There Are Multiple Pathways for a Child to Play Football

By Peter Schwartz | Posted 12/1/2020

The road towards a child playing and subsequently falling in love with football can take some different paths. There isn’t a standard or universal blueprint that a parent can use when deciding how to introduce football to their child. That goes with just about anything in life when it comes to being a parent. The child plays a huge role in the decision and there could be a number of ways for a young boy or girl to decide to give football – tackle or flag – a try.

As part of USA Football’s Football Development Model, there is a pillar dedicated to Multiple Pathways and Multi-Sport Development

“From gym class to joining a local league, there are multiple pathways, game types and ages a child may be introduced to football. We will meet players where they are most comfortable.”

In our home, my wife Sheryl and I have seen our two boys take completely different roads when it comes to football. But, at the end of the day, both Bradley and Jared have taken the roads that they have been comfortable with. They are also roads that Sheryl and I have been on board with. Regardless of the pathways that Bradley and Jared have chosen, all roads have led to them loving to play football.

I’ve written about my older son Bradley’s pathway before and it’s probably a road that many other kids took. He was on a soccer field at the age of three. Bradley would dribble the ball and if two kids on the other team were just standing there like pylons, he was going to drive through trying to score.  

At one point, Sheryl leaned over to me and whispered into my ear “this boy needs to be on a football field”.  The rest, as they say, is history and Bradley went on to start playing youth football at the age of four. After two seasons of middle school football, he’s currently a freshman in high school waiting patiently for New York State to allow football to take place as the country continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. Bradley is also excited about the return of the U.S. National Team program in 2021.

My younger son Jared’s pathway through football has been a little different.  After watching his older brother play, Jared had an itch about five years ago to give tackle football a try. He participated in a few days of training camp but just wasn’t comfortable with all of the equipment, so it didn’t work out. He liked the concept of football from having played in the backyard and watching on tv, but he just wasn’t ready for tackle.  

A year later, Jared started playing flag football and just completed his fourth season. He simply took a different path to fall in love with football. Now he absolutely loves it, so much so that he can’t get enough of watching it on television and going to games (when we’re allowed to again in New York).  And now, he may want to take another look at tackle football when he gets to middle school next year.   

On the subject of middle school, there are a lot of kids who don’t start playing tackle football until they get a little older. Two years ago, Bradley shared an interesting story when he came home after the first day of 7th-grade practice. He said the coach asked by a show of hands how many kids had prior tackle football experience and more than half of the kids raised their hands. That meant that the coach had to spend more time on the basics because most of the players had not played youth football before.

There are many different pathways for a child to get involved with football from playing it at a young age to starting out with flag football or to just started it at the middle school level. Regardless of the pathway, if the end result is your child participating and loving football, then it was the right path to follow. 

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WFAN Radio in New York.  His son Bradley is a freshman in high school and is a participant in the U.S. National Team program while his younger son Jared enjoys playing flag football.   Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a high school or flag football field.  

FOOTBALL FOR ALL™

USA Football's new model for youth football is designed to make the game safer by reducing contact and by teaching the game based on an athlete's age, the skill they are learning and game type.

LEARN MORE

Share