Hello!
My son is 9yrs old and in the 3rd grade right now and he would really like to start playing football. He has no football experience but he has played soccer and basketball for four years now and is pretty athletic and aggressive. I was planning on enrolling him in the Limited Contact Tackle Football Camp that you advertise on your website (July 8 & 9) to see if he really is interested and to help him get some of the basics. My question to you is: Do kids have to tryout for the team or do you have a team for children around my sons age that have never played football before? I have been to a couple of your games to watch my niece cheer and I would love for my son to play in your league. Thank you for your time and if you have any advice on how to prepare my son for football I would appreciate any advice.
-Kelly O'Melia
First I would like to say thank you for your interest in Hawk Football. We love to have kids that have come out for the first time and everyone involved in the program was once a rookie themselves. There are absolutely no try-outs we welcome everyone to come no matter their skill level. Although, we do not guarantee playing time and the reason for that is for those beginners. I think you agree that putting your son out there against a 3 or 4 year veteran could cause a injury without the proper training.
What we do next is take the kids that are lacking that experience and our coaches work with them to learn the basics, along with advance techniques of the game. Then we form what are called "Silver Bullets" for these first timers and kids who need more training and they play at half time as well as in the game if the opportunity arises. Nearly all veteran players start out this way. This is also a good life lesson for kids as you must learn to walk before you run and you must put in the work before you are promoted. With that being said the our coaches also “try” to arrange week day games against the "Silver bullets" from our leagues other franchises, I believe that the 89'r team had 3-4 of those games last year.
To prepare for the season I would suggest just having your son stay in shape. Our practices are rigorous and demanding. I will also post the new "Competitive Edge" Football academies when they become available. They are low cost and would give him a leg up on other kids.
Sign-ups are starting in the first weekend May and online sign-ups will be coming soon. We look forward to having your son join us this season for fun, growth and memories that he will have for a lifetime.
Breck Johnson
Athletic Director