Out goes the tackle (junior footy)

[WinnersOnly]

I was just reading an article in The Australian where the AFL propose to ban tackling and bumping in junior footy. For someone who has lived in Rugby and Rugby League dominated states for the past 30 years (remained involved in AFL) this proposal is completely the wrong way to go. For states like NSW, ACT , QLD & NT, most of the kids that come to AUSKICK have grown up on a tackling game and tackling is what they love to do. From my experience if they remove that completely from junior football they will lose more kids than they believe will be attracted to the game.

I can understand the rationale with the AFL competing against Soccer but IMO it is not the correct answer for the northern states! If they want to attract kids from other codes they need to go the other way and introduce tackling and body contact at a younger age.

What are your thoughts?

[chook23]

any chance of link to that article

[saintspremiers]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

[bergsone]

You say junior footy,at what age are we talking up to 12/13

[plugger66]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

[WinnersOnly]

Learning the art of tackling at a younger age would actually lesson the chances of injury when they start. I have my two sons at Auskick and they hated it as the regime were more concerned on correcting the kids skills than making the experience fun.

Why do you think the kids from the northern states come to the game so much more prepared for the physical aspect of the game. Lenny Hayes is a classical example, he grew up playing rugby and was noted as one of the best tacklers and hardest players in the game!

There is always going to be kids who dont like physical contact but they are generally kids who dont excel in any sport. Competitve kids thrive on contact if parents are worried about it have the wear head gear similiar to league juniors.

[plugger66]

Learning the art of tackling at a younger age would actually lesson the chances of injury when they start. I have my two sons at Auskick and they hated it as the regime were more concerned on correcting the kids skills than making the experience fun.

Why do you think the kids from the northern states come to the game so much more prepared for the physical aspect of the game. Lenny Hayes is a classical example, he grew up playing rugby and was noted as one of the best tacklers and hardest players in the game!

There is always going to be kids who dont like physical contact but they are generally kids who dont excel in any sport. Competitve kids thrive on contact if parents are worried about it have the wear head gear similiar to league juniors.

It has nothing to do with what the kids want. Its because parents have become more and more softer and because of that some push their sons to soccer now. The AFL would have done plenty of research that would have suggested tackling should start at around 10 or 11 years of age. I think they should tackle at around 9 or 10 but shouldn't bump until they know what they are doing. They certainly shouldn't tackle in auskick. When I played footy no one even started footy until 9 or 10. Now they even have under 8 which is just plain dumb.

[desertsaint]

When i was about fifteen a touring english schoolboys union team played a game against us Alice kids on the way to a tournament in Perth. None of us had played union, and only couple had played league - only had an adult league in town then. So a bunch of us volunteered having only played footy or soccer. The first two weeks of training were all about tackling - mainly how to stick, how to protect, and how to break - we had no idea - natural instinct was to fend with a palm in the face. Very important skill and should be taught as young as possible. Growing up here league and footy were both popular spectator sports and we all knew footy players were way behind in their ability to tackle. Something the afl clubs took far too long to rectify - still a bit of work to go.
we did alright in the game too - went down by 3 points - our kicker sucked!

[Life Long Saint]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

[gringo]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Southern Junior metro had a rule where you could stand up bear hug and not sling or drop hem. It worked pretty well in that if done well the arms were pinned and the player holding the ball was forced to attempt to get a foot or hand to the ball. Great skill builder until the under 11s where the full tackles come in. It's pretty logical.

I also know two families switching to soccer because their kids are going to under 11s and the parents don't want head injuries from tackles. It's pretty hard to please everyone. The rule I hate is the no winning one. The kids know the scores already and being competitive is what is enjoyable in sport.

[barneyboyz]

The best part of AUSKICK is that it is a skill based approach, whereby all kids get to have regular attempts at all skills provided. where we fail after this is we then get them into a team environment, with generally one or two coaches (at best) and try and get them to now focus on team things whilst trying to control the whole group centrally.

If we were able to continue the Auskick approach for longer, we could do more skill focus training. I find Auskick is more inclined to get mum and/or dad to stick around and participate, however when the team is introduced it becomes more of a baby-sitting service

[Life Long Saint]

The best part of AUSKICK is that it is a skill based approach, whereby all kids get to have regular attempts at all skills provided. where we fail after this is we then get them into a team environment, with generally one or two coaches (at best) and try and get them to now focus on team things whilst trying to control the whole group centrally.

If we were able to continue the Auskick approach for longer, we could do more skill focus training. I find Auskick is more inclined to get mum and/or dad to stick around and participate, however when the team is introduced it becomes more of a baby-sitting service

I think the "baby sitting service" is more to do with the maturity of the kids involved.
At Auskick, I coached prep & kinda kids and getting the parents involved was easy as every mum/dad there wanted to share in the experience of their kids learning footy.
Once the kids hit the "senior" group of grade 3 and up the parents were certainly more "hands-off". I still roped them in as I needed help running some of the drills. Nothing too onerous but it was certainly harder to get them involved. The one rule we had was that the parents had to stay with their kids. No going back and sitting in the warm car with the hot coffee and McMuffin.
I haven't coached junior footy so I can't talk about how that goes but I was certainly involved as a parent when my son played baseball.

[barneyboyz]

The best part of AUSKICK is that it is a skill based approach, whereby all kids get to have regular attempts at all skills provided. where we fail after this is we then get them into a team environment, with generally one or two coaches (at best) and try and get them to now focus on team things whilst trying to control the whole group centrally.

If we were able to continue the Auskick approach for longer, we could do more skill focus training. I find Auskick is more inclined to get mum and/or dad to stick around and participate, however when the team is introduced it becomes more of a baby-sitting service

I think the "baby sitting service" is more to do with the maturity of the kids involved.
At Auskick, I coached prep & kinda kids and getting the parents involved was easy as every mum/dad there wanted to share in the experience of their kids learning footy.
Once the kids hit the "senior" group of grade 3 and up the parents were certainly more "hands-off". I still roped them in as I needed help running some of the drills. Nothing too onerous but it was certainly harder to get them involved. The one rule we had was that the parents had to stay with their kids. No going back and sitting in the warm car with the hot coffee and McMuffin.
I haven't coached junior footy so I can't talk about how that goes but I was certainly involved as a parent when my son played baseball.

Yep, love the Auskick approach, with zones for each skill set, juniors though and I certainly can't speak for all, but once the focus changes to 'team' it is normally left to some bloke(s) to handle everything; Auskick has the structure better I think

[stinger]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Southern Junior metro had a rule where you could stand up bear hug and not sling or drop hem. It worked pretty well in that if done well the arms were pinned and the player holding the ball was forced to attempt to get a foot or hand to the ball. Great skill builder until the under 11s where the full tackles come in. It's pretty logical.

I also know two families switching to soccer because their kids are going to under 11s and the parents don't want head injuries from tackles. It's pretty hard to please everyone. The rule I hate is the no winning one. The kids know the scores already and being competitive is what is enjoyable in sport.

no way was i ever going to let any son of mine play flowering soccer....

[barneyboyz]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Southern Junior metro had a rule where you could stand up bear hug and not sling or drop hem. It worked pretty well in that if done well the arms were pinned and the player holding the ball was forced to attempt to get a foot or hand to the ball. Great skill builder until the under 11s where the full tackles come in. It's pretty logical.

I also know two families switching to soccer because their kids are going to under 11s and the parents don't want head injuries from tackles. It's pretty hard to please everyone. The rule I hate is the no winning one. The kids know the scores already and being competitive is what is enjoyable in sport.

no way was i ever going to let any son of mine play flowering soccer....

Better to take a hit, get up brush yourself off and play-on, than miss everything, take a dive and get up a wanker

[gringo]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Southern Junior metro had a rule where you could stand up bear hug and not sling or drop hem. It worked pretty well in that if done well the arms were pinned and the player holding the ball was forced to attempt to get a foot or hand to the ball. Great skill builder until the under 11s where the full tackles come in. It's pretty logical.

I also know two families switching to soccer because their kids are going to under 11s and the parents don't want head injuries from tackles. It's pretty hard to please everyone. The rule I hate is the no winning one. The kids know the scores already and being competitive is what is enjoyable in sport.

no way was i ever going to let any son of mine play flowering soccer....

Better to take a hit, get up brush yourself off and play-on, than miss everything, take a dive and get up a wanker

My boy is playing both this winter. Great ....two early mornings. I have been going to some Melbourne city games with him and the atmosphere is amazing compared to footy crowds of a similar size. I went to the derby and just got so annoyed at the dives though and the Aussies are good compared to Europe. Berisha from Melbourne Victory is like a drunk on roller-skates every time anyone comes near him. They got a dose of their own medicine this week and you'd think the world had ended.

[barneyboyz]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Southern Junior metro had a rule where you could stand up bear hug and not sling or drop hem. It worked pretty well in that if done well the arms were pinned and the player holding the ball was forced to attempt to get a foot or hand to the ball. Great skill builder until the under 11s where the full tackles come in. It's pretty logical.

I also know two families switching to soccer because their kids are going to under 11s and the parents don't want head injuries from tackles. It's pretty hard to please everyone. The rule I hate is the no winning one. The kids know the scores already and being competitive is what is enjoyable in sport.

no way was i ever going to let any son of mine play flowering soccer....

Better to take a hit, get up brush yourself off and play-on, than miss everything, take a dive and get up a wanker

My boy is playing both this winter. Great ....two early mornings. I have been going to some Melbourne city games with him and the atmosphere is amazing compared to footy crowds of a similar size. I went to the derby and just got so annoyed at the dives though and the Aussies are good compared to Europe. Berisha from Melbourne Victory is like a drunk on roller-skates every time anyone comes near him. They got a dose of their own medicine this week and you'd think the world had ended.

Yeah, a bit tongue in cheek about the diving tbh. biggest problem with soccer is if your kid actually has ability and gets to try-out at a serious level, then all the bulltish starts with some parts of the community getting preference over others...know what I mean

[plugger66]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Can I ask why 12 year olds are doing Auskick. Where I live Auskick stops at about grade 3 so there is no need to learn tackling. They certainly should be tackling by the age of 12 though.

[gringo]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Southern Junior metro had a rule where you could stand up bear hug and not sling or drop hem. It worked pretty well in that if done well the arms were pinned and the player holding the ball was forced to attempt to get a foot or hand to the ball. Great skill builder until the under 11s where the full tackles come in. It's pretty logical.

I also know two families switching to soccer because their kids are going to under 11s and the parents don't want head injuries from tackles. It's pretty hard to please everyone. The rule I hate is the no winning one. The kids know the scores already and being competitive is what is enjoyable in sport.

no way was i ever going to let any son of mine play flowering soccer....

Better to take a hit, get up brush yourself off and play-on, than miss everything, take a dive and get up a wanker

My boy is playing both this winter. Great ....two early mornings. I have been going to some Melbourne city games with him and the atmosphere is amazing compared to footy crowds of a similar size. I went to the derby and just got so annoyed at the dives though and the Aussies are good compared to Europe. Berisha from Melbourne Victory is like a drunk on roller-skates every time anyone comes near him. They got a dose of their own medicine this week and you'd think the world had ended.

Yeah, a bit tongue in cheek about the diving tbh. biggest problem with soccer is if your kid actually has ability and gets to try-out at a serious level, then all the bulltish starts with some parts of the community getting preference over others...know what I mean

My kid is a gun basketball player and doesn't want to keep going with it. I'm a bit biased because I played and loved it but i wish he'd stick to that instead of soccer but all his school friends play it now. I'm making him keep playing AFL but I think he'd drop it if I didn't care.

[barneyboyz]

There isn't tackling in AUSKICK.

Good move. No way in hell is my son playing footy unless there is no tackling.

Soccer all the way for my boy (who will never be 6 foot in any case!)

Why soccer apart from his height. I agree there shouldn't be tackling in Auskick but I fail to see why it has to be soccer. I hope he gets a choice anyway. It should never be up to the parents. No wonder less and less kids are playing footy if its up to the soft parents of today. On topic there hasn't been tackling in under 11's in our comp for about 10 years and I think SP and the like is the reason for that.

As a former Auskick coach, I introduced the kids to tackling when they were in the grade 3-6 group (our highest group).
It was controlled and non-violent. No slinging or riding to the ground.
I also taught them to raise the arms above the tackle when they're about to be tackled so that they could still get a handball away.

All these skills were then reinforced in our matches at the end of each session.

The kids wanted tackling and the parents were more than happy to let me introduce it.
If you teach and police it correctly then there is no harm in it all. And if you don't address it in Junior footy then when they play in a grade that has tackling they're totally unprepared for it.

Southern Junior metro had a rule where you could stand up bear hug and not sling or drop hem. It worked pretty well in that if done well the arms were pinned and the player holding the ball was forced to attempt to get a foot or hand to the ball. Great skill builder until the under 11s where the full tackles come in. It's pretty logical.

I also know two families switching to soccer because their kids are going to under 11s and the parents don't want head injuries from tackles. It's pretty hard to please everyone. The rule I hate is the no winning one. The kids know the scores already and being competitive is what is enjoyable in sport.

no way was i ever going to let any son of mine play flowering soccer....

Better to take a hit, get up brush yourself off and play-on, than miss everything, take a dive and get up a wanker

My boy is playing both this winter. Great ....two early mornings. I have been going to some Melbourne city games with him and the atmosphere is amazing compared to footy crowds of a similar size. I went to the derby and just got so annoyed at the dives though and the Aussies are good compared to Europe. Berisha from Melbourne Victory is like a drunk on roller-skates every time anyone comes near him. They got a dose of their own medicine this week and you'd think the world had ended.

Yeah, a bit tongue in cheek about the diving tbh. biggest problem with soccer is if your kid actually has ability and gets to try-out at a serious level, then all the bulltish starts with some parts of the community getting preference over others...know what I mean

My kid is a gun basketball player and doesn't want to keep going with it. I'm a bit biased because I played and loved it but i wish he'd stick to that instead of soccer but all his school friends play it now. I'm making him keep playing AFL but I think he'd drop it if I didn't care.

He's got a fair spread of experience then, keep him doing something, even soccer if that's what he wants; better than dropping it all

[sunsaint]

Hey winnersonly
As a person who has lived in NRL country for30 years you would have witnessed the rise and rise of touch rugby
Hasnt diminished their code which revolves around bone crunching tackles
And as for parents directing kids towards soccer ~ surely you would have to be worried about acquired and accumulating brain injury through constant heading the ball

[stevie]

My son turned 8 last month. When footy starts in April, it will be his second season of Super8's after a season in Super 6's. He loves it and has been playing baseball over the summer which he loves too. My daughter is 11 and playing netball for the first time.

I think the tackling at my sons footy club - Pacific Pines Power - begins in U/11's.

[Con Gorozidis]

My son turned 8 last month. When footy starts in April, it will be his second season of Super8's after a season in Super 6's. He loves it and has been playing baseball over the summer which he loves too. My daughter is 11 and playing netball for the first time.

I think the tackling at my sons footy club - Pacific Pines Power - begins in U/11's.

The 3-Ps! Look-out.

[stevie]

My son turned 8 last month. When footy starts in April, it will be his second season of Super8's after a season in Super 6's. He loves it and has been playing baseball over the summer which he loves too. My daughter is 11 and playing netball for the first time.

I think the tackling at my sons footy club - Pacific Pines Power - begins in U/11's.

The 3-Ps! Look-out.

Hey nice Con! Lol

[barneyboyz]

One of my sons (I have two and two stepsons of which they all play footy) is quite a tough bugger, he did his shoulder a couple of seasons back in U/18's, ironically from a tackle, but when he was starting in footy he was just the average kid and not very rough.

I don't know what the stats are for kids getting seriously hurt at juniors from tackles, I understand why they aren't allowed for the first couple of years, but the same kids have to play against each other at school Etc. and seem to get by, we played brittish bulldogs at school and I don't know too many got hurt doing that

For interest sake, I trained our kids with tackle bags and they loved it, by the time they were allowed to tackle they knew what it was all about...but there is always that one kid