Illegal Formation?

[tomes1978]

Originally Posted by bcl1127

The reason why I think this is a stupid play is exactly for the reasons you say, it only works with the little guys. So it is really great that the coach is taking advantage of the kids that are trying to learn the game. The game is about the kids playing and learning sportsmanship, not about how the coach can trick other kids. What lesson are they learning when they are using these plays that only work with kids? It's the coaches ego that gets stroked when he comes up with a play that tricks 8 - 14 year old's.

Some of the coaches in the youth league where I work for 10 year olds, have 60 play cards and they give the card to the QB to start every play and the kid shows it in the huddle. These kids get so confused they don't know what to run and then get yelled at. There's a good way to teach the love of the game. Remember these are kids, and the biggest thing they can get out of playing is a love for the game and good sportsmanship.

Ok, I'm not trying to get into an argument here, but if a play only works because it is against kids, that play is something the coach put in to stroke his own ego of "I'm a great game planner, I can out smart kids!" and yes, I think that is kind of pathetic.

Exactly right! I was a youth coach for 11 years before I started officating. Teach the kids the fundamentals that they will use the whole time they are playing football and you will help that kids football carrerr a lot more than teaching them trick plays. Too many coaches are out there for glory instead of teaching the game.

[jTheUmp]

Had a Junior High game a couple of weeks back.

In pregame, one of the coaches says to me "We're not very good, so we run a lot of trick plays".... and alarm bells start going off immediately in my head.

Sure enough, second offensive play they run a 'swinging gate' type formation where the center tries to snap the ball sideways to a split end. Naturally, the snap was errant and ended up going out of bounds.

On their second series, they line up in a standard formation. The QB goes under center. The Head coach (on my sideline), then starts screaming "What are you doing? We're supposed to be in ____!" Quarterback yells back "What?" turns, and starts running to his sideline. Alarm bells start going off in my head, and after the QB runs about 10 steps the ball is snapped directly to the running back.
I flagged it as an "unfair act" (Casebook 9.9.1B).

On the next series, they play where the center never gave the ball to the quarterback... he snapped it and held it between his legs (not sure if the QB touched it or not), then paused for a few seconds while the rest of his team ran a fake. Then the center took off running with the ball.
Flag. (7-2-4)

Of course, I'm on this coaches sideline, so I get the honor of explaining all of these infractions to him. He took it surprisingly well, only saying things like "I didn't know you couldn't do that" and "we have to run trick plays to give ourselves a chance". It took a lot of self-discipline to refrain from telling him he'd be better off teaching his kids to run 3 or 4 basic plays well rather then trying to rely on trickery.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by tomes1978

Exactly right! I was a youth coach for 11 years before I started officating. Teach the kids the fundamentals that they will use the whole time they are playing football and you will help that kids football career a lot more than teaching them trick plays.

That's the mistake you and a lot of other people in youth football have: assuming the kids will have a football career! I assume the truth, which is that most of the kids will never play organized tackle football much past puberty -- and that we're here for all of them to have fun, not just those who go on to have something that could be called a "football career". And the kids find the trick plays that work only with beginners to be Fun with a capital F. You think those are primarily devised by coaches to stroke their own egos? Look at the games only or mostly children play, especially those that they make up themselves; they loooooove tricks of all kinds, to the point where some of the games they play are mostly about tricks.