PSA Football

PSA Parents & Coaches....

Parents & Coaches:
Due to the weather, the City of Plano has closed the practice fields today.

IS SELECT FOOTBALL THE RIGHT PATH????

There are two words that describe “Select Football” at the youth level….ABSURD & POINTLESS. When a coach/parent told some of the coaches on the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff that their child played select football, sometimes playing year-round, the response from those NFL coaches included those two words; absurd and pointless. One of the coaches even asked, “are you insane?” Ever since hearing those comments in that training room that day and hearing those men, with a combined 100 plus years of coaching at the NFL level between them, my thought of select football changed.

At any level of youth football, there are only a handful of kids that have such natural athletic ability, that they stand out from the rest of the kids in their age group. Those are the kids that youth coaches drool over and would love to have on their team. They can turn a losing team into a winner. They are the same kids that get plucked from their team of class mates or friends to play for teams that call themselves “organizations”. These “organizations” or select teams are nothing more than grown men feeding their own egos and sad need to still win a trophy as an adult. Some of these teams are just dads trying to make their own kid, who would be considered an average player, look good or stand out by surrounding them with better players.

No matter how these select teams are made up, the correct and proper coaching is not there, especially at the select level where the expected style of play is more intense and aggressive. The majority of participants on select teams are not being taught the proper fundamentals so that they can safely block and tackle. Just watch an episode of “Friday Night Tykes”. Very few select teams have coaches that truly know what they are doing when it comes to coaching kids and teaching them the sport of football. Most select teams or organizations have coaches that think if they gather as much talent as they can and put it on the field, everything will work out and they will dominate and win. Wrong!

Most of these select coaches have no formal training, degree or qualifications in athletics training at any level. Most of them have never even played the sport beyond high school. Yet they go out recruiting, auditioning, putting together tryouts and unfortunately giving some parents a bit of false hope that their child is a star in the making. Some select teams put on a disgusting disguise and say they are only wanting to help under privilege kids, but yet won’t hesitate to cut one or get rid of one if that player doesn’t meet what they are looking for.

Like a used car salesman, they sell parents on this false idea that if their kid doesn’t play “select”, he won’t make it on the high school team or even be looked at by college coaches. That’s all a lie. Both high school coaches and college coaches couldn’t care less if a kid plays select football at the youth level. They actually prefer that kids play multiple sports throughout each school year and enjoy their time learning the sport and being part of a team. Those coaches understand how abilities in one sport can carry over into another.

Whether a child plays in a select league or a recreational football league, there are no scouts at the games. No college scout or coach, let alone high school coach, will waste their time coming to a youth game to recruit. They are well aware of the fact that kids will change positions as well as sports throughout their early teens. Even at the high school level, players can start at one position their freshman year and end up playing on the opposite side of the ball by the time their senior year starts.
Even if a player is athletic enough to get recruited and offered a scholarship to play in college, they will find out very quickly that every other player on campus was highly recruited too. They will also find out that almost all the other players were multi-sport athletes as kids and into high school.

There is no need for a kid to play select football at 2nd, 4th or 6th grades. At those ages, their bodies are still developing. Their hand, foot and eye coordination is still developing. Most, if not all, just enjoy being with friends and playing a game at that age. And that is what football really is….a game. The idea or notion that kids from ages 7 to 13 need to play football with the same intensity as what is seen on our televisions on Saturday and Sundays is ridiculous.

At the youth level, football should be and needs to be about learning and fun. Learning the sport, the proper technique and form to block & tackle and most importantly, safety. Learning simple plays that can be expanded upon as the kids get older. Learning accountability and about how hard work pays off. Learning what it means being part of a team and how each player has a roll to play and brings something unique to the team. Sometimes, the adults that are involved, both coaches and parents, forget about the importance of learning.

We all want our kids to do well in whatever it is they are doing. As adults, we are a lot better at looking down the road than the kids are, so it’s understandable to start having illusions of greatness when we have a child that seems to excel more than other kids, especially in a sport like football. What parent would not want to point at the TV screen and say that’s my son after a touchdown is scored? As adults, we should be a lot better at understanding the difference between reality and fantasy. The adults should also be a lot better at understanding who is really playing and that to the kids, football is just a game.

Playing multiple sports is great—when they take place in different seasons There’s a saying that goes, “I love to watch the seasons change.”

Coaches & Parents....
Is your young Athlete interested in attending a football clinic??
SMU Football will host a free youth clinic for kids in grades kindergarten through sixth on Saturday, April 1, at 1 p.m. in Ford Stadium immediately following a Mustangs’ practice. The one-hour clinic will be led by SMU coaches and student-athletes and will focus on football basics.

Here is the link to register......
http://smumustangs.com/sb_output.aspx?form=35

2017 SMU Football Youth Clinic - SMU Athletics In alignment with the educational mission of the University, we engage the community in meaningful ways and develop the resources necessary to graduate Student-Leaders and pursue championships. Above all else, we prepare Students for life.

3 health and wellness tips to enhance your performance Here are three tips to learn now that will help you enhance your performance to be a well-rounded student-athlete and person throughout life.

PLAYOFFS ARE HERE!!!!

Coaches, Parents & Spectators,
With the playoff games starting this weekend, please keep in mind that although we want to see our kids win, these games are about sportsmanship. Each game will have a winner and a loser; thats part of all sports & games. The kids are out there because they enjoy playing the game and they play their best when the adults are cheering for them. Whether winning or losing, the kids look to the adults for Confidence, Motivation & Support. PSA Football asks that all spectators cheer their teams/kids on in a Positive manner.
PSA Football will be enforcing a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY when it comes to negative or undesirable behavior out at the fields. These games are for the kids that have worked extremely hard all season. At the end of the day, let them know that someone is proud of them no matter how the game ended!!!