Youth Football- HS and Younger (8 Viewers)

[Chadstroma]

Probably time to move on…feels like our areas of the country and our sports experiences are more different than I understand and what goes on here in Eastern Massachusetts is different than your area…I hope all works out with your son and football.

Thank you. I do appreciate your feedback and perspective. We are all good.

Two sons actually.

Older son is the one that missed weight and then my little one in his first year of tackle football (played flag last year).

As for my older son- Monday they did have practice but he got in his "I am not going" thing.... not sure why.... I ended up taking him to urgent care anyways for some rash thing he had and then told the coaches that was why he missed it as I was trying to buy my son more time before. Yesterday he went and they told him he was starting DT and apparently all during practice was camping in the backfield. The other player that is clearly the best player on the team (also got the game MVP last week) is also lined up at DT. They really will be tough for opposing offenses to go against. I expect teams to largely try to run away from the other stud player and giving my son a lot more chances while he gets single blocking assignments as they team doubles (I expect to see some triples) blocking on the stud. Previously, the information I got from the DC was basically that but he had no idea about offense. My guess was that they would not use him on offense unless they need a replacement OL and then come playoffs if he makes weight cycle him through at RB again. I did think there was an outside chance that they might use him at OL but I think the DC basically claimed him as being integral to the D and so they didn't want to wear him out on both lines. I have not been given any information about him getting RB snaps in playoffs if he makes weight but judging from our offensive output in our first game, they need him there.

My wife went to practice (unusual as I usually am there) but since I was at the little ones game she took him and stayed. Afterwards she really hyped him up about getting the RB or QB like every snap. I know he ate that up as my boys LOVE making their Mom proud of sports (they don't seem to care much for me though.... maybe because I am the one always there so they take it for granted). I think that and being told he is starting DT helped him get back to excited about the season. Today he seems much more like he was all pre-season than he was this last week. So, I think we are good, he will have a great year regardless of what happens down the road and the team should do very well as well.

That and add in the 26-0 domination of our first game equals me back to being excited for the season as well rather than twisted up because my son can be so irrational and stubborn on top of being 11 years old (brand new 11 years old actually, not even a month into it). The stubborn part is 100% me.... irrational... not so much but if I say it comes from my wife she will somehow find out and kill me so I will say I don't know where it comes from.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Just finished week two on Friday (2-0 record), my son was supposed to play right tackle this year, but due an injury he was moved to left tackle and is the starter. So far he has been working against some tough players, one kid going D2 next year and the other has 12 D1 offers. These have been challenging weeks for my son and only going to get tougher this week, they play the #3 team in the state. The past two weeks have been great for my son, I think there were some humbling experiences which is good for him to understand he needs to continually work on his craft. The kid he played against last week is fast and my son felt the opponent would use his quickness to get around, but he ended up using his size/strength and bull rush my son. My son did ok, got in the way enough to give the qb some time, but again great learning experience. So far my son has held up pretty good, especially since he is a sophomore and lined up against seniors both weeks. The offensive line for my sons team has 3 sophomores, one junior and one senior. The boys have been doing fine, some hiccups but all in all they have held up fine. All three sophomores are learning a ton, next year they will take off.

Apparently, a couple colleges were at my sons week 1 game, they were looking at a couple players, my son included. My son received a gameday invite from one of the schools last week and another yesterday morning. Right now we are visiting an FCS school this Saturday, next Saturday is a MAC school, the following Saturday another MAC school and in November a Big 10 school. I have to guess more will continue to come in. A fellow O-lineman, the junior, has received invites from a number of Division 1 schools, more than he can actually visit. It has been a pretty cool experience for my son, but he has to keep working. After this week, the game schedule lightens up with some lesser talented teams on their schedule, which will allow for some improved highlights and continual work on improving. Here's hoping for survival and some success this week.

 

[The Z Machine]

The kid he played against last week is fast and my son felt the opponent would use his quickness to get around, but he ended up using his size/strength and bull rush my son.

I remember one of the only times I went up against a D1 bound player when I played center. The guy was huge and really strong. I figured he would try and blow me up (since I was like 195 lbs at the time, and he was 290). First snap of the game and the guy swims me and I give up a sack. Humbling for sure. I held my own the rest of the game, because from then on I didn't make assumptions. My goal was to tie him up and get in between him and the ball carrier. I was never going to open up holes, but I wasn't going to let my guy make a tackle either.

Your son should learn by watching film of his opponents, but that doesn't mean that you KNOW what he will do. Be prepared for all moves coming his way. Be prepared for stunts and blitzes he didn't see on film. He should have a mental picture about what he (and the G and TE next to him) will do for each circumstance, even if he's never seen it in person. Diagram plays and blocking based on how the DE, DT, OLB, MLB line up. You could even work with him using little lego figures if that might help. What kind of learner is your son?

 

[Chadstroma]

The kid he played against last week is fast and my son felt the opponent would use his quickness to get around, but he ended up using his size/strength and bull rush my son.

I remember one of the only times I went up against a D1 bound player when I played center. The guy was huge and really strong. I figured he would try and blow me up (since I was like 195 lbs at the time, and he was 290). First snap of the game and the guy swims me and I give up a sack. Humbling for sure. I held my own the rest of the game, because from then on I didn't make assumptions. My goal was to tie him up and get in between him and the ball carrier. I was never going to open up holes, but I wasn't going to let my guy make a tackle either.

Your son should learn by watching film of his opponents, but that doesn't mean that you KNOW what he will do. Be prepared for all moves coming his way. Be prepared for stunts and blitzes he didn't see on film. He should have a mental picture about what he (and the G and TE next to him) will do for each circumstance, even if he's never seen it in person. Diagram plays and blocking based on how the DE, DT, OLB, MLB line up. You could even work with him using little lego figures if that might help. What kind of learner is your son?

Yea, guys at that level can do more than one thing and they are probably use to a guy smaller than them over compensating for a bull rush or a guy slower than them doing the same for a speed rush so they use that to their advantage right away... pass rush is so much about a chess game. Setting up a future sack by showing the same thing a couple of times and then changing it up with a twist on it that blows them up.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

The kid he played against last week is fast and my son felt the opponent would use his quickness to get around, but he ended up using his size/strength and bull rush my son.

I remember one of the only times I went up against a D1 bound player when I played center. The guy was huge and really strong. I figured he would try and blow me up (since I was like 195 lbs at the time, and he was 290). First snap of the game and the guy swims me and I give up a sack. Humbling for sure. I held my own the rest of the game, because from then on I didn't make assumptions. My goal was to tie him up and get in between him and the ball carrier. I was never going to open up holes, but I wasn't going to let my guy make a tackle either.

Your son should learn by watching film of his opponents, but that doesn't mean that you KNOW what he will do. Be prepared for all moves coming his way. Be prepared for stunts and blitzes he didn't see on film. He should have a mental picture about what he (and the G and TE next to him) will do for each circumstance, even if he's never seen it in person. Diagram plays and blocking based on how the DE, DT, OLB, MLB line up. You could even work with him using little lego figures if that might help. What kind of learner is your son?

Yea, guys at that level can do more than one thing and they are probably use to a guy smaller than them over compensating for a bull rush or a guy slower than them doing the same for a speed rush so they use that to their advantage right away... pass rush is so much about a chess game. Setting up a future sack by showing the same thing a couple of times and then changing it up with a twist on it that blows them up.

I think my son watched his game 1 video and came into the game with some expectation this kid was one dimensional. He said to me I expected a total speed rush and was looking to get outside quickly but he bull rushed me. My son eventually adapted, but he did have some struggles. This is good because he now understands the same player can have different ways to rush and he needs to be ready for all possibilities.

 

[Chadstroma]

The kid he played against last week is fast and my son felt the opponent would use his quickness to get around, but he ended up using his size/strength and bull rush my son.

I remember one of the only times I went up against a D1 bound player when I played center. The guy was huge and really strong. I figured he would try and blow me up (since I was like 195 lbs at the time, and he was 290). First snap of the game and the guy swims me and I give up a sack. Humbling for sure. I held my own the rest of the game, because from then on I didn't make assumptions. My goal was to tie him up and get in between him and the ball carrier. I was never going to open up holes, but I wasn't going to let my guy make a tackle either.

Your son should learn by watching film of his opponents, but that doesn't mean that you KNOW what he will do. Be prepared for all moves coming his way. Be prepared for stunts and blitzes he didn't see on film. He should have a mental picture about what he (and the G and TE next to him) will do for each circumstance, even if he's never seen it in person. Diagram plays and blocking based on how the DE, DT, OLB, MLB line up. You could even work with him using little lego figures if that might help. What kind of learner is your son?

Yea, guys at that level can do more than one thing and they are probably use to a guy smaller than them over compensating for a bull rush or a guy slower than them doing the same for a speed rush so they use that to their advantage right away... pass rush is so much about a chess game. Setting up a future sack by showing the same thing a couple of times and then changing it up with a twist on it that blows them up.

I think my son watched his game 1 video and came into the game with some expectation this kid was one dimensional. He said to me I expected a total speed rush and was looking to get outside quickly but he bull rushed me. My son eventually adapted, but he did have some struggles. This is good because he now understands the same player can have different ways to rush and he needs to be ready for all possibilities.

If I was a coach or scout I would want to see how he rebounded/adjusted to some struggles. No one is ever going to always dominate, but the really good players know how to make changes and are mentally tough enough not to cater.

 

[nirad3]

It's only taken a year and a half on his flag football team, but my son is finally showing a little "wiggle" when he has the ball in his hands (which isn't often, just in practice drills) and is getting aggressive when it comes to flag pulling.

First game of the season tomorrow night... he'll get run at center and running back on O, and then probably a mix of corner and linebacker on D.

We lost two of our best players this season. One kid who catches everything and has some incredible post-catch moves... he's a huge loss. And our regular center who was actually a year younger than all the other kids, but is a beefcake who can also catch and run fairly well.

 

[Chadstroma]

It's only taken a year and a half on his flag football team, but my son is finally showing a little "wiggle" when he has the ball in his hands (which isn't often, just in practice drills) and is getting aggressive when it comes to flag pulling.

First game of the season tomorrow night... he'll get run at center and running back on O, and then probably a mix of corner and linebacker on D.

We lost two of our best players this season. One kid who catches everything and has some incredible post-catch moves... he's a huge loss. And our regular center who was actually a year younger than all the other kids, but is a beefcake who can also catch and run fairly well.

Where did they go? Other flag football teams, tackle football, other sport or just no go?

It is funny, on our 3/4th grade team.... all season long I have been talking about only having 3 third graders on the team (a big problem for next year to the point of potentially not having a team) and then finally someone corrected me saying we had 4. I was like, no, three.... my son, Steve, and Rich. Yea, and Grant. Wait... wha? He is a third grader?! The kid is the tallest on the team.... not by much but still.... and easily the BIGGEST. He has been struggling with the running. A week or so back, the coaches really ran them hard (I say coaches because I call myself the quality control coach and generally let them decide how practice is structured etc) I swear Grant was done and we would never see him again. He comes back trying to catch his breath and a couple of the coaches went to encourage him and give high fives.... he refused the high fives and the look of death on his face he gave them was priceless. I could not stop laughing.

 

[nirad3]

It's only taken a year and a half on his flag football team, but my son is finally showing a little "wiggle" when he has the ball in his hands (which isn't often, just in practice drills) and is getting aggressive when it comes to flag pulling.

First game of the season tomorrow night... he'll get run at center and running back on O, and then probably a mix of corner and linebacker on D.

We lost two of our best players this season. One kid who catches everything and has some incredible post-catch moves... he's a huge loss. And our regular center who was actually a year younger than all the other kids, but is a beefcake who can also catch and run fairly well.

Where did they go? Other flag football teams, tackle football, other sport or just no go?

It is funny, on our 3/4th grade team.... all season long I have been talking about only having 3 third graders on the team (a big problem for next year to the point of potentially not having a team) and then finally someone corrected me saying we had 4. I was like, no, three.... my son, Steve, and Rich. Yea, and Grant. Wait... wha? He is a third grader?! The kid is the tallest on the team.... not by much but still.... and easily the BIGGEST. He has been struggling with the running. A week or so back, the coaches really ran them hard (I say coaches because I call myself the quality control coach and generally let them decide how practice is structured etc) I swear Grant was done and we would never see him again. He comes back trying to catch his breath and a couple of the coaches went to encourage him and give high fives.... he refused the high fives and the look of death on his face he gave them was priceless. I could not stop laughing.

I think the stud WR kid wanted to focus on a different sport. He must be real good at whatever it is (baseball maybe?). Really going to miss him.

The center kid - like I had mentioned in my post - was a year younger than the other kids, and he decided he wanted to play with his friends in the younger division. He will crush there.

First game tonight at 5pm. It should still be like 90 degrees here.

 

[Chadstroma]

It's only taken a year and a half on his flag football team, but my son is finally showing a little "wiggle" when he has the ball in his hands (which isn't often, just in practice drills) and is getting aggressive when it comes to flag pulling.

First game of the season tomorrow night... he'll get run at center and running back on O, and then probably a mix of corner and linebacker on D.

We lost two of our best players this season. One kid who catches everything and has some incredible post-catch moves... he's a huge loss. And our regular center who was actually a year younger than all the other kids, but is a beefcake who can also catch and run fairly well.

Where did they go? Other flag football teams, tackle football, other sport or just no go?

It is funny, on our 3/4th grade team.... all season long I have been talking about only having 3 third graders on the team (a big problem for next year to the point of potentially not having a team) and then finally someone corrected me saying we had 4. I was like, no, three.... my son, Steve, and Rich. Yea, and Grant. Wait... wha? He is a third grader?! The kid is the tallest on the team.... not by much but still.... and easily the BIGGEST. He has been struggling with the running. A week or so back, the coaches really ran them hard (I say coaches because I call myself the quality control coach and generally let them decide how practice is structured etc) I swear Grant was done and we would never see him again. He comes back trying to catch his breath and a couple of the coaches went to encourage him and give high fives.... he refused the high fives and the look of death on his face he gave them was priceless. I could not stop laughing.

I think the stud WR kid wanted to focus on a different sport. He must be real good at whatever it is (baseball maybe?). Really going to miss him.

The center kid - like I had mentioned in my post - was a year younger than the other kids, and he decided he wanted to play with his friends in the younger division. He will crush there.

First game tonight at 5pm. It should still be like 90 degrees here.

Good luck!

 

[Andrew74]

Rough game last night. Our offense and special teams were atrocious last night. To the point that we had 4 offensive plays in the first 1.5 quarters. Upper 80s and my son was completely gassed by middle of Q3, by his own admission. He’s struggling with nuances of playing CB after 3 years of playing LB. I was too fat and slow to sniff a DB position so I’m struggling to help him. Our DE and OLB play is bad, sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s doing his job on run plays. He did have blanket coverage on a TD pass but the QB made a perfect throw. So even the positives didn’t turn out. So far his attitude is still upbeat.

 

[Chadstroma]

Rough game last night. Our offense and special teams were atrocious last night. To the point that we had 4 offensive plays in the first 1.5 quarters. Upper 80s and my son was completely gassed by middle of Q3, by his own admission. He’s struggling with nuances of playing CB after 3 years of playing LB. I was too fat and slow to sniff a DB position so I’m struggling to help him. Our DE and OLB play is bad, sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s doing his job on run plays. He did have blanket coverage on a TD pass but the QB made a perfect throw. So even the positives didn’t turn out. So far his attitude is still upbeat.

Hopefully that was their one crap game for the season.

 

[Chadstroma]

Homecoming Game.

My little guy won 26-6. The opposing team came out in basically a spread offense (this is 3/4 graders) and came out throwing. Their first two plays were throws and they prob were at around a 40-50% range of passing plays which at this level, I have never seen before. The funny thing is that we were concerned that they would be using some form 'wildcat beast' offense (best I can describe it, not sure what it is actually called) because that is what their varsity runs. This was the exact opposite of that. We didn't practice against it per se but our focus on defense is run stopping at pretty much every other team might run one or if they are feeling crazy two passing plays a game. Our boys adjusted well to it. We even had an interception that this kid jumped and went horizontal to grab the ball out of the air. It would have been an impressive play at the HS level let alone a 3/4 grade team. Pretty much the only real adjustment we made defensively was to put our fastest kid in at the free safety position which he has never practiced at or done before. He did a great job at it, getting over to which ever side of the field the play was going. My son got in there and one particular play drove his blocker back (who was a bigger kid than him), shed the block and got his arm on the ball carrier with the blocker still trying to block him off. He held on just long enough for one of his teammates to come and clean it up for a loss. I loved seeing that as he has had a tendency to just stay locked in with the block and go north/south with the blocker.

My older son lost a close game that we were in solid control of for the first half. Then our starting RB got injured (concussion- out for at least next weeks game). That really leaves us with two boys (from what I have observed at practices) at RB/QB, these boys have been trading off at QB/RB since my son did not make weight. Losing our starting RB really hurt. The offense will get some big plays here and there but struggles at getting consistent 5ish yard plays. If our RB got the corner, then his speed would allow for a large gain. If not, he doesn't break tackles at all. Once he was out, our offense couldn't keep going. Our defense was not as effective as well.... for some reason in the second half, our stud and my son just were not getting penetration like they were in the first half. An INT and a lost fumble killed it for us. My son did well. He pancaked a kid on the opening kickoff and I would laugh at all the other kick off or returns because the kid in front of him would straight out run away from my son. After my son said "I trucked him in the first kickoff, then he was scared of me." After the game, I talked to the DC who I am friends with and he informed me that the kid who was our starting QB and then took over my sons role at RB, got hurt as well as one of the only other few kids that I think can be plugged in at RB. I am unsure of how bad it is as I did not see the injuries but if they can't go, I have no idea what they are going to do. The only other kid that I think can do it is our starting WR but he is built like a WR and not a RB for sure, though we have used him on a jet sweep here and there. I hope those other boys are good to go or it will be very hard to produce points. The kind of ironic thing is that we lost one of our better players from previous years. A really good LB and got rotated at RB as well. He left because he wanted to play RB..... if he stayed, he basically would be the bell cow RB right now. We also lost another kid who is good at RB.... I am not 100% sure why but my best guess, which I am confident in, is that he (or parents) wanted to focus on soccer. I know last season his Dad was lamenting how busy they were with both soccer and football.

My son not making weight has been a huge setback for this team.

The varsity team had another trouncing win. Before the end of the first half the second team was put in. I think second team got in before the end of the 1st quarter last game. They have one kid (older brother of our only healthy QB/RB) who must have a 30-40 yard per carry average. 4 TD's in the first quarter last game (three rushing and one punt return). I think three TD's this game (two rushing and one INT) and then they have a kid who has good height, solid build is fast and athletic that the other teams have a hard time accounting for. They are looking real good.

 

[The Z Machine]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

 

[Chadstroma]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

 

[The Z Machine]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

Are there any public schools that have great football programs in the Chicagoland area? Are all the schools you listed Catholic schools?

 

[Chadstroma]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

Are there any public schools that have great football programs in the Chicagoland area? Are all the schools you listed Catholic schools?

Yes, all of the schools I listed above are Catholic schools. The football scene seems to be dominated by Catholic private schools. I really can not even think of a non-Catholic private school that would be considered a top football program. Pretty much every year the top 20 state rankings are half or better full of Catholic schools.

Lincoln-Way East, East St Louis, Batavia, and Wheaton are a few public school programs with high reputations and I am sure there are more. Lincoln-Way and East St Louis definitely have good teams this year. I think I remember seeing East St Louis was going to play Loyola and IMG this season so they are not shying away from a hard schedule. Our public school that we are districted for is a mid program- not horrible but also I don't think they ever have got a state championship. Playoffs yes but no state championships.

Most of my attention has been on the Catholic schools even more so for those that are striking distance from us. I do anticipate my son getting interest from these schools to come to play for them. They are not allowed to 'recruit' but somehow the Catholic schools tend to still get a lot of the cream of the crop in talent. I was told by another coach at our school that one program, many years back so I don't know if rules have changed or what, basically told a few kids from our school that one of the coaches would get a condo out near there and then drive them to school every day if they all went to that school as it was one of the schools that is further from us. They went to that school and got rides from the coach the whole 4 years. He also told me that one family paid for the tuition of his best friend so they both could go to St. Ignatius (which might be the most respected academic school in the state). This would have been 90's era or earlier. I do know of one family that bought a condo near St. Ignatius for their kid to live in... I am not sure if they were left to live there alone or what but the family still lived in the burbs. (some families around here have an extra dollar or two)

I am trying to learn the in's and out's of this. I would prefer my son to go to a Catholic HS versus public. I REALLY would prefer it for my daughter but she is not good enough athletically or academically to get a ton of tuition assistance and these schools are EXPENSIVE. From what I can tell in Illinois, schools can not offer athletic scholarships but they can offer some for students who excel at both sports and academics. Scholarships are really focused on need and academics, which is how I think these Catholic schools tend to pull some inner city kids to them because they can qualify for a lot of need scholarships (we on the other hand, likely make too much to get much of anything need based but not enough that we can absorb the cost of tuition if it was on our shoulders). The silly thing is that NIL is allowable in Illinois and that NIL money can be used for tuition. So, a kid can not get a sports scholarship but he can get straight out cash for being a star. That seems backwards to me. But if we can get NIL money to pay for tuition then I would be super happy with that. Will my son be that good to get NIL money? I have no idea.

I am interested in how the HS coaches 'recruit' though I have seen one thing that they do.... Marist hosts a scrimmage each year from our school and the largest program in our league. At the end of each scrimmage, the coach talks to all the kids and obviously talks up going to Marist etc. Per IHSA, they can not have direct contact with students, offer any incentives, no special treatment offered and can not have third parties do it for them. So running summer camps and clinics and hosting a scrimmage seem to be a big way they 'recruit'.

 

[dgreen]

My last post was expressing my frustration at the coaches playing a particular kid at safety who clearly has no business being out there. They started him again the second game and he was worse than week one. I started feeling bad for him, but I'm sure most people weren't watching him as closely as I was The coaches finally took him out late third quarter. I was then all excited that my son would get a chance, but they put in someone else. This kid they put in had to have multiple players tell him what he's supposed to do every play for the first several plays, so I was immediately annoyed. But, he at least showed some speed, having a basic knowledge of what to do (after teammates tell him each play), and showed a willingness to go for tackles. He looked like a football player, so I wasn't as annoyed as I was with the first kid playing.

After the game, my son told me the kid they put in plays WR but hasn't been playing much because of a hip problem. I was thinking, "Um, then why put him at safety?" And then he said what is probably the key deciding factor, the kid they subbed in is a coach's sons. Not surprisingly, these coaches have always favored their sons over anyone else. It's not like they are bad players, but they are more willing to throw their sons into a position they haven't practiced or played and don't know rather than giving a shot to kids they are less familiar with. Familiarity is important.

I think it's clear by their decisions what they think of my son. And, overall, they aren't necessarily wrong, but I just doubt that they have better options. If this was a good team with good players at these positions, it wouldn't bother me at all. So, I tried to give my son advice (that I'm sure he'll ignore because dads are stupid) for how to talk to his coaches about his playing time and potential for seeing the field. We'll see how that goes this week.

 

[acarey50]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

Are there any public schools that have great football programs in the Chicagoland area? Are all the schools you listed Catholic schools?

Yes, all of the schools I listed above are Catholic schools. The football scene seems to be dominated by Catholic private schools. I really can not even think of a non-Catholic private school that would be considered a top football program. Pretty much every year the top 20 state rankings are half or better full of Catholic schools.

Lincoln-Way East, East St Louis, Batavia, and Wheaton are a few public school programs with high reputations and I am sure there are more. Lincoln-Way and East St Louis definitely have good teams this year. I think I remember seeing East St Louis was going to play Loyola and IMG this season so they are not shying away from a hard schedule. Our public school that we are districted for is a mid program- not horrible but also I don't think they ever have got a state championship. Playoffs yes but no state championships.

Most of my attention has been on the Catholic schools even more so for those that are striking distance from us. I do anticipate my son getting interest from these schools to come to play for them. They are not allowed to 'recruit' but somehow the Catholic schools tend to still get a lot of the cream of the crop in talent. I was told by another coach at our school that one program, many years back so I don't know if rules have changed or what, basically told a few kids from our school that one of the coaches would get a condo out near there and then drive them to school every day if they all went to that school as it was one of the schools that is further from us. They went to that school and got rides from the coach the whole 4 years. He also told me that one family paid for the tuition of his best friend so they both could go to St. Ignatius (which might be the most respected academic school in the state). This would have been 90's era or earlier. I do know of one family that bought a condo near St. Ignatius for their kid to live in... I am not sure if they were left to live there alone or what but the family still lived in the burbs. (some families around here have an extra dollar or two)

I am trying to learn the in's and out's of this. I would prefer my son to go to a Catholic HS versus public. I REALLY would prefer it for my daughter but she is not good enough athletically or academically to get a ton of tuition assistance and these schools are EXPENSIVE. From what I can tell in Illinois, schools can not offer athletic scholarships but they can offer some for students who excel at both sports and academics. Scholarships are really focused on need and academics, which is how I think these Catholic schools tend to pull some inner city kids to them because they can qualify for a lot of need scholarships (we on the other hand, likely make too much to get much of anything need based but not enough that we can absorb the cost of tuition if it was on our shoulders). The silly thing is that NIL is allowable in Illinois and that NIL money can be used for tuition. So, a kid can not get a sports scholarship but he can get straight out cash for being a star. That seems backwards to me. But if we can get NIL money to pay for tuition then I would be super happy with that. Will my son be that good to get NIL money? I have no idea.

I am interested in how the HS coaches 'recruit' though I have seen one thing that they do.... Marist hosts a scrimmage each year from our school and the largest program in our league. At the end of each scrimmage, the coach talks to all the kids and obviously talks up going to Marist etc. Per IHSA, they can not have direct contact with students, offer any incentives, no special treatment offered and can not have third parties do it for them. So running summer camps and clinics and hosting a scrimmage seem to be a big way they 'recruit'.

All of the private schools similar to what you mention "recruit" - I'll caveat the "all" that I don't literally mean all, but all of those with major athletic programs do. Much like colleges, the athletic programs bring in revenue. Here in SoCal the entire Trinity league is actively recruiting not just in Southern California, but across the region and even country in some cases. Regularly bussing in and/or housing players, full scholarships, but like you said structured not as athletic scholarships, etc. because they garner national attention and media sponsorships which turn into major revenue for the schools and the players individually.

The No. 1 ranked WR in the class of 2026 who is committed to Ohio State transferred last spring from a high school in Cincinnati out here to Mater Dei. Pretty safe to say it wasn't because the parents jobs transferred them out here. But, Mater Dei plays a national schedule, will be on national TV multiple times this year, and that equates to massive exposure and a lot more NIL money for their players.

 

[Chadstroma]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

Are there any public schools that have great football programs in the Chicagoland area? Are all the schools you listed Catholic schools?

Yes, all of the schools I listed above are Catholic schools. The football scene seems to be dominated by Catholic private schools. I really can not even think of a non-Catholic private school that would be considered a top football program. Pretty much every year the top 20 state rankings are half or better full of Catholic schools.

Lincoln-Way East, East St Louis, Batavia, and Wheaton are a few public school programs with high reputations and I am sure there are more. Lincoln-Way and East St Louis definitely have good teams this year. I think I remember seeing East St Louis was going to play Loyola and IMG this season so they are not shying away from a hard schedule. Our public school that we are districted for is a mid program- not horrible but also I don't think they ever have got a state championship. Playoffs yes but no state championships.

Most of my attention has been on the Catholic schools even more so for those that are striking distance from us. I do anticipate my son getting interest from these schools to come to play for them. They are not allowed to 'recruit' but somehow the Catholic schools tend to still get a lot of the cream of the crop in talent. I was told by another coach at our school that one program, many years back so I don't know if rules have changed or what, basically told a few kids from our school that one of the coaches would get a condo out near there and then drive them to school every day if they all went to that school as it was one of the schools that is further from us. They went to that school and got rides from the coach the whole 4 years. He also told me that one family paid for the tuition of his best friend so they both could go to St. Ignatius (which might be the most respected academic school in the state). This would have been 90's era or earlier. I do know of one family that bought a condo near St. Ignatius for their kid to live in... I am not sure if they were left to live there alone or what but the family still lived in the burbs. (some families around here have an extra dollar or two)

I am trying to learn the in's and out's of this. I would prefer my son to go to a Catholic HS versus public. I REALLY would prefer it for my daughter but she is not good enough athletically or academically to get a ton of tuition assistance and these schools are EXPENSIVE. From what I can tell in Illinois, schools can not offer athletic scholarships but they can offer some for students who excel at both sports and academics. Scholarships are really focused on need and academics, which is how I think these Catholic schools tend to pull some inner city kids to them because they can qualify for a lot of need scholarships (we on the other hand, likely make too much to get much of anything need based but not enough that we can absorb the cost of tuition if it was on our shoulders). The silly thing is that NIL is allowable in Illinois and that NIL money can be used for tuition. So, a kid can not get a sports scholarship but he can get straight out cash for being a star. That seems backwards to me. But if we can get NIL money to pay for tuition then I would be super happy with that. Will my son be that good to get NIL money? I have no idea.

I am interested in how the HS coaches 'recruit' though I have seen one thing that they do.... Marist hosts a scrimmage each year from our school and the largest program in our league. At the end of each scrimmage, the coach talks to all the kids and obviously talks up going to Marist etc. Per IHSA, they can not have direct contact with students, offer any incentives, no special treatment offered and can not have third parties do it for them. So running summer camps and clinics and hosting a scrimmage seem to be a big way they 'recruit'.

All of the private schools similar to what you mention "recruit" - I'll caveat the "all" that I don't literally mean all, but all of those with major athletic programs do. Much like colleges, the athletic programs bring in revenue. Here in SoCal the entire Trinity league is actively recruiting not just in Southern California, but across the region and even country in some cases. Regularly bussing in and/or housing players, full scholarships, but like you said structured not as athletic scholarships, etc. because they garner national attention and media sponsorships which turn into major revenue for the schools and the players individually.

The No. 1 ranked WR in the class of 2026 who is committed to Ohio State transferred last spring from a high school in Cincinnati out here to Mater Dei. Pretty safe to say it wasn't because the parents jobs transferred them out here. But, Mater Dei plays a national schedule, will be on national TV multiple times this year, and that equates to massive exposure and a lot more NIL money for their players.

Mater Dei is a national powerhouse football program.

I wonder what the rules are in Florida with IMG. They are basically a sports program masquerading as a high school.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

When my son was in 7th grade he played up on the 8th grade team. We played a tournament at Northern Illinois University and played against a team from northern Illinois. The quarterback was also playing up on an 8th grade team, he is currently Carmel's quarterback (I think), the kid is a 2027 graduate and has 27 division 1 offers. That kid could throw a beautiful pass. Pretty cool to follow this kid's progression.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

This week my son, playing left tackle had a very good game, he was able to pick up defensive line players shifting pre snap as well as pick up blitzing. He was not 100% on the game but all in all he had one of the better games for offensive lineman. Our team lost by 14, but we were playing the #2 team in the state. It was a good experience for my son to again play against some top level talent.

This week they play a conference team that is at the bottom of the standings, only scored a total of 12 points in three games. We should get a commanding lead and pull the starters at halftime and let the back-ups get some play.

On Saturday we traveled 650+ miles to visit a FCS school, my son received an invite from the school. It was a very cool experience for my son, got to meet coaches, players, on field during warm-ups, got a campus tour, then did the pregame walk with the team from the buses to the stadium between rows of fans. All in all a cool experience. There were about 30 other boys invited from the midwest/plains states, my son met a few from our state and they knew of each other through twitter highlights. I was surprised at the number of fans at the game. This Saturday we have to leave the house around 3 am to get to a visit in Ohio at a MAC school. Both my son and a teammate of his were invited. The boys are pretty excited to go to this game as well as meeting the coaches. Being that the boys are sophomores it is a little early in the process, but at least the get the experience.

 

[nirad3]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

Are there any public schools that have great football programs in the Chicagoland area? Are all the schools you listed Catholic schools?

Yes, all of the schools I listed above are Catholic schools. The football scene seems to be dominated by Catholic private schools. I really can not even think of a non-Catholic private school that would be considered a top football program. Pretty much every year the top 20 state rankings are half or better full of Catholic schools.

Lincoln-Way East, East St Louis, Batavia, and Wheaton are a few public school programs with high reputations and I am sure there are more. Lincoln-Way and East St Louis definitely have good teams this year. I think I remember seeing East St Louis was going to play Loyola and IMG this season so they are not shying away from a hard schedule. Our public school that we are districted for is a mid program- not horrible but also I don't think they ever have got a state championship. Playoffs yes but no state championships.

Most of my attention has been on the Catholic schools even more so for those that are striking distance from us. I do anticipate my son getting interest from these schools to come to play for them. They are not allowed to 'recruit' but somehow the Catholic schools tend to still get a lot of the cream of the crop in talent. I was told by another coach at our school that one program, many years back so I don't know if rules have changed or what, basically told a few kids from our school that one of the coaches would get a condo out near there and then drive them to school every day if they all went to that school as it was one of the schools that is further from us. They went to that school and got rides from the coach the whole 4 years. He also told me that one family paid for the tuition of his best friend so they both could go to St. Ignatius (which might be the most respected academic school in the state). This would have been 90's era or earlier. I do know of one family that bought a condo near St. Ignatius for their kid to live in... I am not sure if they were left to live there alone or what but the family still lived in the burbs. (some families around here have an extra dollar or two)

I am trying to learn the in's and out's of this. I would prefer my son to go to a Catholic HS versus public. I REALLY would prefer it for my daughter but she is not good enough athletically or academically to get a ton of tuition assistance and these schools are EXPENSIVE. From what I can tell in Illinois, schools can not offer athletic scholarships but they can offer some for students who excel at both sports and academics. Scholarships are really focused on need and academics, which is how I think these Catholic schools tend to pull some inner city kids to them because they can qualify for a lot of need scholarships (we on the other hand, likely make too much to get much of anything need based but not enough that we can absorb the cost of tuition if it was on our shoulders). The silly thing is that NIL is allowable in Illinois and that NIL money can be used for tuition. So, a kid can not get a sports scholarship but he can get straight out cash for being a star. That seems backwards to me. But if we can get NIL money to pay for tuition then I would be super happy with that. Will my son be that good to get NIL money? I have no idea.

I am interested in how the HS coaches 'recruit' though I have seen one thing that they do.... Marist hosts a scrimmage each year from our school and the largest program in our league. At the end of each scrimmage, the coach talks to all the kids and obviously talks up going to Marist etc. Per IHSA, they can not have direct contact with students, offer any incentives, no special treatment offered and can not have third parties do it for them. So running summer camps and clinics and hosting a scrimmage seem to be a big way they 'recruit'.

My cousin's kid plays JV at Kaneland. I dunno if they're any good or not.

 

[Chadstroma]

When you say varsity, do you mean HS? And what levels are there between 11y.o. and Varsity?

Yea, sorry, for three years I have refused to call the 7/8 team varsity but everyone else in the program/school calls it varsity... and it is easier to say than "the 7th/8th grade team." So I finally relented and call it that too now without thinking. Technically it is the "main" team so it isn't "wrong" just feels wrong.

The Catholic schools (which the league is Southside Catholic League) are K-8th. Tackle football has three teams with two grades per team. 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We started a flag football program last year for 1/2 co-ed. Only a couple of schools have flag football programs though. Our school feeds about 40% to Marist and 40% to local HS with the remainder being spread to various other Catholic HS's in the "area" and other local HS.

Marist is close to if not a top ten football program in the state. The class of the state is Loyola (in Wilmette where all the super wealthy families in the Chicago area live) which is north of the city and Mt. Carmel (southside of city). Mt. Carmel is where our stud wants to go, in fact, that is the only reason he is at our school because he was at their camps and asked 'which school has a football and track program?' and we are the only school that does and then asking which school should he go to several people independently said our school. Brother Rice, Montini, and St. Rita all have top 20 programs as well as Joliet Catholic (who historically was THE program, though not as dominant as they were, a good program). Providence historically hasn't been very good but they have been having some good teams pushing them into maybe top 25-30 area. All of those schools except Mt. Carmel and Loyola are less than 40 min drives from us. Mr. Carmel, on a no traffic day is about 45 and maybe an hour and half for morning commute.

I know that is way more info than you asked but I obviously enjoy talking about this stuff as if you guys didn't figure that out already.

Are there any public schools that have great football programs in the Chicagoland area? Are all the schools you listed Catholic schools?

Yes, all of the schools I listed above are Catholic schools. The football scene seems to be dominated by Catholic private schools. I really can not even think of a non-Catholic private school that would be considered a top football program. Pretty much every year the top 20 state rankings are half or better full of Catholic schools.

Lincoln-Way East, East St Louis, Batavia, and Wheaton are a few public school programs with high reputations and I am sure there are more. Lincoln-Way and East St Louis definitely have good teams this year. I think I remember seeing East St Louis was going to play Loyola and IMG this season so they are not shying away from a hard schedule. Our public school that we are districted for is a mid program- not horrible but also I don't think they ever have got a state championship. Playoffs yes but no state championships.

Most of my attention has been on the Catholic schools even more so for those that are striking distance from us. I do anticipate my son getting interest from these schools to come to play for them. They are not allowed to 'recruit' but somehow the Catholic schools tend to still get a lot of the cream of the crop in talent. I was told by another coach at our school that one program, many years back so I don't know if rules have changed or what, basically told a few kids from our school that one of the coaches would get a condo out near there and then drive them to school every day if they all went to that school as it was one of the schools that is further from us. They went to that school and got rides from the coach the whole 4 years. He also told me that one family paid for the tuition of his best friend so they both could go to St. Ignatius (which might be the most respected academic school in the state). This would have been 90's era or earlier. I do know of one family that bought a condo near St. Ignatius for their kid to live in... I am not sure if they were left to live there alone or what but the family still lived in the burbs. (some families around here have an extra dollar or two)

I am trying to learn the in's and out's of this. I would prefer my son to go to a Catholic HS versus public. I REALLY would prefer it for my daughter but she is not good enough athletically or academically to get a ton of tuition assistance and these schools are EXPENSIVE. From what I can tell in Illinois, schools can not offer athletic scholarships but they can offer some for students who excel at both sports and academics. Scholarships are really focused on need and academics, which is how I think these Catholic schools tend to pull some inner city kids to them because they can qualify for a lot of need scholarships (we on the other hand, likely make too much to get much of anything need based but not enough that we can absorb the cost of tuition if it was on our shoulders). The silly thing is that NIL is allowable in Illinois and that NIL money can be used for tuition. So, a kid can not get a sports scholarship but he can get straight out cash for being a star. That seems backwards to me. But if we can get NIL money to pay for tuition then I would be super happy with that. Will my son be that good to get NIL money? I have no idea.

I am interested in how the HS coaches 'recruit' though I have seen one thing that they do.... Marist hosts a scrimmage each year from our school and the largest program in our league. At the end of each scrimmage, the coach talks to all the kids and obviously talks up going to Marist etc. Per IHSA, they can not have direct contact with students, offer any incentives, no special treatment offered and can not have third parties do it for them. So running summer camps and clinics and hosting a scrimmage seem to be a big way they 'recruit'.

My cousin's kid plays JV at Kaneland. I dunno if they're any good or not.

Not on my radar but I am far from an expert on Illinois HS football. I had to look it up, as I did not know where it was. That is solid corn growing country. I would have to think they would be a smaller class.

They won two state championships in 1997 and 1998. Also, "Kaneland went to the playoffs in football eight times in the past ten school years. From 2010 to 2013, Kaneland did not lose a regular season game."

So, some recent success.

 

[Chadstroma]

This week my son, playing left tackle had a very good game, he was able to pick up defensive line players shifting pre snap as well as pick up blitzing. He was not 100% on the game but all in all he had one of the better games for offensive lineman. Our team lost by 14, but we were playing the #2 team in the state. It was a good experience for my son to again play against some top level talent.

This week they play a conference team that is at the bottom of the standings, only scored a total of 12 points in three games. We should get a commanding lead and pull the starters at halftime and let the back-ups get some play.

On Saturday we traveled 650+ miles to visit a FCS school, my son received an invite from the school. It was a very cool experience for my son, got to meet coaches, players, on field during warm-ups, got a campus tour, then did the pregame walk with the team from the buses to the stadium between rows of fans. All in all a cool experience. There were about 30 other boys invited from the midwest/plains states, my son met a few from our state and they knew of each other through twitter highlights. I was surprised at the number of fans at the game. This Saturday we have to leave the house around 3 am to get to a visit in Ohio at a MAC school. Both my son and a teammate of his were invited. The boys are pretty excited to go to this game as well as meeting the coaches. Being that the boys are sophomores it is a little early in the process, but at least the get the experience.

What a cool experience, the whole recruiting thing, for your son.

 

[Jayrod]

So 3 games in to my son's Senior year and I've determined the offense is the best High School offense I've ever seen. Every team we've played so far was state ranked and we've averaged 51 ppg and only given up 12 ppg. Basically we are beating the crap out of some really good teams.

-OL avgs 6'4"-280lbs anchored by the #2 recruit in the 2026 class at LT (6'8"-300) and a D2-level RG who is a senior. RT is also a Jr and will play college somewhere.

-Our RB is a senior and has 11 TD's and around 450 yards already. He's a 2nd year starter and will play small college somewhere.

-Our 2 outside WRs are seniors and both run around 4.5-4.6 40's and have 2 TDs each. (1 is signed D1 for baseball and the other is debating RB vs BB for college). We start a Senior at slot who's had a couple of nice catch and runs and my son is the #4 WR and he caught a TD last night.

-Our QB is a 6'4" 200lb Soph who has 4 passing TDs, 4 rushing TDs (including an 80 yard run week 1) and a receiving TD on a trick play. He's a stud athlete who started for both the basketball and baseball teams as a Freshman last year. FB is his preferred sport for college.

-There are also 2 seniors at TE (great blockers). We usually go single TE and the starter got his first catch last night and is looking to play small college FB.

Southwest Missouri is hardly a football powerhouse region, but this team is kind of ridiculous. We have realistic 6A state championship aspirations. We're ranked #5 in state prior to last night, but that was the #9 team we just beat 49-0 so we'll see if they move up on Monday's rankings.

 

[Chadstroma]

So 3 games in to my son's Senior year and I've determined the offense is the best High School offense I've ever seen. Every team we've played so far was state ranked and we've averaged 51 ppg and only given up 12 ppg. Basically we are beating the crap out of some really good teams.

-OL avgs 6'4"-280lbs anchored by the #2 recruit in the 2026 class at LT (6'8"-300) and a D2-level RG who is a senior. RT is also a Jr and will play college somewhere.

-Our RB is a senior and has 11 TD's and around 450 yards already. He's a 2nd year starter and will play small college somewhere.

-Our 2 outside WRs are seniors and both run around 4.5-4.6 40's and have 2 TDs each. (1 is signed D1 for baseball and the other is debating RB vs BB for college). We start a Senior at slot who's had a couple of nice catch and runs and my son is the #4 WR and he caught a TD last night.

-Our QB is a 6'4" 200lb Soph who has 4 passing TDs, 4 rushing TDs (including an 80 yard run week 1) and a receiving TD on a trick play. He's a stud athlete who started for both the basketball and baseball teams as a Freshman last year. FB is his preferred sport for college.

-There are also 2 seniors at TE (great blockers). We usually go single TE and the starter got his first catch last night and is looking to play small college FB.

Southwest Missouri is hardly a football powerhouse region, but this team is kind of ridiculous. We have realistic 6A state championship aspirations. We're ranked #5 in state prior to last night, but that was the #9 team we just beat 49-0 so we'll see if they move up on Monday's rankings.

You buried the lead... congrats on your son grabbing his TD!

 

[The Z Machine]

Big time congrats on your son's TD. That must have been amazing to watch.

 

[Chadstroma]

Game Day.

I was in the hospital all week and then I am still unable to stand/walk much so I was on the sideline with the fans. I picked up on our best ball carrier being banged up- could go but they would use him sparingly. First play on offense for them...... long TD run. First play on offense for us.... long TD run. First play of their second possession.... long TD run. It looked like it was going to be a shootout but then both teams slowed down. It ended up something like 21-14. My son only got in for about 3 plays. His last play, he got rolled. I mean the ball was hiked and then my son is getting sent right on his back. The kid who pancaked him went on top of him and what it looked like from our view gave him a couple of pumps of CPR. My wife and I were like 'did they kid just kill my son and then try to bring him back to life?' My son was just on the ground for a while and then got up and was sent to the sideline. Later, as he walked up to where we were sitting before either my wife or myself said anything "I don't want to talk about it." laughing. He then went on to say 'the kid was 200 pounds' which is an exaggeration but he definitely had a lot of size over my son. I told him 'you got to keep low, even more so when the guys opposite of you is bigger than you.... you come upright you are going to get trucked like that again and again.'

Older sons team got the win, I think something like 21-7. Defensively they were in control of the game. The other team had one big play that set them up to punch it in but other than that they weren't getting anywhere. Offensively, not bad though they did stall out more than I think they should. Thankfully, the two boys I was told were banged up did play so they had those three in with the two alternating at QB and otherwise RBBC for the carries. My son had an ok game. He did have some influence on it.... he was getting penetration pretty much every play other than one that he was double teamed (our stud was out for a few plays to give him a breather so they obviously keyed in on my son on at least that play, maybe more because some of the angles I had was hard to see). With that penetration he got a couple of pressures, one ended up being an INT and the other was incomplete, safe to say it helped in both. Considering how much he was being held it was impressive. Pretty much each time he would defeat the blocker and they would grab him and hang on. The refs at this level really do not like to call holding at the line. I can't remember one holding call on the line actually. He had one solo tackle and a couple of assisted tackles. He had one pancake on STs and then another on a INT return where he went to block but the ball carrier was down. I turned my head towards my son just in time to see this kid flying backwards, landing on his back with feet going over his head and ending on his stomach. My son drew an Unnecessary Roughness flag on it essentially being a late hit. I asked my son about it and he said he was already going in to block the kid and by the time he heard the whistle was already committed to it. I can't verify it as I was not listening for the whistle but based on watching the tackle and then turning my head just in time to see the other kid flying.... it doesn't seem like egregious. I think it was close enough where they usually wouldn't throw a flag but because this other kid was launched in the air, they thew it based on how bad my son rolled him. I am confident my son was not intentionally trying to hit the kid late or anything.... first because based on the struggle I had with my temper in sports that I had growing up and that my son is very much like me in most every way, I have kept a keen eye on him to see if I saw any signs of that so I could interact with him on it to help him and I have never seen it. Thankfully, that is one area he isn't my mini me. Second, he was way up field from where the tackle was and he was just hunting for a block on the return, he would not have seen the tackle and his explanation is plausible.

The varsity team again dominated into mercy rule and putting in the second team offense and defense to finish up sometime early in the 3rd.

 

[Jayrod]

Big time congrats on your son's TD. That must have been amazing to watch.

It did make the score 49-0, but our row jumped up and went crazy for a couple of seconds. I was shocked they threw the ball. I think the coach recognizes how hard my son has worked and that he is better than a #4 WR so they threw him a reward. He's been on punt block/return all season and just got added to the KO return team.

The most exciting play was when he should have had a blocked punt, but the punter literally saw him coming and stopped his kicking motion to step to the side and then kick it as my son flew by.

 

[The Z Machine]

the punter literally saw him coming and stopped his kicking motion to step to the side and then kick it as my son flew by.

Sweet move by the punter.

 

[Chadstroma]

the punter literally saw him coming and stopped his kicking motion to step to the side and then kick it as my son flew by.

Sweet move by the punter.

Yea, not a play you expect to see at HS level

 

[Andrew74]

It continues to be an interesting season. The team has stunk basically. This past Thursday we played the best team in our conference and played the best half of football yet. The other team got an 80yd punt return halfway through the 3rd quarter to break the deadlock and we wilted. Oh well, the last 3 teams we play should be easier matchups.

So we had a B-team game on Monday and my son shows up and the coaches say, “we are going to move you to strong safety.” So my son stresses this past week knowing he’ll be the starting SS for the A-game. He played fairly well with two days of practice. Highlight was a 25yd INT return (3rd INT this year). He enjoys SS better than CB; helps to cover up small size on pass coverage (except the one play his 5’ frame was guarding the 6’4” TE).

 

[Chadstroma]

It continues to be an interesting season. The team has stunk basically. This past Thursday we played the best team in our conference and played the best half of football yet. The other team got an 80yd punt return halfway through the 3rd quarter to break the deadlock and we wilted. Oh well, the last 3 teams we play should be easier matchups.

So we had a B-team game on Monday and my son shows up and the coaches say, “we are going to move you to strong safety.” So my son stresses this past week knowing he’ll be the starting SS for the A-game. He played fairly well with two days of practice. Highlight was a 25yd INT return (3rd INT this year). He enjoys SS better than CB; helps to cover up small size on pass coverage (except the one play his 5’ frame was guarding the 6’4” TE).

Ouch.

 

[Chadstroma]

I took my son to a QB/WR coach to get evaluated for his potential as a QB. This guy played D1 (Minnesota) then USFL, CFL and AFL as well as was a replacement player during the 1987 NFL strike. He was a HC in the AFL for a number of years as well. So, he is legit in terms of experience and obviously has a wealth of knowledge.

As mentioned before, my son is playing DT after being slated as starting RB, backup QB and starting OLB but then failed to make weight.

The big driver to setting this up started over the summer when picking him up after a football summer camp, I was watching him throw really nice tight spirals with good velocity 30-35 yards down field and placing them on a dime.... and then again.... and then again. I was thinking "that was a nice throw".... "wow, that is another nice throw".... "holy crap, that is another nice throw" and then after the coach of the camp talked to me and said that he was doing a lot naturally that a lot of QB's struggle to learn, had 'easy power' and that he believed if that my son worked on it, that he could be a 'ranked QB in the state'. That coach did not pitch private coaching but after waiting a while to see if he would.... I asked. He did say he did private coaching but sort of downplayed it. I gave him my cell and he never called.

My own eyes told me that there might be something there too. Not that I am great or anything but he definitely throws better than me at 11 years old. My observation is that he throws better than our actual QB on our team as well. My guess is that since they did have another QB they could use but really no one that could run like him, that is the reason they had slated him at RB and then backup QB.

In a football coaching group on Facebook, I had asked a question about this and then someone contacted me and recommended two coaches in the greater Chicago area to look into. I reached out to both. The other one never responded to me and this coach and I eventually set up this workout today.

The coach echoed a lot of what the coach from the summer camp was saying about doing things naturally that many QB's struggle to learn to do even being coached to do it. He said my son is a 'good learner' and communicates well (discussing leadership and presence and the need to be vocal). Noted some things about him physically that were positives versus other kids his age. In the end he did say that he thought my son had a lot of potential and would like to work with him.

I asked my son and he said he wants to work with him. I made it very clear that I was not pushing this on him. He did not have to and that I did not care what position he plays. My only thing is that this is not cheap so if I commit to paying for it then he needs to commit to working at it at home. He was agreeable to that but it is a lot easier to say yes than to actually do it.

There are some different options... like some group sessions and then 1 on 1 and then we talked about if one of his friends who is a good WR came then he would do 2 on 1 coaching with both of them for 75 min sessions at a reasonable amount that makes it easy to split with the other father. I will talk to the boss and she what she says about it.

 

[Chadstroma]

Game Day-

Rainy day. Little guys lost 6-0. My son got in on one series. Did well in getting off the blocks but just wasn't really near the play. Our defense did well all game long with one exception- which was a pass completion that they took 70+ yards for the only TD. Our offense could not get anything going most of the day. They had three boys on their defense that were taller, built boys that just outclassed any of our boys. They would plug up the middle and their linebackers would come in clean on the edges or gaps and shut down whatever we had going. At the end of the game, they took those boys out and we drove all the way down to around the 10.... then they put them back in and they shut us down again. 2-2 record.

My older sons team did well. They were in control of the game all game long. Our WR (the one mentioned above) took it to the house on a jet sweep for about 40ish yard TD. He has another catch for a good long chunk of yards that set up another TD. He got the team MVP for the game. Our defense had them bottled up all game long. Capped off the game with a nice long TD run from our second team (mostly 4th graders but also some 5th graders that don't get much playing time) which was one of our 5th graders- he is a smaller guy and just doesn't have the athleticism that our other smaller guys have but he got his chance and then took it for about a 35ish yard TD run. It was cool seeing him get that. I was very happy for him. My son had his normal couple of pancakes on the kickoff/kick returns and on defense had 2ish tackles (I would count 1 tackle and 2 assisted tackles but sometimes it is hard to really tell when you are on the same height as the game play) He got penetration on one play, got his hand on the RB as he was getting blocked and the RB managed to break away but he got a step away before the rest of the team came and swamped him. My son doesn't get moved from his spot even if is double teamed. They did one new defensive play this game several times where they dropped both our DT's (my son and the stud) into coverage. I think the idea is that the teams do not generally try to run up the middle so then this gets them more out on the edges. I am not sure I am a fan of it.... at least not running it the 4 or 5 times they did today. I much rather them do stunts out like they have in the past but I did not see this game. 3-1 record.

 

[Chadstroma]

Game Day-

My little guy's team dominated their opponent today. 26-0 My boy got more snaps than usual as a result. He got off his blocks a couple of times but and was around the play a couple of times but didn't actually do anything. The two most interesting parts of the game was there was a holding call against the offense on my son as he got around his blocker. The kid essentially tackled my son and that is pretty much the only time they call holding at this level (otherwise, holding calls would be every freaking play). The ref thew the flag and it landed near my son. As he is on the ground, he picks up the flag and holds it up. Then he gets up and runs over to the ref to hand it back to him. I could not stop laughing. The other noteworthy thing was something I have never seen before at any level. Early in the game, one of the coaches on the other side started in on the ref yelling that there was holding every play. As I noted before, if you called holding by the rule there would not be a single play without a flag at this level. Generally, a holding call has to be egregious.... like taking the other kid to the ground etc. I did not see anything outside the norm but yes, technically the coach was right. The ref warned him and he kept at it so the ref called a unsportsmanlike penalty and threw the coach out. Later in the game, another one of their coaches started in on the ref and he threw him out and called another penalty..... which set off another coach and the ref called another penalty and threw him out. Back to back. A total of three coaches thrown out. That has to be some sort of record.

My older son had a bye week.

 

[The Z Machine]

Good on the ref for tossing coaches that can't behave.

 

[Andrew74]

That may be the greatest youth sports story. Toss ‘em all.

 

[Instinctive]

That may be the greatest youth sports story. Toss ‘em all.

I'm just marking this to remind myself to share a toss em out story when I reffed high school and middle school basketball during college.

 

[Chadstroma]

Good on the ref for tossing coaches that can't behave.

It is even sillier considering we are talking about 3/4th grade football in a league with no standings (at least official) or playoffs. On top of that, like I said before, the refs consistently do not call holds unless it is just blatant which makes sense because if they did there would never be any actual plays. These kiddos are learning.

 

[Chadstroma]

That may be the greatest youth sports story. Toss ‘em all.

I actually at first thought he tossed 4 coaches but I guess he just did the 'you're outta here' gesture twice for the second coach to get kicked out because he was yapping still. We were joking amongst us coaches (I got off my infirmed butt and went to the sideline a bit) 'so, what happens if they run out of coaches?' and I told the nicest, most calm and quietest coaches that I felt he was next and more.

Good times.

 

[brettdj]

Good on the ref for tossing coaches that can't behave.

It is even sillier considering we are talking about 3/4th grade football in a league with no standings (at least official) or playoffs. On top of that, like I said before, the refs consistently do not call holds unless it is just blatant which makes sense because if they did there would never be any actual plays. These kiddos are learning.

Holding requires 3 components
Grab
Restriction
Affect on the play (near point of attack)
If it does not have all three it is not a hold. Most of the time 3/4th graders are dancing. Both holding each other and not preventing the other from going anywhere. Or one grabbed but did not slow the other down.

 

[Chadstroma]

Game Day yesterday
Against a school that there is a lot of animosity between. I would say it is our rival school. The games were their homecoming. They are pretty nasty consistently from the parents to the kids- play dirty and try to cheat as much as they can, etc. There was a picture of a Halloween display where they have a giant skeleton with their school shirt, holding another skeleton upside down, wearing ours. And they had some sort of prep rally where they did up a t-shirt like one of our jerseys and then throw it in a bonfire. All season long for the 3/4 we have played with a running clock, only stopping on timeouts and out of bounds. We got up quickly 12-0 and suddenly we are playing a regular clock. Then, late in the game, somehow the clock kept getting stopped and not ran until the play was almost over. It was ridiculous.

My little guy got in on a series very late in the game. 6 or 7 plays when we were up 12-0. Every single play, he got into the backfield right away. He got his hand on a RB but didn't make the play. He got ran over by a fullback on another but did manage to get a QB pressure on a play that their WR broke completely free. If they completed it, it would have been a TD. Ball fell very short. At that level is hard to tell whether the kid made a bad throw or it was the pressure but all the other passes their QB was pretty on target. We won.

My older son.... well, he had a bit of a game. 3 tackles for a loss, 1 tackle, 2 assists, 1 QB pressure and 1 INT. And he ended up with the team MVP (a fake gaudy gold necklace that has MVP) We won 6-0. Our defense was lock down for the whole game. Our punter did a great job... he had one punt that was about 60-70ish yards downs on the 1. (half of that distance was bouncing but still) their punt game was bad, I think the most they got was 15 yards and we even blocked one so they got a net of like 2 yards. However, like most of the year, our offense struggled. We just can not sustain a drive. We mostly had one RB who is a good back but he is a small scatback and he really shouldn't be carrying the ball as much. Our other back came back from a concussion so they are using him lightly. The good news is that one of the coaches did confirm with 100% certainty that a striper can make weight for playoffs and take the striper off. The weight is 105 and my son weighed in at 104 yesterday morning. We keep him underweight and then he can get some carries at RB which I think will help alot. The coach, who is the DC, said that they would likely move him around... DT, DE, LB... so basically doing what they do now (move our stud and my son around on the line) but add LB which is where he practiced all up to the season weigh in. On the INT, they had him at DE and then dropped him back into coverage (which obviously worked out well). After the game, that is how I want you to play every game, and my son said the t-shirt thing got him mad.

Our varsity clobbered them like they have all season long. Went up 32-0 by half and put in the second string to end the game 32-0.

Our rivals went 0-3 on their homecoming which was even more sweet with all the cheating they did.

 

[Chadstroma]

Game Day yesterday
Against a school that there is a lot of animosity between. I would say it is our rival school. The games were their homecoming. They are pretty nasty consistently from the parents to the kids- play dirty and try to cheat as much as they can, etc. There was a picture of a Halloween display where they have a giant skeleton with their school shirt, holding another skeleton upside down, wearing ours. And they had some sort of prep rally where they did up a t-shirt like one of our jerseys and then throw it in a bonfire. All season long for the 3/4 we have played with a running clock, only stopping on timeouts and out of bounds. We got up quickly 12-0 and suddenly we are playing a regular clock. Then, late in the game, somehow the clock kept getting stopped and not ran until the play was almost over. It was ridiculous.

My little guy got in on a series very late in the game. 6 or 7 plays when we were up 12-0. Every single play, he got into the backfield right away. He got his hand on a RB but didn't make the play. He got ran over by a fullback on another but did manage to get a QB pressure on a play that their WR broke completely free. If they completed it, it would have been a TD. Ball fell very short. At that level is hard to tell whether the kid made a bad throw or it was the pressure but all the other passes their QB was pretty on target. We won.

My older son.... well, he had a bit of a game. 3 tackles for a loss, 1 tackle, 2 assists, 1 QB pressure and 1 INT. And he ended up with the team MVP (a fake gaudy gold necklace that has MVP) We won 6-0. Our defense was lock down for the whole game. Our punter did a great job... he had one punt that was about 60-70ish yards downs on the 1. (half of that distance was bouncing but still) their punt game was bad, I think the most they got was 15 yards and we even blocked one so they got a net of like 2 yards. However, like most of the year, our offense struggled. We just can not sustain a drive. We mostly had one RB who is a good back but he is a small scatback and he really shouldn't be carrying the ball as much. Our other back came back from a concussion so they are using him lightly. The good news is that one of the coaches did confirm with 100% certainty that a striper can make weight for playoffs and take the striper off. The weight is 105 and my son weighed in at 104 yesterday morning. We keep him underweight and then he can get some carries at RB which I think will help alot. The coach, who is the DC, said that they would likely move him around... DT, DE, LB... so basically doing what they do now (move our stud and my son around on the line) but add LB which is where he practiced all up to the season weigh in. On the INT, they had him at DE and then dropped him back into coverage (which obviously worked out well). After the game, that is how I want you to play every game, and my son said the t-shirt thing got him mad.

Our varsity clobbered them like they have all season long. Went up 32-0 by half and put in the second string to end the game 32-0.

Our rivals went 0-3 on their homecoming which was even more sweet with all the cheating they did.

Oh and I forgot this kind of cool thing after the game...

I haven't been coaching since I went into the hospital because I just haven't physically been able to be out there. So, I haven't been at practices. One of the coaches after the game texted me and said "I told him that I put him in on the most important drive of the game" (which was true, if we stopped them there we almost assuredly had the win). He then sent another text stating "Just wanted you to know he's been working his *** off the last few weeks and has been doing great" I responded about how he really wanted his first tackle but I told him you were in their backfield every single play, that is awesome and my son replied "yea, I shot the gap" The coach replied "He is going to be a ball player" so that was cool.

It was a rough start for my son. He would basically give up on the long warm up runs only beating the two 'hefty' boys on the team which physically is ridiculous for him. He would give up in drills and sometimes not giving everything he could. I was talking/coaching him a bit trying to not focus on him too much and I did see some progression but this confirmed that he really made a ton of progress.

 

[Chadstroma]

Last night was my little guys season finale with no playoffs at this level that wraps up his first season. They lost two games, including last night. The other team got up by half with a 13-0 lead. Second half we made it a game with stiffening the defense and got a nice long drive together for 13-7. A little less than 4 minutes left in the game, they attempted what looked like a screen pass. However, the WR dropped the ball and clearly was at least a yard behind the QB- so backwards pass. We recovered the ball at about the 30. We go crazy. Then the refs said that one of the refs blew the whistle. We don't get the ball or the almost 15 yards back from scrimmage line. We got screwed... could have turned the game for us. But it happens.

My son enjoyed himself. He didn't get a tackle (he really wanted one) but he made a ton of progress from the start of the season to the end. He went from giving up on the long runs (only beating our two big hefty boys on the team when he physically should be way better) and crying, giving up on drills etc. to giving all his effort at practice and playing well when he got into the games. Love seeing that not only for football but for his mental progress. Last year, he was really struggling emotionally/mentally to the point it became an issue at school. We put him in therapy and OT since the later part of the school year last year. He has progressed a lot to the point that insurance ended paying for OT and both us and them said he has made so much progress that we didn't feel like we needed to pay out of pocket to keep him going. He has been doing great at school and the progress he made at football is another piece of evidence for the great amount of progress he has made.

He asked me last night if I could practice with him. So, that is good. I am hoping he develops the higher level work ethic that my older son is missing right now. If my little guy ends up as physically gifted as my older son and adds a better work ethic, he will be a terror in sports.

Speaking of my older son.... last season game is this Sat. He has weigh in on Sun for playoffs. If he is under 105, he gets the striper off and can play any position on the field. I noticed that they already moved him to the skill position group in practice. I saw one play that they were working on where they had him and another bigger non-striper kid split out wide. They swing the RB behind them and they are basically expected to road grade through.... which is great use of my son. There is no corner in the league that isn't going to get pancaked by my son. If my son makes weight, it will be a huge plus for our offense that had struggled often. It will also give our defense more flexibility as they will move him all over the field.

 

[Jayrod]

Sounds like a good experience overall @Chadstroma .

It goes fast, enjoy all of the stages and learn from the struggles.

My son has run the gambit from starter and 2-way player to never-used backup and now is an every game contributor on maybe the best team in the state. Not saying it always goes according to plan, but the journey is worth it no matter the outcome.

 

[nirad3]

From the other thread...

Son is still playing flag football. About a month (maybe 3 weeks?) back, he had a crappy game. He wasn't feeling well, maybe shouldn't have even played, but he just wasn't into it. Stopped running on a play where he and his defensive cohorts were chasing a ball carrier who had yet to get their flag pulled. Coach yelled at him for giving up. Should have won that game, but a few fluke deep bombs beat us.

Fast forward to the following Friday, where I ended up taking my daughter to a volleyball clinic and the domestic partner took my son to his flag football game. As we usually do, she and I started to text once things get going, and she proceeds to tell me that he had two flag pulls in the first quarter alone, and then another two before halftime. For him, that's a lot. I was unsure if my wife knew what she was talking about LOL. But yeah, he had a hell of a game.... and what made it even better is that he didn't get down on himself (something we've kind of come to expect with him, unfortunately) after a bad effort the prior week.

We actually get a revenge game against the team he did poorly against this Friday, but unfortunately the coach that handles the defensive side of the ball will be out of town, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Chadstroma]

Sounds like a good experience overall @Chadstroma .

It goes fast, enjoy all of the stages and learn from the struggles.

My son has run the gambit from starter and 2-way player to never-used backup and now is an every game contributor on maybe the best team in the state. Not saying it always goes according to plan, but the journey is worth it no matter the outcome.

Yea, I am very focused on just enjoying it all. I know that this is a season and before I know it, it will be gone and I will miss it.

This winter season will be the craziest ever but I am looking forward to it. My boys are in swim and they both will play school basketball which I am most likely lined up to HC both teams. Trying to fit in some BJJ for my little guy as well. Then my daughter will be playing both club and school volleyball (as soon as she is cleared from her broken arm). I had my first taste of coaching football this season for the pre-season and first couple of games before I ended up in the hospital and really physically couldn't do it. It wasn't like losing me was a hit to the team or anything, I was more like an assistant position coach but I enjoyed it. Maybe not as much as coaching basketball but I enjoyed it.

I also know that this is a season for my kids. They aren't going to be going professional in their sports (I hate saying they are not but being realistic about chances it is extremely unlikely to say the least), My focus for them is life lessons in sport and helping them connect those lessons to life in general and also try to guide them to enjoy this time as kids playing sport. No one ever told me that I wouldn't play 5 hours of basketball every day forever... I mean, duh, but as a kid you don't have that perspective unless you have someone helping you understand the big picture.

My older son has had a lot of 'easy success' in sport being as athletic as he is and his physical build. The two things that worry me about that is that he doesn't have the work ethic in "I got to get better" because all the sports he has done so far he has been at least above average if not the star. His biggest challenges so far have been last year in football where he didn't play much for most of the season until towards the end as the coaching staff favored the upper class for more playing time even though my son was clearly better. He didn't pout or anything. I did not see any negative response from it and when he started getting more playing time, he delivered. The other was not making weight this season for skill positions. That hit him very hard. He told me that he plans on playing volleyball this season (spring) and since his classmates who he will be playing with have two years history, I am hoping he ends up on the low end and has to work hard to get better versus just show up and play well.

I am curious... now that you can see the end is near for you.... how do you feel about that? My buddy, who's son was a star QB getting D1 interest that decided not to play his senior year of football is trying to adjust to it. He is like "I don't know what to do with myself" lol There has to be deeper feelings in that as well.

 

[Chadstroma]

Kind of stressing about next year for my little guy though. This year, his class only had 4 kids including my son which is an extremely small class to begin with. Just a ton of boys didn't sign up (I think mostly scared of injury).

The 2nd grade class has an extremely small class of boys total... 8. If by some miracle, all 8 play and then I guess we can have a team (though they will get pummeled being heavy with under classmen and basically everyone playing both ways).

We can pull from two other schools (both of which do not advertise the fact that that is an option) and our own Church CCD but apparently the lady who runs that will not allow for us to recruit there. I kept telling my son and his three classmates that they had to tell their friends how fun it is and how much they missed out etc.

It is really a no win situation though. If they have a team then when my son is an upper classman then they will do a lot of losing. When he is an under classman then he won't get a lot of playing time.

If there is no team then the options are the local club team or flag football. But even if he went to the club team he wouldn't be able to come back to the school team. And apparently there is a wait list so that may not even be an option. Then he can do flag football in off years and come back to school the others.