What states play/don't play middle school football

[HLin NC]

NC has middle school football. The state HS athletic association is not involved in its administration. The state Dept. Of Public Instruction regulates it.

They use state certified officials. We use it as a training ground for newer officials/position changes. Some games will have a running clock 5th quarter, 15-20 minutes before kickoff, for the scrubs. We are not involved in the 5th quarter action in our area.

In some areas where there are not specific middle schools, there are K-8 schools. In those instances, a MS team is formed by a school or group of schools in the county.

40 or so years ago, we had the junior high system. Then we had 7/8 teams and separate 9th grade teams. 9th graders are now on JV's.

[scrounge]

When I lived in suburban Chicago (NW suburbs) the middle schools didn't have teams, they were just club teams.

And in 10 yrs, with legal issues re: concussions, etc, it wouldn't surprise me if we see high school head the same way.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by scrounge

When I lived in suburban Chicago (NW suburbs) the middle schools didn't have teams, they were just club teams.

And in 10 yrs, with legal issues re: concussions, etc, it wouldn't surprise me if we see high school head the same way.

I live in suburban Chicago and it varies greatly by area and type of school. There are middle schools that play in some area, but mostly private schools. And in other parts of the state where there are mostly communities with one high school, they do have some middle school leagues or teams. But Pop Warner and Bill George league teams are the most popular in the Chicago area. But this is no different than any other sport in the state of Illinois. Grammar schools or middle schools may or may not play a particular sport for all kinds of reasons. Like soccer or volleyball, some schools may have a program and others will have no such school program, but there is an opportunity to play with a travel or club team somewhere in the area.

Peace

[McMac]

South Carolina has middle school programs. High School League is over the league in terms of officiating and coaching, but local areas make schedules and form conferences to play in.

[rockyroad]

Washington State has Middle School football as part of the WIAA...we use state certified officials (usually 3 man crews)...some Districts opt to not have MS football, others opt to not be part of the State sanctioned football (not sure what they do). We also have Youth football leagues - Pop Warner and County football leagues. Both of them use officials from the same association as the MS programs.

[chapmaja]

Michigan has middle school football in some areas. They are run under rules from the MHSAA regarding participation rules and NFHS rules as playing rules.

From what I've heard they usually use 4 person crews. (I don't work football), but I know they have it because of a news story recently. A Ms player was airlifted from a game after being involved in a head to head collision. Thankfully he was ok, but since he was knocked out they decided to airlift him.

[bisonlj]

Indiana has middle school teams in Indianapolis. I've never asked if the other areas of the state have them. I assume they do. We have a Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) for grades 3-8. Many are associated with Catholic schools. They play among themselves while the school teams play each other.

In order to work middle school games you need to have at least taken the license exam. I've never heard of someone not passing the test and then working junior high games but they could do it. CYO doesn't require any licensing, but I believe most of the guys working cadet (7/8) are licensed.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by HLin NC

9th graders are now on JV's.

Although there are a few 4A schools that field a 9th grade team and play other 9th grade teams or play lower classification JV teams.

[bisonlj]

I wish more schools had more teams for kids to continue to participate. I don't know if it's still true, but when I grew up in North Dakota we had an A, B, and C team for the 7th and 8th grade. They played separate schedules and not just a 5th quarter of a game with a running clock. In high school we had an A and B team for freshmen, a sophomore team, a JV team, and a varsity team. This allowed more kids to continue to participate. Different kids develop at different paces and some give up too early because aren't good enough to play. I assume budget and facilities make this difficult today.