My son is 7. He decided to play Pop Warner this year. Here are a few observations about youth football in Green Bay. Keep in mind, we haven't even had a practice yet, but just initial impressions. . . .



These guys seem to be very serious about football.We've had baseball and soccer so far, so I'll compare those 2 to football.


Baseball/soccer - two 1-hour practices per week preseason, 2 1-hour games per week in season

Football - three 2.5-hour practices per week preseason, two 2-hour practices per week and 1 football game per week

Baseball/soccer - No strategy, everyone plays every position, rules twisted and simplified

Football - Just got playbook. pro right 34 blast, split left 35 blast, pro right 32 Y out Z fly, etc. . . . You get the point. . . We have three formations with dozens of runs that could be run out of each formation (maybe we would focus on just a few when the season starts, I don't know, but anyone who's seen a playbook, you can have a lot of run combinations out of just three formations). We have Pro (it's really an I formation), split and offset formations.



It's sort of bizarre how intense youth football is in Green Bay. I was shocked to see how difficult this offensive playbook was to pick up. It's kind of fun, but man, it's a little more serious than I thought it would be at the age 7-8 level.