What states play/don't play middle school football

[Texas Aggie]

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 Official]

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

[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.

[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.