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The first picture I have of my son enjoying football was when he was 2 years old. I came into the room after heʼd just awoken from a nap and he was sitting on the couch watching football with his dad.

My sonʼs love for football grew as he played flag, youth, high school, and finally college.

When he began playing at age 7, we didn’t know how much his football career would consume our lives over the next 16 years. Of course, as a football coach’s wife, I grew to love the sport and watching my son play. But there are certainly some things I wish I’d known at the beginning of my journey.

I’ll share those things with you in hopes you will be better prepared to share your child’s football career:

Youth football is not for everyone

Football is physically demanding. The hitting is simply not for every kid. Apprehension is one thing. Being terrified is another. Forcing a child to play when he can't hit or be hit simply isn’t fun for the child or parent, and could get the child hurt.

It is discomforting to watch your kid get hit hard. As a quarterback mom, I cringed every time I saw my son get flattened. If your child decides the full-contact sport is not for him, there are other options, including flag football, and of course they can play other sports.

There will be injuries

Even with helmets, shoulder pads, mouthpieces and other protective equipment, there is no injury-free guarantee. Most injuries are minor such as bruises, bumps or muscle strains. But sometimes, kids will break bones or tear muscles.

My son sat out more than one game due to injuries, but he always came back and kept playing. Injuries do not have to end the sport if your child gets proper care and is eager to keep on playing after recovery.

Concussion education should be a priority

Before you let your child play, educate yourself about the signs, symptoms and steps you should take if you suspect a concussion.

Ask your child’s coaches what their concussion protocol is and how they are teaching kids to block and tackle.

Most importantly, make sure your child understands the symptoms and knows how important it is to talk to you about how he feels.

Football is a huge time commitment

Every league is different, but there’s a pretty good chance that football will take up a large part of your child’s time and your time as you shuttle them to practices and games.

There’s a lot of fundamentals to teach in football, and working with such a large group of kids demands that practices must be long enough and occur often enough to get the job done.

As a freshman football coach, my husband had a reputation for long practices. But I will excuse him because his teams usually had 50 to 70 players.

Your child won’t always get to start

Many football coaches will make depth charts, which simply means they list first-, second-, third- and even fourth-string players. In the younger leagues, coaches should work through the entire depth chart in any given game, but as kids get older, this chart will take on greater and greater meaning.

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Let me just say this: if your child is No. 3 or No. 4 on the depth chart, don’t be discouraged. As mentioned earlier, injuries happen, and your child could be on the field sooner than they think. They should stay focused on the game, practice hard, and be ready, because in football, a player can move up the depth chart very quickly.

I often ask myself, after watching my son play for so many years and now knowing more than ever about the possibility of injury, if I’d let him do it again. The answer is yes! The journey for him was life-impacting and for mom, well let’s just say I was his biggest fan!

Janis B. Meredith is a sports parenting blogger, podcaster, and life coach. She provides resources to help parents give their children a positive and growing youth sports experience. Her book 11 Habits for Happy & Positive Sports Parents is available on Amazon.