Anyone involved in 7v7 football?

[gojojo]

My kid can't get enough football (8th grade). He would play year round if he could. He loves the fast paced, backyard version that 7v7 offers, but damn is it taken WAY TOO SERIOUSLY by some of these coaches and parents.

You'll see people all decked out in their programs gear, parents arguing with other parents, parents talking about their kids best options for scouting and scholarships. You'd think Iowa produced 80-100 p5 D1 prospects every year listening to these people.

Then you have to question how clean some of these programs are because they're not checking birth certificates and no damn way some of these kids are U12 or U14. We say a kid playing 14u with a full beard yeterday.

I sit as far away from everyone as I can and just laugh at it all. I don't believe for one second that any college coach gives a damn what any kid can do in 7v7, it's a completely different game. But if you listen to some of these parents they firmly believe this the best route to get little Timmy a full ride to Georgia. They buy into whatever some of these snake oil salesman of program directors/coaches tell them.

 

[LuteHawk]

I have a 6th grade grandson who played 5V5 flag football.
The league was set up according to weight, so as to avoid
injuries. My grandson enjoyed it and caught 3 touchdown
passes in his first four games. They had a 6 game schedule.
The coaches are good and try to help each kid do his best.
The parents are very relaxed and see it as entertainment.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

My kid can't get enough football (8th grade). He would play year round if he could. He loves the fast paced, backyard version that 7v7 offers, but damn is it taken WAY TOO SERIOUSLY by some of these coaches and parents.

You'll see people all decked out in their programs gear, parents arguing with other parents, parents talking about their kids best options for scouting and scholarships. You'd think Iowa produced 80-100 p5 D1 prospects every year listening to these people.

Then you have to question how clean some of these programs are because they're not checking birth certificates and no damn way some of these kids are U12 or U14. We say a kid playing 14u with a full beard yeterday.

I sit as far away from everyone as I can and just laugh at it all. I don't believe for one second that any college coach gives a damn what any kid can do in 7v7, it's a completely different game. But if you listen to some of these parents they firmly believe this the best route to get little Timmy a full ride to Georgia. They buy into whatever some of these snake oil salesman of program directors/coaches tell them.

Pretty common in youth soccer as well.

 

[DutchyFunStar]

Its the new AAU....

 

[MnPete]

Some thoughts on 7v7. I found that the practices were way more valuable than the ridiculous tournaments. Getting active reps, learning to compete etc were really great. Cost is something that has gotten out of control too, especially if you live in the Midwest and largely travel to warmer states for tournaments. My son was fortunate enough to receive a D1 power 5 football scholarship and not one of the coaches at the more than 15 schools that offered him a scholarship brought up 7v7. If your son is is loving it, you have the resources, and you are not the one pushing it on him, I say go for it but it is not something that is needed to advance to the next level.

 

[bdg8]

My son just started in 10U. He seems to like it. He is one of the younger ones on team( he is in 3rd grade, some of team is in 5th), so there is a skill and size gap at times

 

[hawkmart]

My kid can't get enough football (8th grade). He would play year round if he could. He loves the fast paced, backyard version that 7v7 offers, but damn is it taken WAY TOO SERIOUSLY by some of these coaches and parents.

You'll see people all decked out in their programs gear, parents arguing with other parents, parents talking about their kids best options for scouting and scholarships. You'd think Iowa produced 80-100 p5 D1 prospects every year listening to these people.

Then you have to question how clean some of these programs are because they're not checking birth certificates and no damn way some of these kids are U12 or U14. We say a kid playing 14u with a full beard yeterday.

I sit as far away from everyone as I can and just laugh at it all. I don't believe for one second that any college coach gives a damn what any kid can do in 7v7, it's a completely different game. But if you listen to some of these parents they firmly believe this the best route to get little Timmy a full ride to Georgia. They buy into whatever some of these snake oil salesman of program directors/coaches tell them.

Our nephew started playing this and we went to a couple of his games at a tournament in Coralville last year. The parents decked out in team gear is what stuck out first then it seemed like every game had some sort of interruption for a spirted discussion between refs and parents or coaches. Also a couple of nice mini buses in the parking lot wrapped in whatever club logo/colors was a sight. There's clubs that have parents invest in doing that to get kids to games? Damn. We did enjoy taking this all in from a distance too, our kids did competitive soccer and long aged out.