Lessons Learned from Coaching Flag Football

I coach my sons’ 6-8 year-old Flag Football team, the Steelers. It has been a great experience, and I love the fact that both of my boys can play on the same team. I certainly like only having to go to one practice and one game each week and not having to further complicate an already too-busy schedule, that’s for sure!

One of the things I have been adamant about doing this year is having the kids on a schedule. Each week, a set group of 4 (it’s 4 on 4 during the game) would play offense exclusively in the first half, then switch with the other group and play defense exclusively in the second half. Furthermore, I let one child play Quarterback for his unit for the entire half they are on offense. I rotate the lineups every week, but keep the same groups of 4 together. This has been a really good system. My teams are always balanced, and the kids learn how to play with one another as a unit. Additionally, every kid gets a chance to play QB for a half every few games. I recommend this approach whole-heartedly.

This past week, our regular practice night was taken over by a make-up game we needed to play. Since this broke our regular routine, I figured, what the hay? I might as well get a little nutty with the game and try to make it as fun as possible. Instead of playing our usual rotation of kids, I thought, why not rotate kids in and out as I feel like it and give everyone a chance to do a bunch of different things all in the same game. Sounds like fun, right?

I now know why I have not done it this way before: it’s dumb. Incredibly, excruciatingly dumb.

Apparently, the kids NEED structure. Who knew? Ok, well you would think that since I have three kids from ages 6-11 I would, but apparently my wife has been doing all of the heavy lifting in that department.

My boys, and not just the ones that a connected to me via DNA, were lost. For the first few series, I had to keep answering the question, “Why is he out here? He is not on our team…” To make matters worse, it was like the chaos I introduced with my ill-advised plan had another harmful side-effect; it literally sucked their brains right out of their little heads.

Kids didn’t know where to lineup, how to get moving at the snap, or where they were supposed to go. It was pretty much like starting over at the beginning of the season. Doh!

Well, we play again today (field conditions pending). And I can tell you one thing - it is business as usual here in Steelers camp. No more rotation lunacy. And I expect that the kids will respond. They will line up perfectly, run the plays, and kick the other team’s tail six ways to Sunday. Ok, that last part is a little exaggeration; we don’t actually keep score in this league. Well, not officially, anyway (the kids seem to mysteriously be able to keep a running total in their head, unlike when asked to intentionally remember something).

The lesson here is that Flag Football is a lot like life. If you come in with a plan, stay organized, and focus on being fair and the good of all, you have a great time. If you come in focused on just having fun, inject chaos, and really just try to wing it, you will likely struggle.

Tags: coaching, football, herding cats, kids!