So, Your Child Wants to Play Football?

When Pop-Warner Comes Knocking at Your Door

Football. It's such a violent sport! There's so much machismo you can almost scoop it off the bleachers in those paper soda cups. There's the yelling, the face painting, those air-horns blaring painfully in your ear.... And your son (or - gasp! -daughter) is standing before you with a colorful flyer announcing sign-ups, begging piteously to play.

Maybe you hate football. Maybe you hate broken bones. Maybe it's the idea of your "baby" being forced to run, do sit-ups, jumping jacks and worse in the grueling heat that you hate. Never the less, your beloved is simply dying to play. So now what? Well, before you offer soccer or Disneyland as a distraction and throw that bedeviled flyer in the trash, consider for a moment what benefits playing Pop-Warner football may hold for your child. Yes! Benefits!

It's true. Football, even at the Pop-Warner level, is not for the faint hearted. It is hard work. As with any sport, there is risk of injury. Your child will work his or her butt off. He will sweat. He will put on pads and a helmet and run at full speed directly into another child. At times he will possibly cry in frustration or pain. The coaches will most likely yell a bit, and you will absolutely gasp, wince, and maybe cover your eyes at some point. But there are valuable lessons he will be learning right in the middle of all this.

Perhaps the most enduring thing your child will get out of playing football is a sense of camaraderie. Because of its intense nature, football players seem to bond with each other more strongly than players of other sports. Your child will learn what it means to be supportive. It's not uncommon at practices to see the fastest runners or those with the most stamina turn and run to the back of the pack to encourage those slower teammates who have lagged behind. They will run together, often on each side of those at the back, saying, "Come on! You can make it! Its not far now, just a little bit longer! You're doing great! Look how far you've made it!" Sound unlikely for your age 11-ish child? It's not. He's learning that when people help each other through the rough times they work better together in the good times.