There are several types of youth football leagues, and while I believe any kid can be successful in any league with the right coaching and preparation, I think is important to know how different leagues operate, what can be expected over the course of one season, etc. granted, I don’t think anybody can cover every single type of league out there, and every team inside a league will have its own style and philosophy, but with some minor differences aside, you’ll find that most  fall under one of the mentioned categories. I’ll start with the recreational leagues and create separate posts for each of the other ones.

Recreational

These are typically the national all-sports all encompassing organizations, you probably got a flier at school or a generic e-mail inviting you to participate in one of their multiple programs, they offer sports year around. There are also some small leagues that operate this same way, typically on small to medium sized towns where there’s no room for a full blown competitive league and parents don’t want to travel for games.

Main Features

• Extended guaranteed playing time, every kid is guaranteed to play at least half the game.
• Every parent is responsible to provide all the equipment for practices and games. Leagues sell equipment and in some instances, equipment is available for rent.
• Leagues typically provide one low to medium quality game jersey.
• Most times no volunteer hours or fundraisers are required although buying spirit shirts and likewise items is encouraged.
• Teams are formed by zip code and parents are responsible for finding their own practice field and organizing days and times for practice. Parents are expected to coach their kids.
• All games are on a single or a few locations at most and those repeat every weekend.
• Divisions are formed by both age (a division typically spans 3 years) and weight.

Competitiveness

This types of leagues are not very competitive by definition, as they cater to the starting or occasional football player. Score is not kept in some of the younger divisions. Every kid gets a trophy at the end.

Fairness

The time invested by this type of leagues verifying ages and weights is minimal, many of them working on an honor system or verifying only when a complaint is filed. Volunteers are minimally background checked and regulated if at all. Teams (parents) are for the most part expected to police themselves.

Teams

Teams are organized by zip code, friends normally can request to be on the same team. Most teams are on a beginners level, although some competitive teams use this leagues to practice during the spring, which makes some games hard to watch without cringing every other play.

Coaches

Coaches are parents, all of them trying to do their best, normally with little to no experience coaching youth, some of them will turn out to be very good, some of them really bad. Leagues provide some basic training and certification. With really very few exceptions, expect to see preference shown towards the coaches kids, sometimes it’ll be minimal and not a big deal, sometimes it’ll be painfully evident, this is a youth football/sports reality and a topic for another post.

Players

Players will be for the most part at a beginners level, some of them would have natural speed, strength and talent. With the general lack of experience, getting kids introduced to a proper, safe blocking and tackling technique is of paramount importance, the sooner the better. Age groups on these leagues are wide, probably because there’s not enough participation to narrow them, they normally span three years (sometimes more), cut-off dates are important to watch, it is common to find very young 8 year olds (with a birthday just before the cut-off date), playing old 10 year olds (with a birthday just after the cut-off date), to put it in perspective, a 3rd grader may be asked to hang and tackle with 6th graders, it might be that the team you get assigned to has only young players, but that doesn’t mean that the teams you will be playing against would be the same way too.

Parents

Parents on recreational leagues are in general not as intense or involved as the ones you’ll find in more competitive leagues, coaches will get full commitment and trust from them for as long as they prove they know what they are doing and that they deserve it. Drama is normally low, but you will always see the irrational behavior, then again, who’s rational when dealing or talking about his/her own kids.

Equipment

Leagues will probably have some equipment for sale or rent, you can also buy your own. The helmet is the single most important piece of equipment, followed by the shoulder pads. All helmets should have an official tag or indicator of what year they were produced or when was the last time they were certified according to NOCSAE standards, if that date is over 2 years old or you can’t find the tag (it should not be painted over or removed), you should not get that helmet. Helmets come in different brands and sizes, the lighter the helmet, the easier would be for a young kid to adapt to it, but the less protection he would probably get. Helmets can go from $50 all the way to $500 and over. Riddell, Schutt, Rawlings, Xenith all provide very capable helmets, they are not light though, specially the premium models, sizes can be deceiving too, each brand and even each model has a different fit, if you are buying the equipment it is very important that you understand how a helmet should be fitted, and how to properly equip a chinstrap, both USA Football and Riddell have excellent online resources on it, like for example: RIDDELL 360 – FOOTBALL HELMET FITTING INSTRUCTIONS. If you buy it online, make sure you can exchange it if it doesn’t fit. I have found that Riddell helmets fit round heads better and Schutt helmets fit long heads very well (on round heads cheeks would be pressured to an uncomfortable level), I don’t have enough experience with the other brands but I believe they have a fit closer to Riddell’s, there’s also many different styles of face masks that can fit a given helmet, choose one that balances visibility with protection, some parents choose to equip visors on the helmet, check your league rules before you buy one, I’ve seen instances where visors are only allowed when prescribed by a physician, if allowed, visors should be transparent, keep in mind also that a visor would make the helmet hotter to wear and reduce visibility to a degree, the helmet can also get very noisy on windy days, a visor does protect kids eyes from the sun and the uncommon poking. Shoulder pads are also very important, you want them light and flexible, but they should fit properly, again, online resources are widely available and google is your friend, check for example: RIDDELL VARSITY SHOULDER PAD FITTING INSTRUCTIONS. Premium brands like Riddell, Schutt, and Rawlings are made with lighter materials and their design allows for improved air flow and heat dissipation. You don’t want to add to any extra protection (like rib cage or back add-ons) if it is not strictly necessary, as it will make your kid stiffer, heavier and slower, if your kid becomes a full time running back or a quarterback I would add just the back plate pad.

Fundraising

In this leagues additional fundraising is for the most part not required, you will be encouraged to buy t-shirts, pictures and other team spirit items through the season but it is normally on the low side and not pushed too hard.

Preparation and Preseason

On this leagues the period before the first game is normally short, two to three weeks. A practice field needs to be found ASAP by the parents, leagues that pre-assign a practice field are a big plus, but those are rare. Teams practice two or three times per week for 90-120 mins. Some teams try to do some conditioning or even plays on the first practices but given the reduced timeline and beginners level of many kids most if not all the time should be invested on fundamentals, specially those along blocking, counter-blocking and tackling, at that point those are basic survival skills, specially for the younger kids. Pads will probably be required on the second week of practice, if not right away, contact should be introduced little by little and on reduced spaces (1 yd or less), seeing full-contact drills on spaces over 5 yds with unexperienced or first time players at those initial practices is unsafe and a clear sign something is wrong. If possible, learn the tackling techniques yourself, USA Football has great resources on it, check: What is Heads-Up Football?, and lightly (don’t burn your kid) practice at home before contact is introduced at the field. Mainly because of the greatly reduced timeframe, the preseason is hands down the most challenging aspect of this type of leagues, watching kids for signs of exhaustion or dehydration during practice and at home is an all the time duty.

Games

The first game is always challenging for every team, for some kids this will be the first time they experience a real full-contact challenge or a real full-speed game at least. Teams normally don’t show progress until about the third game, attention should be focused on safety and technique. Regular season typically runs for 8 weeks. The size and quality of play from the opposition will vary greatly from week to week. It is important to understand the experience and level of the opposing team and plan ahead, there’s no point in risking injury on a lopsided game. Some of theses leagues offer playoffs and even state and/or national tournaments, this is all a good experience for the kids, but it represents additional cost and time, make sure you plan ahead and check your schedule.

Following Years

This leagues have a very low retention rate, kids and parents that want to stay in football generally move to more competitive leagues. Some teams stay together, specially if the coaching was good and is committed to the recreational league. Because of the high rotation rate, it is very uncommon to find a year to year progression or a ‘Program’ aspect in the team.