What states play/don't play middle school football
 

By middle school, I mean the schools themselves have teams and actual games worked by officials.

The reason I ask is that on another forum, there's a thread on soccer club/academy taking over the sport at the HS level that I've posted on. One guy says this sort of thing happens in certain parts of the south with regards to middle school football -- by this sort of thing, I mean club and select team coaches are getting football players to not play for their school but for them. I seem to recall someone on here saying that in their state, there isn't any middle school football -- just city leagues (if that, even).

Just curious.

In Texas, btw, there is most definitely middle school football. We work UIL (state association) games for 7th and 8th grade teams. In metro areas, there are 2 or even 3 teams per grade and in some school districts, they have one or two rounds of "playoffs" crowning what amounts to a city champion. In other parts of the state with smaller schools, they play 7/8 or just jr. high on Thursday nights with the JV. You don't need to get this detailed, I just added this paragraph for those interested.

NJ here and as far as I know the schools do not sponsor a middle school team. I believe the teams are run by the same people who run the youth teams so I think all the players that attend the middle schools play for those teams. I

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.

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

Sc
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ohio, I am in the southwest part does have ms Football. Most schools we work are feeder schools for the high schools in the league. Usually have 4 man crews with both class 1 and class 2 (non varsity) officials. They play OHSAA (NFHS) that are modified for the younger players, example no free kicks, teams take position on the 35 yard line. They play 8 minute quarters.

In the part of California I called in (but I think this applies state wide), there was no middle school football. Middle school aged players played in club leagues. There were some younger high school freshmen I knew that were wobblers and opted to play the oldest age of youth football instead of freshman ball.

Truthfully, the youth football I called at those age groups was light years better than any middle school program I've seen here.

Tennessee has middle school football and in many places school sponsored 5 and 6 grade teams.

PA has state sponsored MS football, with PIAA officials mandatory for the games.


Also there are the club teams, cyo, and pop warner for kids as old as 14. I have heard stories of kids playing MS and club football concurrently.

NYC has some club football for kids as old as 18.

No middle school football in Maryland that I'm aware of.

I'm originally from Arkansas and they have Junior High football.