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 JTA News: Tulsa World Article Spotlights JTA Organization |
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Monday, October 1
Tulsa World Article Spotlights JTA Organization
Tulsa World's Sports Writer, Lynn Jacobson, prepared a great article on youth football focusing on the JTA organization, including a picture of 4th grader, Alex Andrews, and the 5th grade White team vs Wagoner this past Saturday. The complete article and pictures can be seen in the Tulsa World's, Monday, October 1st edition on the front page of the Focus Section. For Tulsa World subscribers, click on the title to enter the members page and see the complete article and pictures on-line.
Focus: Gridiron tykes fear not
By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer
10/1/01
Coaches say football is a safe sport for youngsters to play. However, a doctor said injuries can occur when larger boys are pitted against smaller boys in the same age group.
But some parents and doctors are not quite so gung-ho
Alex Andrews dreams of playing football for Jenks High School.
He closes his eyes and watches himself race onto the field amid cheers.
But at 4-foot-2 and 63 pounds, this Jenks fourth-grader has plenty of time to dream.
Andrews, age 9, is one of 1,200 youngsters in grades 1-7 who participate in the Jenks youth football program. The league offers flag football for first- and second-graders and tackle football for grades 3-7, with cheerleaders for each tackle squad.
Slight in build compared to most of the field, Andrews enjoys bucking the odds in a sport that thrives on contact.
When tackled at the summer camp held by Jenks varsity football coach Allan Trimble, Andrews springs to his feet, arms spread wide with palms facing skyward, and asks his tackler, "Is that all you got?"
Showing no fear, he gets back in line for another drill. This time his would-be tackler is twice his size.
Undaunted, Andrews stiff-arms his opponent, who after picking himself up off the ground says, "That was a great stiff-arm."
Also an avid soccer player, Andrews gave up baseball because "it was too slow."
But football is Andrews' favorite sport and the Trojans are his favorite team.
"I'd like to be like (former Jenks standout) Kejuan (Jones)," Andrews said. "He's really athletic and I like to run too."
The youngest of three boys, Andrews often plays backyard football with brothers Brian, age 13, and Jarrod, age 12.
"I like playing with the older kids," Alex said. "I'm just like them, I'm strong."
Jarrod has taught Alex a few moves the older kids make.
"Alex is real fast and he's pretty hyper," Jarrod said. "He can juke really well. I've shown him a few things."
What Alex lacks in stature, he makes up for in heart. A running back/defensive back, Andrews uses his speed to zip in and out of tacklers' grasps.
Through it all, his mother, Sandy, watches nervously from the stands.
"I don't worry so much about Alex because he is a wily, speedy guy," said Sandy. "But Jarrod plays on the line. My husband Jeff coaches Jarrod's team so I spend most of my time watching Alex. I only get to see a couple of Jarrod's games."
Sandy Andrews doesn't share the love for the sport that her husband does.
"We don't see eye-to-eye on football," she said. "He enjoys it, and I endure it."
Like most football moms, Sandy Andrews worries about whether or not her sons are getting proper instruction and if they receive enough water breaks during the hot summer workouts.
The deaths of Minnesota Vikings lineman Korey Stringer and Northwestern defensive back Rashidi Wheeler struck a nerve, not only with Sandy Andrews but other mothers.
"It makes me nervous in that they practice in 100-degree heat with full pads," Sandy said. "But boys are physical. They don't use words, they use their bodies. I put my faith in God that he will protect them."
League coordinator David Alexander, a former center for the Philadelphia Eagles, is happy his sons, Jake and Kyle, play the sport.
"I have no reservations about kids playing football," Alexander said. "Most of these kids can't move fast enough to hurt somebody when they hit them."
Alexander said the most serious injury he has encountered as league commissioner is a broken arm.
"We had one player break his arm when he and some kids were playing around before practice," Alexander said. "The other happened during a game."
Alexander said kids can learn a lot from team sports.
It teaches them teamwork, responsibility and how to work toward a common goal," he said. "It's the best thing for kids."
Dr. William Geffen might disagree.
A physician with Utica Park Clinic Pediatrics, Geffen said flag football is fine for youngsters.
"It's like soccer, and typically there are not a lot of collisions," he said. "In flag football, they can learn the basics of the game, how to run, catch, throw. Overall, most of the kids are safe.
"My concern is with middle school, when some kids have reached puberty by age 10 and others haven't. More serious injuries can result when kids who are big may injure kids who are small."
Geffen suggested leagues should place a weight limit or developmental limitations to ensure player safety.
Another concern for Geffen is the lack of proper coaching at the elementary school level.
"A lot of times the coaching is not as good for kids in the early years of tackle football," he said. "Coaches at the high school level and above are professionals and know what they are doing. They often have medical trainers on staff also."
Dr. Joseph Schwartz, a psychologist with Riverside Counseling, said he has seen first-hand what happens when youngsters don't think they measure up to Dad's expectations.
"There are some parents who put enormous psychological pressure on their kids to fulfill their own unfulfilled dreams of glory and grandeur in sports," Schwartz said.
"There are a number of parents in this culture (Oklahoma and Texas) where so much emphasis is placed on winning at all costs that the kid feels he's not quite good enough. That no matter what he does he will never please his old man."
Lynn Jacobsen, World sports writer, can be reached at 581-8461 or via e-mail at lynn.jacobsen@tulsaworld.com.
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