Pop Warner Football Player Banned From Being Awesome
No wonder why America is so screwed up right now. We are at the point where we are banning youth players because they are too good. Demias Jimerson is not allowed to score touchdowns when his team is up by two touchdowns. That is a mockery of the spirit of competition. In fact, I think the spirit of competition is crying as we speak.
First we came up with the BRILLIANT idea to award participation trophies. What kind of message are we sending when we give a trophy to everyone that competes? Life doesn’t work that way. You aren’t handed a job. You have to earn it. Why should sports be any different? If this kid wants to be a baller, let him ball.
His skills should drive his competition to get better. Ricky Bobby said it best: ”If you aren’t first, you’re last.” Right now, all the kids trying to catch him are last. They should be striving to reach his level. That’s what sports are all about. Imagine if the Red Sox and Braves got into the playoffs last night just for participating. That would nullify the awesomeness that was baseball last night. Those moments are granted because of competition. We are slowly stamping out competition and it is sickening.
Don’t worry Demias. Soon you will be in junior high. They don’t ban people from scoring touchdowns there. In fact, I believe that’s goal of the game.
Thanks to Bar Stool Sports for the story
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I am a coach in a youth football league, so I can weigh in on the decision. Your title is a little misleading. The rule in our league, and I’m assuming in Demias’ league as well, is that once a team is up by 2 TD’s, they must substitute their “skill” players (QB’s, RB’s, WR’s). This is because there is a wide gap in youth football between great players and poor players. At the young age of 10,11,12 years old, no one wants to see a team win by 6 TD’s. There are players in my league, like Demias, who are capable of scoring on nearly every possession. Once the kids get into high school, all bets are off. By that time, the “bad” players are most likely no longer playing the sport and it becomes more competitive. At the youth level, many players are first year players, simply trying to learn how to play the game and develop skills, also about half of them don’t want to be there, it’s the parents who force them to play. That being said, youth football (youth sports in general) shouldn’t be about trying to dominate other teams, it should be about teaching children how to play the game. The weaker players usually play positions such as safety or cornerback because most youth teams do not throw the ball that often. Do you really want to see a 10 year old first year player trying to make a tackle on a kid who is ten times better, faster, and stronger than him, just so Demias can score 5 TD’s? The kids get discouraged and too often injuries occur because of their hesitation to tackle someone like that. It would also be poor sportsmanship for a coach to leave in a player of Demias’ caliber once his team is ahead by multiple touchdowns. I think the ruling is fair, and that’s coming from someone who has had players like Demias. My league even made a ruling that 13 year olds were not allowed to play RB or any position on defense, and were restricted to only offensive lineman positions. I had a kid who was in 8th grade who was by far our best player, and probably the best player in the league, be told he can no longer play defense because he sacked the QB on every snap. If he were allowed to play defense, teams would never have had positive yards on us the entire season. But then the game would be just about him, and not the rest of the team.
See, I find that interesting. When I grew up playing football, we didn’t have Pop Warner. We transitioned into junior high football from flag football. Even then, there were no rules about how often a player could get the ball.
That being said, I do think that is probably the right move to stop him, but I still don’t like it. I know it supposed to be about teaching a lesson, and I may be off base here, but isn’t Demias learning a bad lesson? The lesson that it’s not okay to be better than someone. I’m probably off on that, but he’s having his skills limited by the rules.
When you were growing up? You’re still growing up, what are you 19 years old?
Although I don’t agree with the mamby pamby way some youth sports are conducted, RealMonk has some valid points.
I think it is a bad idea to stop kids from showing how good they are. That is the problem in today’s it even goes to people who make more money that they should have to give some of the money up. It can be used in this situation, just because he is good he should have to hold back? That is asinine they should see how good he is and the other kids want to work harder to be like him. There is too much coddling going on in society.
I’m not the biggest fan of this type of restriction on the best players but I can see sense in making the sport enjoyable for all participants. This is basically the only time that kids can all get a chance to participate and not really care about anything other than having fun. Yes it must be frustrating for the best players not to be able to dominate for the entirety of the game but on the other hand it teaches them humility and respect for their team mates.
I´m pretty sure many of us who complain about these limitations on more talented children also don´t like to see sports stars throw tantrums when their coach substitutes them and basically act like spoiled brats. Even he said “I’m okay with it”. Seems like a well brought up kid, the kind you really want to see succeed and be an actual role model.
My son plays in a Pop Warner-ish league. When a team is up by 26, the losing team can apply the “Mercy rule” and pull out whatever 6 players they decide on. My son is playing his fourth year, and after the first year where they did not win a SINGLE game and the bad first year coach was convinced not to come back – his team had never chosen to pull out players. On occasion, the winning team takes it upon themselves to try to pull out their players, but we always decline. Our boys know what it means to win honestly, how to lose honorably and how to learn from the loses they encounter. This year, our team has had to sit our 6 down on a bench in 3 of the 6 games played so far and could have pulled out boys on the other team once. I think that the “Mercy rule” is more fair than the situation above, and yet still do not subscribe to it. Anyone who thinks that children shouldn’t start to learn how to deal with failure and success, (in matters that in the end don’t really mean much – ie games) then how can we ever expect them to handle what this world force them to deal with things that DO matter. Set your children up for lackluster lives in which no one is special and no one excels for fear of making someone else feel average or worse. To quote the movie, “The Incredibles”-{Helen Parr (to her son): “Everyone’s special, Dash.”
Dash: “Which is another way of saying no one is.”}
Let people/children dare to shine, and let people/children learn that sometimes they have to work real hard in order to shine!
By the way, my son is a Jr this year playing with 12 and 13 year olds. He weighs a whopping 104 pounds in a division that is up to 160 pounds. He plays 1st string Right Guard, is the back up Center – YES, center – and is great at any defensive position you through him in at. When the 6 players are pulled out, guess who is playing center? You got it, my boy. He also ends up playing defense since we are a pretty lean team with one or two to spare after you take 6 off the top. And just to confirm, I applaud Demais for his positive attitude about the situation. However, just because he responds well to injustice, doesn’t make the injustice any more fair. A rule aimed at one specific player is a punishment to his greatness, and if he didn’t have a decent team to hold him up with blocking and perhaps passing him the ball – they are failing to acknowledge that the team is a huge part of the victory. Ask any great player worth his weight in salt, (speaking about character) “who helped with the victory?” and they will acknowledge the team in whole – those who QB, those who protect the QB, those who receive the ball and run the distance. Put Demais on the field alone and he could never win a game. Singling him out actually is counter productive if you are trying to build character.