Hill Country Pop Warner Rookie Tackle players and coaches take part in the pilot program last fall. (Photo via Hill Country Pop Warner)

As USA Football proclaims its commitment to the U.S. Olympic Committee’s American Development Model, one of the key initiatives has been the evolution of Rookie Tackle.

The program, which piloted in 2017 with 10 youth leagues across the country taking part, serves as a bridge between flag football and the 11-player tackle version. It includes the following features:

• Teams with six, seven or eight players on each side
• Players begin plays in a two-point stance
• Coaches provide instruction on the field
• Players get the opportunity to play several positions in the same game
• No special teams
• Smaller fields; one traditional-sized field can handle two Rookie Tackle games simultaneously.

 

Rookie Tackle made its debut at an NFL game in September 2017, as two Indianapolis-area programs took to the field at halftime of the Indianapolis Colts’ home game against the Cleveland Browns at Lucas Oil Stadium:

Great seeing two of the ADM Pilot Leagues in action at the Colts game! #RookieTackle #HUF #INDvsCLE @usafootball pic.twitter.com/vu8MZbGnEr

— Dan Doell (@RedWhiteDanBlue) September 24, 2017

Parents in Frisco, Texas, shared the reasons why they liked Rookie Tackle after USA Football CEO Scott Hallenbeck paid a visit in September. 

 

Pop Warner, the nation’s largest youth football organization, then announced in March that it would adopt the ADM, including Rookie Tackle.

"We will ... make all three game experiences available to every Pop Warner program, which is something we’re quite comfortable with since we already offer both flag and tackle," Pop Warner executive director Jon Butler said at the time.

"In fact, this past season we piloted USA Football’s Rookie Tackle program at one of our leagues in Austin, Texas — Hill Country Pop Warner — and received a very favorable response. We have gained experience with all the elements of the ADM and we will encourage our programs to take advantage of it."

RELATED CONTENT: 6 reasons your youth football league should adopt Rookie Tackle

Here’s a look at Hill Country Pop Warner parents and players who share their experience with Rookie Tackle:

 

Once the season wrapped up last fall, several Rookie Tackle parents told us why they like the program. 

Emily Jiminez, a Hill Country parent, said she was apprehensive about letting her 7-year-old son play, but as the season progressed, she and her husband, Carlos, who coached the team, realized they were taking part in something special. 

“This season, I watched my boys grow,” Jiminez said in a blog she wrote for USA Football last fall. “My husband went from being a lost veteran to a veteran with a purpose. My son went from being a small, fragile little boy into being a little man. To watch your son push himself the way football pushes him, there is nothing like it in the world.”

Westfield, Indiana Rookie Tackle players celebrate a touchdown during a Sept. 24 game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, which took place during halftime of a game between the Colts and the Cleveland Browns. 

Erika Petrelli, whose son, Dylan, played in the Westfield, Indiana Rookie Tackle league last fall, said the coaching he received during the season was unequaled.

“We’ve had some pretty good coaches in the past, but nothing close to these men,” she said in her USA Football guest blog. “They were tougher on him than anyone has been before, but also the most loving. … He thrived under their leadership.”

RELATED CONTENT: Frisco, Texas parents share Rookie Tackle experience

Have more questions about Rookie Tackle or the American Development Model? Check out our FAQ page.