JUST WONDERING WHAT EVERYONE THINKS ABOUT THIS?

[Pisgah Bears]

https://sports.yahoo.com/varsity-blues-football-participation-decline-across-country-124511873.ht

I understand that Madison and Asheville did not field a JV team this year.

 

[beamer24]

Yep its a problem from the youth levels to High School. Not trying to be political but Rush Limbaugh said the sport would die eventually.

 

[patsfball]

In this age of softness we will see more and more of this.

 

[ocdavis31]

Yep its a problem from the youth levels to High School. Not trying to be political but Rush Limbaugh said the sport would die eventually.

I really don't think there's anything political about it. I know people from all over the political spectrum who discourage their kids from playing football. But that's only part of the picture. Kids have so much to attract their attention. And many kids play sports that seem to demand specialization and exclusivity. Worse, many parents play into that "my kid is the next Lebron" fantasy and encourage the year-round concentration on one sport or activity. Usually results in burnout.
If you think about it, football is about the only sport that doesn't demand attention 365 days a year...and it's headed that way.
Many people won't share my opinion, but I think the beginning of the end was when the powers that be gave in to spring ball, 7 on 7, virtual year-round weightlifting, etc.. Frankly, I think a high school coach who insists on a kid playing only one sport needs to find another line of work.
The safety factor is just one of many reasons that kids aren't coming out. And it's almost everywhere.

 

[Swo_05]

I really don't think there's anything political about it. I know people from all over the political spectrum who discourage their kids from playing football. But that's only part of the picture. Kids have so much to attract their attention. And many kids play sports that seem to demand specialization and exclusivity. Worse, many parents play into that "my kid is the next Lebron" fantasy and encourage the year-round concentration on one sport or activity. Usually results in burnout.
If you think about it, football is about the only sport that doesn't demand attention 365 days a year...and it's headed that way.
Many people won't share my opinion, but I think the beginning of the end was when the powers that be gave in to spring ball, 7 on 7, virtual year-round weightlifting, etc.. Frankly, I think a high school coach who insists on a kid playing only one sport needs to find another line of work.
The safety factor is just one of many reasons that kids aren't coming out. And it's almost everywhere.

If you want to play at the next level 365 days a year is a great avenue. Some kids are blessed with talent and don't need that. In my playing days in the early 80s year round sport was unheard of. Both my boys played college ball and never played year round. Lifting weights is a given in any sport.

 

[ocdavis31]

If you want to play at the next level 365 days a year is a great avenue. Some kids are blessed with talent and don't need that. In my playing days in the early 80s year round sport was unheard of. Both my boys played college ball and never played year round. Lifting weights is a given in any sport.

Got no problem with weightlifting, and it can be very beneficial. But I do think that it’s sometimes used to essentially force kids to focus only on football.

One of the greatest gifts my football coach, George Cushwa, gave me was his insistence that football players participate in a spring sport. Ostensibly, it was to keep us in shape. But he also recognized the value of team sports in life. He didn’t really care which sport you played, though he wasn’t really convinced that tennis was a sport!