Was it too early? Grandson plays first year of tackle football

Yes, I was nervous.

Grandparents have that right when they're watching their grandchildren perform in sports.

I was very nervous watching grandson Mark play in a tackle football game because he won't be 10 years old until February.

Yes, I understand this is a growing phenomenon across the country. Ten actually is "old." Parents are bringing kids as young as 5 to play tackle football, apparently to better prepare them for the serious competition ahead.

I guess it's never too early to think scholarship.

So why was I so nervous watching Mark and his Madison (Wis.) West YMCA Regents play on a recent Saturday afternoon in suburban Sun Prairie, Wis.?

He has played soccer, baseball and basketball and had some success in each one. He's fast, well-coordinated and athletic.

Why did tackle football concern me so much?

This is helmets and shoulder pads and uniforms and ramming into each other.

That's why.

It also didn't help to see a kid in an earlier game down on the ground for several minutes after a hard hit. Fortunately, he hobbled off with his parents.

Grandson Mark is not the biggest kid around. He's slender and weighs about 70 pounds.

This is the first year for a fourth-grade team in Madison, and they are concerned about the safety of the kids.

There is no contact on punts or kickoffs. In fact, you can't return punts or kickoffs.

If you catch the kick, you get an additional 10 yards from the spot. Otherwise you just get the ball where it lands.

You can't advance the ball if you weigh more than 90 pounds, and those kids have dots on their helmets. Only two "dots" can be playing for a team at the same time.

Mark played across from a "dot" in the second half of the game I watched, and it's not easy for a 70-pounder to get by or hold out a 90-pounder.

However, the game at this age really is played in slow motion.

One coach has to be on the field with each team all the time. They call the plays.

I did some research just to satisfy myself on tackle football at such a young age.

Naturally there's a difference in opinion on the value of starting kids so early.

"In this pediatrician's opinion … it's not appropriate," Joseph Zanga, a North Carolina physician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told Dan Morse of the Washington Post.

Others don't agree. They feel that at those young ages, the kids aren't big enough to generate the power required to break bones or tear tendons.

"It's just bumps and bruises," said Eric Small, chairman of the Academy of Pediatrics' sports medicine and fitness committee. "Football under 12 is pretty safe."

Small told Morse that research shows injuries increase with age: 25 percent of junior high school football players get hurt during a season; 50 percent of high school players; 75 percent at the college level. For the professionals, it's even higher.

Pat McInally, a former Cincinnati Bengal who is the founder of Good Sports for Life, admits there is no indisputable age to start playing tackle football.

However, he says the youngster should have a strong desire to play because the physical, mental and personal development that football can uniquely deliver requires discipline, willingness to fit into a team, physical exertion and the absorption of discomfort and pain from the contact and conditioning.

McInally feels it helps for a child to already have extensive experience in team sports. That can have a tremendous impact on handling the challenges of tackle football.

The physical maturity and conditioning of a youngster should be considered as well as the mental and psychological maturity.

"The question of what age is right for tackle football isn't the right question, is it?" asks McInally. "It's really about your child and when he or she is ready to play. No coach will know your child as well as you, or at least we should hope not.

"Thus it's up to you to assess their willingness, preparedness and how much you're willing to put out to help them enjoy their experience."

McInally emphasizes that tackle football is different, the kids who play it are different, and the parents who support it are different.

"Thank goodness," he says, "because it's worth all the dedication, physical demands and mental challenges, especially in these times."

Grandson Mark played the last game of his first tackle football season Saturday. His team finished unbeaten.

The No. 1 reason why kids should participate in sports is to have fun.

Did Mark have fun in tackle football?

Yes. I'm just not sure about the level of that fun.

Will he play again next fall as a fifth-grader?

I don't know because he doesn't know.

Besides, it's time now for basketball.