For my son Bradley, picking a football position to specialize in was a fairly easy process.

During his two years of instructional football and one year at the pee wee level, he had a chance to move around to different spots on the field to experiment with what role suited him best. He learned a wide variety of skills while playing just about everywhere.

During that first pee wee season, we went to see my nephew Stephen’s high school game, and Bradley was intrigued by the position his cousin was playing. My nephew is a pretty big kid. He had grown to like center during his youth football years, and he was the center on his high school team.

Bradley watched Stephen closely that day, and the thought of playing center became attractive to him. Like his cousin, Bradley is a big kid, so playing on the offensive line made sense. Plus, the idea of being the first player to touch the ball on every offensive play along with the leadership aspect of the position appealed to him.

Throughout that offseason, Bradley worked on snapping the ball, and when he went to training camp that summer, he told the coach he would like to try out for center. By the time camp was over, the hard work had paid off as Bradley won the starting center job and hasn’t looked back. He even added long snapping duties this past season.

So when is the right time for your child to pick a position in football? Here are some tips:

• Do your homework. Find out what positions on the team could be open. Do this by talking to parents, coaches or other people involved with the program. If your child isn’t sure what position he or she wants to play, make a suggestion based on the information you gather.
• Be realistic. My son is a big kid and limited by gravity – he’s slow. Playing quarterback, wide receiver or even running back was never really an option once he made it to older levels. You know your child, so talk about what position makes the most sense to pursue. A child may want to emulate his favorite player, but just because he is a Tom Brady fan doesn’t mean that playing quarterback is the right position for him.
• Talk to the coach. If your child is new to football, it’s a good idea to schedule some time with the coach to see what he thinks is best. It’s a good chance for your child to express his interests, and perhaps that could lead to an opportunity in practice. If the coach doesn’t think the child is ready for a particular position, he could have the child work on it or steer him in another direction.
• It’s good to be flexible. This is youth football, so a child should not be pigeon-holed into only one position. It’s a good idea to get some work in elsewhere just in case the need arises. Kids go on vacation or move away. Injuries happen. Even along the offensive line, if Bradley thinks he’s having a match-up problem, he’ll tell the coach, and he might slide over to another spot on the line to make things work. Big leads and big deficits also are a chance to experiment with other positions.

Football is different than baseball and other youth sports when it comes to picking a position. For example, in Little League Baseball, a child could bounce from position to position for years until finding the right fit. In football, there often is a real opportunity early on for a child to find the right position.

For my son, he found something that was suited to his talents and also important. He takes pride in playing center and works hard to improve his skills.

Finding the right position is a process, but if the right steps are taken, a child can pursue a position, have fun and help the team.

Peter Schwartz is an anchor and reporter for the CBS Sports Radio Network. He also writes a CBS New York sports blog at http://newyork.cbslocal.com/tag/peter-schwartz/. You can follow him on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan. Peter’s son Bradley plays for the Levittown Red Devils of the Nassau Suffolk Football League on Long Island in New York. His son Jared cheers on Bradley and then Bradley returns the favor when Jared is playing soccer.