Chadstroma
Footballguy
My son is pretty athletic and shows promise in some sports with probably none more so than football which is his favorite sport as well. He is 10 come next month so there isn't any big decisions to be made or anything but something happened today and it got me thinking. I was curious as to what other football minded guys would perspectives would be.
Here is the background. My son plays multiple sports three are with his private school (Catholic) for football, basketball and soccer and then he is also in club swim. There is a lot of community developed with them and though the school tends to do well in the Catholic leagues the school takes part in, his particular class of boys is a good sized group with a lot of athletic kids. They have been doing very well the last couple of years in those leagues across all sports. 1st in football, 2nd in soccer, they had three basketball teams- 1st in one division and I think 3rd and 4th in the other division, and 2nd in volleyball last year. I love the interaction with his school mates. It just reinforces that community that gets developed at a small private school which you just don't get in public school. All the boys that play football for his age play with the school team except for one who plays for the local club team. I asked him why and he said that the kid says they are better. My automatic thinking was "it doesn't matter, even if they are (which I don't know either way) being with his teammates is more important."
The best way to describe my son when on the field isn't the fastest kid on the field but he is one of the fastest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest, etc. He can keep up with the small fast kids and he can stand up against the bigger slower kids. He has a very good and some somewhat unique blend with that. His coaches last season told me that "he could play every position on the field" which to me was like the highest compliment you can give.
So then today.... he is at a football camp. The head coach is an ex-D1 player. He has taken some special interest in my son last year and this year in this camp. Holding him back after the camp ends to do 20 yard timed run, route running, etc. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of other kids. I respect the coach and he clearly knows football at a high level. He asked me today what team my son plays for and then I said his school and he went into this "Man... next year, I got to have him on our team. Full scholarship. You won't pay for anything. Heck, I will take you out for dinner everything Thursday night and we can talk about his progress." Now a couple of things... first, I can't read this guy very well so I have no idea if he was being really serious or just trying to give my son an over the top compliment. Second, I have no idea what team he is talking about though I know it isn't the local club team we have and likely a competing club team from a neighboring community. At this point, I am not taking it serious. BUT it got me thinking. That thinking lead me to this thread and question....
Let's say this was a serious offer for the sake of walking through the thinking on this. My initial reaction was that we would have to decline but then I wondered.... would it have to be something to consider? My son gets good coaching now. No complaints. I have no idea if the local club team is the same or better but I do know that this coach would be on another level of coaching than what he gets now. Going into 5th grade at age 10, does it really matter? Would keeping him at his school for the relationships and community be priority? Or if there was an opportunity to get 'more' help to develop would that be a priority?
This thinking also came up because of a recent interaction at his regional swim meet where I ended up chatting with a guy from one of the teams in our conference. They have the best pool facilities of the teams in our conference and are the largest team which also tends to have a lot of success. When the guy found out what team we were from he mentioned they use to be on the team (right before we joined) and went to this other team. Apparently there was a coaching change and he got recruited there. Of course, he loves it and starts basically trying to recruit us to change which I have no interest in. I know our coach is newer to coaching (I can just tell as a sport coach looking at another coach) but from what I can tell she knows swimming. With swim being the lowest priority for my son (even though he has really showed potential in it) there is no reason to even consider it.
I am not pushing my son to be in the NFL (that is actually what he wants to do but I am realistic and know that that is almost certainly not going to happen.... though I will support him and encourage him to work hard for it). He is too young to know if college is even a real thing at this point. In the summer, he does a lot of sports camps and because he wanted it (he mentioned to me some of his friends has private coaches) I got him some private sessions with a speed/agility football coach. I am by default pretty loyal and don't like the idea of jumping ship of anything we are doing just to do something better but then at what point does that become something you have to consider?
So... have at it. Let me hear the thoughts and feedback.
Here is the background. My son plays multiple sports three are with his private school (Catholic) for football, basketball and soccer and then he is also in club swim. There is a lot of community developed with them and though the school tends to do well in the Catholic leagues the school takes part in, his particular class of boys is a good sized group with a lot of athletic kids. They have been doing very well the last couple of years in those leagues across all sports. 1st in football, 2nd in soccer, they had three basketball teams- 1st in one division and I think 3rd and 4th in the other division, and 2nd in volleyball last year. I love the interaction with his school mates. It just reinforces that community that gets developed at a small private school which you just don't get in public school. All the boys that play football for his age play with the school team except for one who plays for the local club team. I asked him why and he said that the kid says they are better. My automatic thinking was "it doesn't matter, even if they are (which I don't know either way) being with his teammates is more important."
The best way to describe my son when on the field isn't the fastest kid on the field but he is one of the fastest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest, etc. He can keep up with the small fast kids and he can stand up against the bigger slower kids. He has a very good and some somewhat unique blend with that. His coaches last season told me that "he could play every position on the field" which to me was like the highest compliment you can give.
So then today.... he is at a football camp. The head coach is an ex-D1 player. He has taken some special interest in my son last year and this year in this camp. Holding him back after the camp ends to do 20 yard timed run, route running, etc. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of other kids. I respect the coach and he clearly knows football at a high level. He asked me today what team my son plays for and then I said his school and he went into this "Man... next year, I got to have him on our team. Full scholarship. You won't pay for anything. Heck, I will take you out for dinner everything Thursday night and we can talk about his progress." Now a couple of things... first, I can't read this guy very well so I have no idea if he was being really serious or just trying to give my son an over the top compliment. Second, I have no idea what team he is talking about though I know it isn't the local club team we have and likely a competing club team from a neighboring community. At this point, I am not taking it serious. BUT it got me thinking. That thinking lead me to this thread and question....
Let's say this was a serious offer for the sake of walking through the thinking on this. My initial reaction was that we would have to decline but then I wondered.... would it have to be something to consider? My son gets good coaching now. No complaints. I have no idea if the local club team is the same or better but I do know that this coach would be on another level of coaching than what he gets now. Going into 5th grade at age 10, does it really matter? Would keeping him at his school for the relationships and community be priority? Or if there was an opportunity to get 'more' help to develop would that be a priority?
This thinking also came up because of a recent interaction at his regional swim meet where I ended up chatting with a guy from one of the teams in our conference. They have the best pool facilities of the teams in our conference and are the largest team which also tends to have a lot of success. When the guy found out what team we were from he mentioned they use to be on the team (right before we joined) and went to this other team. Apparently there was a coaching change and he got recruited there. Of course, he loves it and starts basically trying to recruit us to change which I have no interest in. I know our coach is newer to coaching (I can just tell as a sport coach looking at another coach) but from what I can tell she knows swimming. With swim being the lowest priority for my son (even though he has really showed potential in it) there is no reason to even consider it.
I am not pushing my son to be in the NFL (that is actually what he wants to do but I am realistic and know that that is almost certainly not going to happen.... though I will support him and encourage him to work hard for it). He is too young to know if college is even a real thing at this point. In the summer, he does a lot of sports camps and because he wanted it (he mentioned to me some of his friends has private coaches) I got him some private sessions with a speed/agility football coach. I am by default pretty loyal and don't like the idea of jumping ship of anything we are doing just to do something better but then at what point does that become something you have to consider?
So... have at it. Let me hear the thoughts and feedback.