Cancel Vacation Plans for Football Practice?

High school football - he stays home from vacation.
7-year old foodball - he goes on vacation, no question.

He's seven. As a mother of a seven year old, I wouldn't even consider driving back and forth. That's just crazy town. He'd just have to miss. And if it means he can't play, then so be it. There's plenty of time for sports between now and 18.

Attn - Moms, kids this age do not play tackle.
So don't freak out. They do not do Tackle until they are in middle school.

No, I think the vacation trumps the football for a 7 year old.

Now if the 7 year old is begging to go to these practices, I would consider letting him stay with his dad. That would make more sense than driving so much.

Now if he was on a High School, Varsity team, then you would need to let him make his priorities and come up with a solution.

I hope you mean seventeen, not seven. And if not, good Lord, get your priorities straight.

7 yo...you got to be kidding me. Family vacation always should come first. The coach and your ex must be nuts.

Yep. Crazy. Completely flippin' crazy.

He's seven.

Go enjoy your vacation.

Sorry, to consider ruining your vacation because of a SEVEN year old's football practice is insane. Being with his family is more important than practice, it just is, regardless of what any coach (or anyone) says. He's SEVEN. He's a bit too young to start letting sports dictate your family life.

Your ex-husband is insane and the coach is insane. And as far as commitment is concerned, commitment to family comes first, always.

I'm confused. He's 7. Why are you even considering taking him back & forth to practice. He can miss a week of practice. He's 7.

Plus, he shouldn't be playing tackle football - bad call mom & dad. Have you not kept up with all of the concussion issues with football players. Why would you even consider harming your child that way?

It is completely crazy. So, for that matter is having a 7 year old play tackle football. Please read up on head injury and look for a flag football league. I-9 is a great league. Their goal is for the kids to have FUN, learn some skills and learn sportsmanship. They practice once a week, right before the game. So it is a total weekly commitment of 3 hours. They are perfectly ok with kids missing games. They actually understand that families are important and life does NOT revolve around a child's sports schedule. My son (8-1/2) played I9 flag football this spring and will be playing I9 soccer this fall. Also - the leagues are co-ed. If there are girls who want to play - they will.

No! Go on vacation and make some family memories happen.

I would be a little concerned about a 7 year old's team that practices 4 times a week with a coach that thinks he should miss vacation for practice. My son is 11. When he was 7 he played flag football with the Y and met once a week. At that age it was all for fun, learning and sportsmanship --not crazy head-banging competition.

Your ex is a butt-head. I'm assuming that is why he is your ex.

My kids are all very active in sports (boys do baseball, basketball, and flag football....and daughter does competitive dance), but we wouldn't cancel or alter a vacation for PRACTICE. A competition or super bowl game? Sure...but not practice.

If he was in HS or even in middle school playing for a travel team or elite team MAYBE I'd drive him. If he is playing recreational football and is only seven both your ex husband and the coach are taking it way too seriously.

In our home family time is more important than almost anything else. Your son will never look back with regret at the four football practices he missed, even if he doesn't play a couple of games because of it. He will look back at the only family vacation he took in several years with fondness. Team sports are great but nothing builds character like family time.

I love this article on the subject, link below. I totally agree with the doctor who wrote it. Driving your child back and forth from you family vacation will turn it into a commute, not a family vacation. What about you? What about the rest of the family? Most importantly what about the message you'd be sending your son? Peewee league football is more important than us, more important than our family spending precious time together. That to me is just sad and in my opinion your ex husband should rethink his own priorities. Just because he's not there for this vacation doesn't mean it won't be an important event for his boy.

http://www.nuvo.net/GuestVoices/archives/2014/03/18/your-...

I wouldn't want my kid playing for a team that would expect this. What's next? Will they want him to miss Thanksgiving dinner?

I worked with someone who played foot ball all the way through college.
He wouldn't let his son play it AT ALL at any age.
He said football just isn't a healthy sport and he didn't want his son risking concussions.
Our son is built like a line backer (he's 15 and going into 10th grade this fall) - the foot ball coach wants him bad.
I've seen some of the players (this is high school and middle school level) and they are 200 - 300 lbs.
Any sport where six or more 300 lb guys can jump on top of you is not a healthy sport.
Cancel the football, sign him up for taekwondo and enjoy your vacation.

Yes, that is crazy.
Crazy that you have four practices in one week.
Crazy that your exH thinks you should interrupt the vaca w/ 16 hrs. driving.
Crazy that you're even considering this.

:) Don't- he can make up the practices. Welcome to the crazy world of organized sports.

The coach wants him there b/c he is required to have so many hours of practice in before he can start practicing with pads then he is required to have a certain amount of hours of practice in pads in before he will be allowed to play in a game (at least that is how tackle football rules are here in WA) ~ if your son is missing an entire week of practice he will be way behind in the practice schedule and end up missing games.

I'm not saying I would drive him back for practice, I am just explaining why dad and coach may want him there.

I wouldn't even give this a second thought. If we are on vacation, we are not driving back and forth for PRACTICE of any sort on any sport.

It wouldn't have even warranted a talk with the coach other than to let him know my kid would be on vacation. I agree with others 7 is way too young for tackle football.

My oldest played football when he was 12 years old. I wasn't even going to let him play before then. He even played in highschool but gave it all up for a girl but that's a whole other thing.

Go on vacation and since hubby won't be doing the driving back and forth he doesn't get to decide for you what is or isn't acceptible. What about your safety? A two hour one way drive isn't just around the corner and shouldn't even be considered for practice. Enjoy the beach.

Oh, heck no. we would be going on the family vacation and I would let the coach know what we have planned and that would be that.
People place way too much emphasis on sports in this country.

When I started reading this I assumed your son was in high school. Or at least on an elite team. But at 7, I wouldn't be stressing over this. Yes he will miss out. Yes he will have to play "catch up". But he is seven, not seventeen. If your exhusband thinks it is so important, he can work out the transportation details.

I would never drive back and forth from my vacation for something like that!
I would seriously consider dropping out and maybe rejoining later, after your vacation, if the coach is that adamant about not missing any practices.
Your family vacation is more important, as is spending time together and relaxing.

I'm in agreement; take the vacation! No, I wouldn't drive back and forth for practice, doesn't make any sense to me, but neither does tackle football at 7, and you don't even live in Texas.

Cray cray.

Enjoy your vacation!

(Wonder if your ex would be willing to pick him up & take him to the practices?)

No way would I let any of my boys play tackle football, Period. Two of them have had concussions, one of them twice and we have already been warned to prevent further injury in that one due to the severity of his symptoms after injury. I would never consciously put my kids in harm's way like that. There are much better sports than tackle football for a 7 year old.

If you had ever had to take care of a child with a concussion, you would understand why so many of us are against this sport for young boys. If you ever had to keep a child home from school because he couldn't walk straight and became nauseated every time he stood up, couldn't concentrate, or watch tv, or do homework, or read for A WEEK, you would seriously reconsider the decision to sign your young one up for this.

I would not even sign him up for tackle. I am not OK with getting hit in the head and concussions for any child, and dementia and potential suicide later in life. This is your little boy. His brain. Even NFL players sued the NFL after having so many problems, and said the risks were not outlined. I can only imagine how it affects a GROWING brain (and the helmet doesn't do much to help the actual brain).

I would never drive him to practice on vacation, either. It won't make a difference. All the practice that little kids do doesn't really amount to anything anyway. Doesn't make them better. Often burns them out. One game or practice a week...that's it.

My kids could handle 1 day a week of practice. That's it. Otherwise we were just burning them out and messing with family life.

I want to thank K-Bell for that article. It was perfect.

I think seven is way too young for tackle football. Way, way too young.

I do not think missing this practices will be the reason your son does not make it into the NFL. The time passes so quickly. When you have time to be together as a family, please make sure to do it. I wish you luck. It does seem like a difficult situation.

For a seven year old....on a normal rec team....that's crazy.
If he were older, on a premier team of some sort, then yeah....he misses vacation
You just tell the coach that you will not be there for the week and then you go have a great vacation.
L.

He 7. Your husband and the coach are crazy. No, you should not miss your vacation for football practice. No you should not drive back and forth. He will be just fine if he misses 4 practices. If your husband is worried he can ask the coach what they will be going over and he can practice with his son each day. PS - My 16 year old neighbor got such bad brain damage this year from football that he is not the same person anymore. His life now revolves around therapies. He has a hard time reading and doing school work or concentrating on anything. He used to be very social and now he stays inside all the time. He has been having a really hard time. I am sure this is very rare, but it is scary to witness first hand.

Go, have fun, football can wait a week.

I think the coach is crazy. He is 7 years old. No way would I be driving back n forth for a 7 year old football team. Actually, if this coach says he should not miss practices, he would be off the team!

Talk to the coach first. The league in my area sidelines the kids for some (or all?) of that week's game if they miss practices during the week. Once you know, consider asking your son how he feels. Most seven year olds would probably not want to leave the beach to go to practice. He's seven - sitting out part of a game would probably be worth it to him for a week at a beach.

First off her question was not whether or not her son should play tackle football; I just love how people just have to throw their opinion into everything even when it is not asked for. Any way my son missed a week of practice 2 weeks ago, he also plays tackle football and is 7, this is the 3rd year of it (pause for all the gasps of disgust). I say go on your vacation enjoy and he will be fine when he gets back. Tell the coach that it was planned and is already paid for. Ask the coach if there is anything he could work on like learning positions or things like that from diagrams while you are gone. Our coach hands out tons of diagrams with different positions and plays to our kids to learn at home. Have a wonderful vacation!

completely crazy, but maybe this is a sign that this is not a league that you want your son involved with, especially when he is young enough that you make the decision as far as his activities.
I think it is a sign of the type of priority that they expect you to make the team to be. If every other member is involved and willing to give up vacations for it (which I think is over the top for 7 years old) then it probably isn't a good fit. I would think about what you want out of him being in the league.

My granddaughter is on a high school competitive dance team. They have mandatory practice starting in a couple of weeks. The coach said if the family has vacation planned the members should miss practice. One week on vacation and she'd miss 5 intensive practices.

I urge you to not drive him back and forth. Did you talk with coach or is this what your ex reported to you? I suggest that ex is manipulating you. Perhaps one way to resolve this is to suggest ex drive back and forth since it appears practice is important to him. For him to expect you to do this is outrageous! Are you sure it's the practice that's important to him or is it wanting to disrupt your vacation?

If he can't play football this year because he'll miss too many practises he's only 7. He can play next year.

Just noticed this is tackle football. He is too young for tackle. His body isn't developed enough. An injury can limit him his entire life. Please research this. Brain injuries as in concussion are serious.

Another vote to go on vacation and do not drive back and forth.

Your husband and the coach are crazy. He's only seven. Tell them both to back off! (I am also concerned about 7 year olds playing tackle football. I'm not against tackle football, I just think 7 is much too young.)

Wishing you safe travels and a wonderful time at the beach!

Crazy. I would enjoy the vacation. He's 7! Missing four practices isn't the end of the world. Have ex husband drive him back and forth if it is that important to him.

My 7 year old is going to miss the first full week of school while we are on vacation. Not a big deal at this age.

Your son is seven. He is not playing varsity football and eyeballing a scholarship. There were many times when we had to explain to coaches (especially before SS was in HS) that SS might miss a game or practice due to the visitation schedule. I would try to ensure he is there as much as possible, but what your ex is asking is unreasonable, and so is the coach, IMO. If this would ruin the entire season for him, I would consider pulling him from this team and finding one that starts after your return. I am guessing that each day you would spend more time on the road than he would playing. I also realize you may not have known the schedule before you signed him up. We were in limbo more than once, trying to get SS's mother the schedule for her approval and getting vague responses from the coach.

I would also think about the future. We tried not to schedule trips in August for various reasons for a few years, but we also couldn't force DH's ex to take SS to his games, pick him up after his games, etc. Even when she had to approve his participation. The last year he played, she made him choose football or time with her and then got angry that he chose to play (she lived 45 mins from us and wouldn't stay to watch the game when she picked up SD for the weekend). If your ex is all-fired about sports, this is going to be something you two will have to work on for your son's sake, and everyone's sanity. How it turned out for us was easier on us, frankly, but not easier on SS.

I don't want to pile on with another negative comment, but I just completed a year as Athletic Secretary in a large Texas high school where football is everything. I can guarantee you that NONE of my boys that signed college scholarships started tackle football at 7. He is way too young, he needs to be developing NON weight bearing strength (core strength), flexibility, hand/eye coordination, basic knowledge of game, speed and agility and team work. The risk of injury is insane! Middle school is the earliest full contact should begin.

And your vacation. PLEASE don't consider driving him home for practice! That would interfere with any down time, you would be stressed, he would tired, it's crazy! Go on your trip and get him off that team.

He's 7, not 12. Go on vacation. He'll be fine.

I would tell the coach he is going to be gone for that week. At 7 he's not missing much but a lot of running. The coach should understand if you have had this trip planned and then he just gave out the schedule. if your exhusband wants to make sure he doesn't miss practice then he could come and get him.

Go on vacation. If it's that important to your ex, let him drive up and get him and then bring him back after practice. I would never cancel or disrupt a family vacation so my seven year old could play a GAME! I know most people take it really seriously, but it is, after all, only a game! And he's only seven - if he doesn't play this year, it won't hurt his chances at a football scholarship or getting into the pros. LOL!

No way, if hubby wants to do the driving to do that then let him. But kiddo won't miss anything important.

not a chance.
tell your ex 'thanks! so glad this is so important to you! i'll drop him off on friday night on the way out of town.'
khairete
S.

No, I would not cancel a vacation for 7 year old football. I think it absolutely insane to have to commute 4 extra hours a day for 4 days of your vacation. With the actual time of practice, that eats up at least a third of your day. Not reasonable or feasible.

That being said, didn't you know when practices were going to be scheduled? I am not sure that I would have signed him up for something knowing that you were going to miss a week of practice. I try to get an idea of the general level of committment required when I sign up for something to ensure that it will work with our family. I think that this is pretty poor planning...

No. My 2 girls are 7 and 8 and are on the cheer team, they practice 2 nights a week as well, and they will miss a couple due to vacation.

My friends' that have boys on the football team miss a couple practices for vacation.

Give me a break.

Hi there,
My daughter cheered for football and we had to miss practices due to stuff already planned.
Go on vacation, it has been planned.
Hard that they start practices right in the middle of summer. they do it here as well.
Good luck and many blessings

hell no, whether is is 7 or 17. go on vacation. it's crazy how into sports people get and assume you miss a practice everything is ruined.

I won't be much help because I can see both sides. You planned this trip months ago and 4 hrs round trip 4 times would totally ruin the trip. But, I also feel that he has a responsibility to be at practice. He made a commitment to the team and should honor it if at all possible. Yes, it is 7 yr old's, but this is a good time to teach kids that you don't blow off a commitment because something more fun came up. What days are the practices? Could he stay overnight at your ex's house those few nights or, if your ex is so insistent on him attending, can he help out with the travel?

I wonder... How excited is your son for this trip? Would he possibly be OK with staying with a friend, your ex, or even a teammate's house (if the parents are willing)? Much as it would suck to go on vacation without him, maybe that could be a solution. Even if he goes with you for the days he doesn't have practice (if there are consecutive days...) you would only have to make one trip.

If that isn't possible, I would miss practice. Did the coach mention anything about a consequence of missing practice? Maybe the coach would be willing to give you some drills your son can practice a bit on his own while on vacation.

That said... He's SEVEN. How seriously are people taking children's sports these days? O_O

I know it sounds insane, but at least around here, that's what you signed up for. There are strict rules for youth football - the kids have to have X number of hours of conditioning before they put on pads, Y number of hours practicing in pads before they're able to scrimmage, and Z number of scrimmages before they can take to the field to play real games. These are the rules of the league, these are the rules of the game, these are the rules that you agreed to when you signed your son up for this sport. For Pop Warner, all kids need 10 hours of conditioning and 10 hours of practice with pads on before they scrimmage and play. If your son misses those hours, he will have to complete those after his vacation, which will put him a week behind his teammates in learning the plays.

So I'm with your ex-husband on this one.

It's pretty well known, at least around here, that if you play youth football, you do not vacation in August. A lot of sports and other activities have similar inconvenient schedule requirements - in my life, if you play JV hockey you don't travel over December vacation because of a mandatory tournament. For varsity hockey, you don't go anywhere for February vacation. The robotics team has to be ready to travel to nationals over April vacation in case they make it in. And so on, and so on.

Youth football is one of the few sports/activities I know of where the expectations for a 7 year old and a 17 year old are the same in terms of hours of training and commitment to the schedule, but it is what it is.

He's 7...I would not cancel your vacation or drive him back and forth!

There's no way I'd be driving him two hours back and forth, so that option would be out. I would either prioritize family time and just say he will be missing that week. Or, prioritize his commitment and arrange for your son to stay with your ex or a friend so he can attend practice.

When did you sign up for football? Usually sign ups are in the spring and you would have known practice would have started already. Football is one of those sports where missing practice is usually considered a big no-no.

Perhaps a comprise that he goes to one or two practices?... Can you ex drive a bit of this is so impt to him. Most adults I know say family vacations are very important so no way would I do four times!!