Vanity Thread: Our Pop Warner Season

[fishnfla]

Yeah its vanity, yeah its long, but what the hey I dont start many threads& since my brother died I dont get to talk to nobody 'bout this stuff....

Our son is playing in his 4th year of PW Football. I am Asst Coach, (defense), equipment manager, trainer, team dad ( pity me get to deal with the 'purty team moms), chief fundraiser and waterboy. I love it, working with the kids. My real job is very stressful and coaching is a huge stress reliever. They take P.Warner very serious here in Florida, too serious, iyam. Our other coaches all played college ball and one in Arena league

Our son plays MLB on defense and is team Captain. On offense he plays every position except for RB or QB. Bragging about the boy makes me very uncomfortable. He gets none of it from me. They tell me he is an animal, I dunno. He averaged 14 tackles per game this year, about half of them solo. 2 or more tfl per game, 4 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and an interception with 45 yard return for the year. Those stats are misleading because we run a 5-3 defense and your MLB has to make the plays. At one point during the season our defense had not allowed a score in 21 quarters. 5 straight shutouts

I got the film to prove it. Yes we film the games and scrimmages. Us coaches spend hours watching our opponents on film. Yes too serious, like I said. These kids are 11-12 years old. You have to play PW in these parts to even make the local high schoool teams. Last Spring in 8 man football our son had 18 tackles in a playoff game, 12 solo. Got Film. We do Spring football too. It is a total blast.

We ended up 5-3 on the season. We beat last years champs of the district in division play, but met them in the playoffs and lost. Our son gave up the winning TD, missed the guy in the backfield. Humbled his ass, but it was awesome being under the lights with a huge crowd there.

Next week we get to play in Altell stadium, where the Jaguars play, against another team from N. Florida. Friday night the kids get to meet and greet Jags at their practice. Our chief fundrasier got his shit to sing and we are gonna play in a tournament against teams across the nation in Daytona over T-giving weekend. This part of the year is all fun.

So lets hear it: any Pop Warner players or parents in this forum?

[trumad]

1. Great story

Pop Warner is the fantastic for kids.

[fishnfla]

2. Shit Orlando has some of the best teams in the nation

University beat us this year first game. We woulda shoulda coulda beat them by the end of the season though

[trumad]

3. My kid plays for Oviedo High School in Central Florida

I have him in a program called DTS during the off season to get him bigger and stronger. Cost a fricking fortune.

He's 16 and currently is 6:1---around 216.

This program has promised to put about 20-40 pounds of muscle on him in about a year. My hope is that he has another growing spurt in him---which I suspect he does---and he shoots to 6:4 or 6:5. if that happens---Dad won't have to pay for college. ;-)

[fishnfla]

4. Ya buddy

Best of luck I will keep an eye on that squad.

ETA; we are over here in Port Orange--Spruce Creek HS. We stink right now, but one of our PW coaches is going to take over. One of his kids is on our son's team. I would not mind being a volunteer on that sideline.

<practices his ass-kissing>

[LisaM]

5. Congrats! Talk to us about it all you want.

My dad was a coach in my school system the whole time I was in school - he coached junior high, then eventually up to head coach at the high school. I can't tell you how many games I've been to - just last week, I went back home and saw my high school team play (I went with my dad!) It was great.

[fishnfla]

7. Think of all the young people your father influenced

I cant name many of my college profs, but I can name every coach I ever had

[LisaM]

8. Yeah, and he's one of the good guys, he really is.

In fact, one of his former players came by and talked to him while we were there. I remembered that once this same kid was suspended for missing a practice, though he'd had other problems over the year. His father came by to talk to my dad, said they'd been having some problems, and the reason he missed practice was that they were taking a father-son camping trip to try and work things out. He asked my dad to let his son back on the team, which my dad immediately did - and so years later, there's the same guy, still following the high school team, still enthusiastically pumped up over it! It was nice.

[fishnfla]

10. coaches rule of thumb: they are boys first

family next, school, then football. Your pop done good.

We missed a game this year, gone back home hunting,,,I was nervy to tell the coaches, they were like: get goin' guys, we'd be pissed ifn you missed the chance!

[Condem]

6. Awesome, fishnfla.

My wife and I have no children. So, it's nice to read these things. Takes me back to my ute. Iowa's always looking for good, smart kids.

[fishnfla]

9. re: good smart kids

The boy is a Big 10 fan we'll take IOWA( one of our coaches is from Iowa City and the nicest guy ever) right after UW, but never Mich or Ohio state :P....and you gotta make the grades in PW or you are out of the league.

Long story short: we went to Daytona and had one of them meltdowns on the sidelines you read about in the papers: drunk refs, bad calls, parents fighting, coaches squallering, cops coming, fights in the stands, you name it, pure ugly.

The boys on the field were having none of it. Both sides just havin fun playing ball. They had no idea what was happening on the sidelines or in the stands and would not have let it interfere with the game if they did. They showed all the class while everyone else, all the growed ups, were acting like jerks.

Go figure

[Condem]

11. Man. A Big Ten kid in the middle of Florida.

Bet there aren't many of them. Love the fact that they kept playing. Some parents take it more serious than the kids. I can't speak from experience but this always baffled me. I guess because my folks never took it that way. Looked at it as a passage of youth. Nothing more.

[LisaM]

12. Hey! You mean if Michigan recruited your kid, you'd say no?

Is your kid in on this?

:)

[fishnfla]

13. we joke about this stuff all the time

He REALLY loves WR Greg Jennings of the Packers....wants to go to WMU

[LisaM]

14. I used to dream that they'd bump me up to first class and seat me next to Michael Jordan

but I'm never clear what I'd do next - disdainfully refuse, act like I'd been shot, or go back to steerage and find some little kid who might enjoy sitting next to Jordan and switch seats.

Do you mean Western?