October 12, 2008

BY SONNY LONG

There are few major injuries in youth football, even though the youngest participants are only 6 years old.

David Hartman, president of the Crossroads Youth Football League, said, “Full contact football for 6- and 7-year-olds is safe. There is no safer time to allow them to play. Most of them are not capable of generating a lot of power, and the collisions are not as violent as the bigger guys.”

The CYFL boasts more than 1,200 players this season, representing 10 towns, including Victoria. The CYFL allows ages 6 through 12 to take part.

“We’ve been very fortunate that we average maybe 10 trips to the emergency room a year,” Hartman said.

On Saturday, at Bulldog Stadium in Yoakum, the host Silver Dawgs lined up against the Gonzales Apaches in a Pee Wee, 6- to 7-year-old match up.

Misty Ledlow, whose husband, Chad Ledlow, coaches the Yoakum squad, and whose son, Jayden Roberts, 7, is the starting center, said she feels her son is perfectly safe.

“He loves it,” she said. “He’s always been into watching football. He lives for this. He tried soccer, but he just wasn’t into it.”

A football dad from Gonzales, Brian Gibson watched his 7-year-old son, Seth Gibson, battle the Silver Dawgs.

“I feel like it’s safe,” he said. “He’d been talking about playing for a couple of years. He plays wide receiver, running back and linebacker.”

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