Finding a good program to play football can be tough.\u00a0 I am not just talking about a college football program.\u00a0 I am talking about a high school football program.\u00a0 Not only am I talking about a college football program and a high school football program but I am also talking about a youth football program.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 making the right choices concerning the latter two will certainly make the choice on the first one easier.\u00a0 When the choice is made,\u00a0 it is then about teaching the prospect to be loyal.<\/p>\n
Though it may not seem that way,\u00a0 loyalty matters in the game of college football and so this article is more for parents than it is for prospects but really is for both.\u00a0 You may have heard recently Nick Saban quote on high school transfers “when you transfer high schools,\u00a0 I really don’t want to recruit you because I know you lack perseverance and grit.”\u00a0 That quote was heavily scrutinized on Twitter as folks broke their necks bringing up all the players Saban recruited that transferred high schools,\u00a0 like ex-Tide current NFL’er Calvin Ridley who did so multiple times.\u00a0 Many people missed Saban’s point and ultimately miss the overall point on recruiting in general.<\/p>\n
Whatever quote you hear from a coach with regards to who they will and won’t recruit typically won’t apply to the elite of the elite.\u00a0 Of course coaches would rather not recruit players who transfer high schools or are questionable in their social media interactions.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 when a player is mega talented,\u00a0 a coach is more willing to accept these shortcomings.\u00a0 Those shortcomings should never be your goal and if you aren’t elite,\u00a0 you can expect them to upend your recruiting process.\u00a0 Is it fair? No but what are you going to do,\u00a0 cry about it?<\/p>\n
Truth of the matter is this and if you get nothing else out of this article,\u00a0 get this.\u00a0 Shortcomings in personality and character will ultimately catch up with the player.\u00a0 Some coaches are willing to put up with it in hopes that they can get what they can from the player before passing him onto someone else.\u00a0 It’s like a grenade that has had it’s pin pulled and is being passed around from person to person.\u00a0 Eventually it blows up in someone’s hands.<\/p>\n
This particular character flaw is lack of loyalty.\u00a0 I can hear the other argument too.\u00a0 Well the coaches aren’t loyal why should the players be.\u00a0 See my point above about shortcomings.\u00a0 I will also point out that the coaches are adults with families making career decisions.\u00a0 They have also moved through the same college football player process that kids they coach have.\u00a0 In some respects,\u00a0 they have earned the right to make the career decisions.<\/p>\n
Enough on proving whether loyalty is a good thing.\u00a0 I should not have to prove to the reader that it is but such are the times that we live in. So how do we build loyalty in the prospect so that we don’t dirty up their profile when potential schools come looking?<\/p>\n
This starts very early in their football playing career. I live in South Florida where park hopping and school transferring has become a hobby. The average rising high school senior played for 3.5 parks growing up and 2.5 high schools.\u00a0 Parents get upset with coaches and programs for a myriad of reasons.\u00a0 They use these reasons to hop to the next park and suit their son up in new colors.\u00a0 Many times,\u00a0 the problems pop up at the new park and it’s on the road again when the season is over.\u00a0 Rinse and repeat.\u00a0 Many parents fail to realize a couple of things.\u00a0 First,\u00a0 is that no park is perfect and that they all have problems.\u00a0 Second,\u00a0 is that they themselves are part of the problem.\u00a0 All the while,\u00a0 as the helmet colors change season after season,\u00a0 the child is learning a very important lesson and it can have some major consequences.\u00a0 That important lesson is that their loyalty is for sale.<\/p>\n
You want a solid prospect by the time they are ready to graduate high school?\u00a0 Spend your time researching the various little league parks. Determine what is important to you in the development of your young athlete.\u00a0 Seek counsel on what those things should be if you have to.\u00a0 When you have determined what those things are,\u00a0 find the park that has “most” of those qualities.\u00a0 Notice how I did not say “all”.\u00a0 Determine what you are ok with doing without.\u00a0 I am going to tell you this right now,\u00a0 winning little league super bowls should not be at the top of this list.\u00a0 Of course you want to teach your child a winning attitude but a lot important things can get sacrificed for a coach to win the big trophy every year.<\/p>\n
When you find a park that fits your mold,\u00a0 go there and make every effort to stay there.\u00a0 Try to see the future when you land at the park.\u00a0 Does the coach,\u00a0 commissioner and the powers that be have a vision and possess managerial skills?\u00a0 If so,\u00a0 the park is likely to hold together at least long enough for your youngster to make it through the ranks.\u00a0 Should any of the important elements that you hold dear start to fall off,\u00a0 see if you can offer some help in keeping that factor in tact.<\/p>\n
If your child is one of the better players on his team,\u00a0 you can expect rival coaches to make their attempts to pull him from his current park.\u00a0 Resist those urges.\u00a0 They often come with a tremendous amount of flattery,\u00a0 bribery and lies.\u00a0 When you make that move,\u00a0 you put a dent in your kid’s thought process.\u00a0 Once you make that first move,\u00a0 it becomes easy to make a second and a third and a fourth.\u00a0 The moment he runs into trouble in high school,\u00a0 \u00a0guess what he will expect the move to be.\u00a0 You already know what he’s thinking if his name is 3rd on the depth chart in college (if he makes it to college).<\/p>\n
Sure,\u00a0 there will be reasons to move your child from one park to another.\u00a0 A complete regime change.\u00a0 A coach you are connected with moving to another park,\u00a0 etc.\u00a0 These things are outside of your control.\u00a0 They should also be one time things.\u00a0 If the coach you are connected with is himself a park hopper,\u00a0 you may want to reconsider why you are so connected with him.\u00a0 If parks you go to keep having regime changes,\u00a0 you may want to reconsider your park scouting abilities.<\/p>\n
Human beings have become more and more petty in the social media era.\u00a0 We often times let it spill over into our real lives.\u00a0 We think that moving from park to park will really stick it to the coach and commissioner.\u00a0 Who we really are sticking it to is ourselves whether that is the parent or the athlete.\u00a0 At some point,\u00a0 one’s inability to settle in,\u00a0 build some loyalty and develop within a program will catch up with them. When it does,\u00a0 there will be few people to blame other than yourself.\u00a0 On the flip side,\u00a0 building loyalty teaches the athlete something about problem solving,\u00a0 perseverance and unity.\u00a0 An amazing thing also happens when a person is taught loyalty.\u00a0 They become stronger decision makers.\u00a0 When forced to deal with a situation,\u00a0 a person becomes skilled at making decisions to deal with problems.\u00a0 If the answer to the problem is leaving then that will always be the answer and stability becomes an issue.\u00a0 Football and life is a game of decisions.\u00a0 The one that is best at making those decisions are the ones that put the ball in the end zone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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