Do You Allow Smack Talk

[Johnp2 21]

I had never really thought about smack-talking on the field until this year. I saw a few players on other teams really do it the whole game, although it was more silly stuff (sticking out their tongues on the LOS, calling the other players "corn head", etc). These are k-2nd grade players.

As tough as it is for me to admit, the smack talker on my team is my own son. He only did it a few times (I strongly discourage it). Once he told another team "You guys are easy." I benched him for that. Another time (our best moment of the season) we scored on a team that had not been scored on in two years. In fact, it was a Kindergartener who is my smallest, slowest, weakest player on the team that scored. After we scored, the other team was FUMING. My son walked by them and said, "HA! You just got scored on by a Kindergartener." Okay, on that one I had to laugh inside a little. My son is very, very outgoing and I'm always telling him "Let your play do your talking". On the flip side he is just as quick to tell an opponent "nice play" if they did something good. So I put him in the category of just being a "talker". ;-) I"m sure with my continued guidance this will not become a problem, and at a minimum he has to pick his spots and of course do it ethically if at all.

I'm just curious if you guys see much of it in your league.

[Orange 26]

I absolutely do not allow any kind of smack talk. If I hear it I'll pull a kid out and have a talk with him. I find it to be disrespectful and rude. Fortunately, from what I could see, we didn't have a problem with smack talk. Instead we had a problem with excessive celebrating which in my mind is just as bad. A casual observer would probably think I was being overly critical with cracking down on celebration but I felt like it needed to be stopped before it got started. I think celebrating a big play in general is OK, as long as its done with respect. When it becomes over the top it is a form of disrespect to your opponent. One of the best things I heard (and I'm paraphrasing) was something Emmit Smith said his father told him when he was little: When you score a touchdown act like you've done it many times before.

Like you with the smack talk, my son was one of the "celebrators" probably the one who liked doing it the most. From high stepping into the endzone to going crazy after a td, he did it all. Also, he would celebrate a teammates accomplishments as much as his own, I suppose he is just enthusiastic. I kept after him with the Emmit Smith quote and it began to sink in. Also, I gave my kids some things to do after a score. I'd have them cross the goal line and take a knee and/ or try to find the ref and hand him the football. Just a few things to do to give them something else to do instead of all jumping together in a circle screaming.

As I'm thinking about the smack talking there is one kid on the team who I encountered on another team during baseball season. I was surprised at how much smack he threw out there during the whole game. It got me to wondering if he was like that when playing football. I'm going to have to watch him closely next time.

[rushbuster70 16]

I dont allow any smack talk at all.Celebrations are high 5's and good jobs and thats it...I dont allow anything else.It may not seem right but its how we always have been and keep doing it.After a TD we just give the ref the football.Nothing else...I talk about this the first practice of the year

[pointyfootball 0]

I dont allow any smack talk at all.Celebrations are high 5's and good jobs and thats it...I dont allow anything else.It may not seem right but its how we always have been and keep doing it.After a TD we just give the ref the football.Nothing else...I talk about this the first practice of the year

Smack talk, excluding the way I play pickup football/basketball/soccer games, shouldn't have a place in youth sports. Unfortunately, it does. I approach dealing with this a few ways. One thing is I try to set an example. If we score, I am normally "aloof" in that I'm already figuring out what play we're going to run for the extra point, or in soccer, I'm giving some pre-kickoff instruction to the players subbing in. The level/type of praise I give out is dependant on the player(s) involved, but it is normally after the fact and not instantaneous. My point in approaching it this way is to convey that the game is not over and that they can celebrate, but there is no reason to be going crazy. Then, when they make a good play during the game, they don't get overpumped about it and start acting like NFL players who make a tackle after a 2yard gain and act as if they won the SB!

This might sound a bit hypocritical, but I do allow, even encourage, smack talk at practice. Especially when I'm trying to push a player who has trouble concentrating. I do, however, make sure the players know that it is all in fun, and in trying to help their teammates and is never allowed during games.

All this being said, whether we like it or not, it's going to be done. It is amazing what gets said out there during games and we would never even know it.

PF

[Johnp2 21]

Glad to see I am not the only one who has encountered this. With respectt to 'Act like you have been there (the end zone) before', I have always heard it was Barry Sanders' father who said that (not the GREAT Emmitt Smith's father)---but I've heard (the GREAT) Tom Landry said, it and Jim Brown said it, etc. It was probably some b-team color guy who said it, but it gets attributed to more notable figures. ;-) Nonetheless, it is a great quote.

On the field, I myself am fairly subdued (coaches are allowed on the field with my kids). I am notorious for keeping the kids loose. Before games when the other teams are running through their plays, doing their drills, etc. I let the kids pretty much do whatever they want. Typically it's "Monkey in the middle" or "Tackle the man with the ball". I always approach things with that "Bad News Bears" mentality, meaning that we are simply a team out there playing the game because we love it.

We had a "big game" once (which we won) and I remember after the game the coach telling me how it weirded his team out to see our kids playing grab a$$ on the field prior to the game. He said they could not focus on their pre-game activities, as they kept looking over their shoulders to see what we were doing next. In our first game last season, I had a parent walk on to the field prior to the game and ask, "Do you think the kids should be practicing their plays?". I told him, "Things are too uptight before a game as it is. Let boys be boys." Perhaps this is just me being aloof. I think the game is won on the field, and not on all the pre-game showmanship that takes part (at least in our league).

Thus when on the field, I try to keep things very loose. I am not one to go nuts if we make a good play. At most I might pump my fist. Where I become animated is if we make a bad play. I clap my hands and go to the player and encourage him. If the player genuinely got beat, I will provide instructions on how to rectify things. If the player made a mental mistake, I will joke with him "Now that's two dropped passes, Michael. You aren't thinking about your girlfriend, are you?", etc.

[Orange 26]

Interesting approach to the pregame. Typically we arrive about 30 minutes before the game. I run the kids through drills for about 20 minutes and then let them get loose before the game. They usually run around, play catch, whatever, but it sounds similar to what your team does. As for me, I take on an intense persona (super focused). I'm not a yeller in any aspect of my life so I don't yell, except to congratulate or shout encouragement. I do try to transfer my focus on to the players. It's funny, different kids have different buttons. Some I can psyche up by getting in their face a little. Others I have to take a knee and talk softly to.

[Johnp2 21]

Sounds like we have the same approach on the field, Orange. I feel my pre-game hyjinx is really to make the other team think we are more concerned with yukking it up.

It is partly me being cavalier, as in a way I want the other team to think that we are a sloppy bunch who does not practice, focus, etc.

Then when I run my RB up the middle for a TD on the first play of the game, I look at the other coach and wink. Either way, I want the opposing coach and his players to think my team is "crazy". ;-)