Anyone see this yet??

[Canned Heat]

Originally Posted by Welpe

We're talking about it a lot out here. Some are thinking we're getting close to football in certain parts of CA losing its popularity. Team sizes seem to be down in areas that in the past were hotbeds of football. Hopefully it's not an indicator of things to come.

Quite a few schools and programs around here have numbers WAY down from years past. We actually had 3 games called off this year on my JV & FR THUR night schedule this year because numbers were low and a kid or two had concussions symptoms or another injury and they couldn't field a team.

I actually don't know if it's more the sports specializing (sticking with one sport), the injury factors (worried mom syndrome), the cost for some of the programs, or burn out. I know the program in my home town is burning out of kids with 2 programs for every one of those reasons...and a 5th being that a coach plays the same 11-15 kids, obviously a bunch playing both ways, and the kids that have busted their asses just as much as the others aren't getting any playing time and quit because the youth coach with no coaching experience is concentrating on W vs. L instead of teaching them the game and getting them involved.