get parents to write out that check if their kid isn’t going to see the field. If you are going to pay for your child to play, then your child should play, especially if the child does everything the coaches ask. 

Hey coaches … let them all play!

Peter Schwartz is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WCBS 880 Radio in New York. His oldest son, Bradley, plays youth football on Long Island while his younger son, Jared, plays flag football. Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.