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Junior League Football tournament


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Who is the genius who thought it would be a great idea to host a little league football tournament with elementary kids playing 3 or 4 games in a weekend. That has got to be one of dumbest things I have ever heard off. I know they don’t hit like the bigger kids, but the game still takes its toll on the body. Parents and coaches we have got to be better than this. 

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16 minutes ago, MarshallCounty said:

Who is the genius who thought it would be a great idea to host a little league football tournament with elementary kids playing 3 or 4 games in a weekend. That has got to be one of dumbest things I have ever heard off. I know they don’t hit like the bigger kids, but the game still takes its toll on the body. Parents and coaches we have got to be better than this. 

I agree with your point, but have not heard or seen anything being promoted. 

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7 hours ago, Titan32 said:

We have been going to tournaments like that in Knoxville TN (pre-season) for a decade.  It's not as bad as you might think.  BTW, I think our 8th grade won the tournament you are discussing here, our 7th also competed.  

So.....with all of the discussion about contact sports and concussions it is okay for a middle school child to play multiple games over a weekend but players at the higher levels are only allowed to play 1 game or 5 quarters a week?  I agree with the original poster that this seems out of wack with what is best for the athlete.  But I guess since you win an 8th grade tourney it makes it okay....

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1 hour ago, Plymouthfan91 said:

So.....with all of the discussion about contact sports and concussions it is okay for a middle school child to play multiple games over a weekend but players at the higher levels are only allowed to play 1 game or 5 quarters a week?  I agree with the original poster that this seems out of wack with what is best for the athlete.  But I guess since you win an 8th grade tourney it makes it okay....

Well done putting words in my mouth with the winning comment.  I'm not sure that one game a week and quarter rules have anything to do with modern player safety measures, they have been around for a while.  I would agree that there should some sort of governance around these tournaments and the number of quarters that can be played on a weekend for youth.  That said, these things aren't the iron man slugfest some might imagine.  

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Like others, I respect your sentiment, but I know Brownsburg has been sending teams for over a decade.  I am curious, as you singled out one tournament, did you have kids participating in it and were unaware of the participation rules or are these type tournaments something completely new for you?  Truly being serious.  The "push" to keep the tournament to just a weekend is what many have done to limit travel times and cost.  Many leagues around central Indiana participate this these various tournaments.  As kids get a bit older, some even participate in State teams that travel the country playing 3-6 games a weekend.  Just wanted to provide some additional perspective since my assumption is the OP was unaware of the magnitude of these.  I don't see this changing any time soon, if not expanding for many.  JMO.  

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So maybe the concussion problems we see in the upper levels are started in the youth leagues.  Kids banging around for too long before they have developed brains.  It is pretty obvious that the people who run these tourneys and the people who send teams are doing something to potentially hurt these kids.  I guess I wonder the reasoning for doing this knowing the damage that it can cause.

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34 minutes ago, Plymouthfan91 said:

So maybe the concussion problems we see in the upper levels are started in the youth leagues.  Kids banging around for too long before they have developed brains.  It is pretty obvious that the people who run these tourneys and the people who send teams are doing something to potentially hurt these kids.  I guess I wonder the reasoning for doing this knowing the damage that it can cause.

Are there a lot of concussions occurring during these youth tournaments? If there are not, I doubt this is the cause of the concussion problems.

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Count me in the anti-tourney crowd, at least in terms of multiple games in one day.  

There are a few programs in SW Indiana that run tournaments.  And I commend them for attempting to run them in what I perceive as the "right way", at least from an outsider's perspective.  But youth $PORT$ is full of bad actors who are motivated by the wrongs things, IMO.  I don't go looking for trouble.   

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28 minutes ago, JQWL said:

Are there a lot of concussions occurring during these youth tournaments? If there are not, I doubt this is the cause of the concussion problems.

I can honestly say there are not.  And most, if not all, of the tournaments and youth leagues have trainers on site to help prevent issues.  So, while we need to intelligent, we also need not cast aspersions. 

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1 hour ago, MarshallCounty said:

This is the first time I have ever seen it. 

Thank you.  I kinda figured.  I seen youth tournaments come and go for over 15 years.  We may disagree on the number of games, but if done right, it's no different then the kids playing other sports or playing multiple games in the neighborhood.  But that is just my thoughts.  

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36 minutes ago, oldtimeqb said:

Count me in the anti-tourney crowd, at least in terms of multiple games in one day.  

There are a few programs in SW Indiana that run tournaments.  And I commend them for attempting to run them in what I perceive as the "right way", at least from an outsider's perspective.  But youth $PORT$ is full of bad actors who are motivated by the wrongs things, IMO.  I don't go looking for trouble.   

Castle and Gibson Southern put on pretty nice youth tournaments.  The proceeds from each support their respective CYFL and TYFL.

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1 minute ago, Titan32 said:

Castle and Gibson Southern put on pretty nice youth tournaments.  The proceeds from each support their respective CYFL and TYFL.

I was not trying to lump those two in with the bad actors.  My apologies if that was implied or insinuated.  

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7 minutes ago, oldtimeqb said:

I was not trying to lump those two in with the bad actors.  My apologies if that was implied or insinuated.  

No sir...I knew what ya meant.  I was just throwing those tournaments out there for general consumption...sometimes known as advertising LOL.

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1 hour ago, Plymouthfan91 said:

Because being smart and protecting our future players isn't important?  I question your motivation for not wanting to protect our children.

Try that weak argument with somebody dumb enough to fall for it.  I'm not.

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7 hours ago, JQWL said:

Are there a lot of concussions occurring during these youth tournaments? If there are not, I doubt this is the cause of the concussion problems.

Over my 18 seasons of coaching youth ball, I had more kids sit out of football due to concussions from school recess, soccer, messing around with their siblings, etc. and more broken bones from skateboard, jumping off of bleachers at school, and all other assorted activities other than football. 

Had a kid one season that came in after the weekend with his forehead bandaged.  The other coaches and I looked at each other and were trying to figure out how that could have happened in the weekend's game, since we never saw him have any contact that was hard, much less on the head that would cut the forehead.  Turns out that he and his brother were playing paint can lid Frisbee after he got home from the game and he let one slip between his hands.  Took several stitches to close him up.  The most dangerous place for a youth football player seems to be away from the field. 🙂 

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