The American Youth Football Championship Games
The American Youth Football Championship Games
We attended the American Youth Football Championships in Orlando, Florida. We were able to see many different teams from across the country compete. It was awesome to observe various offense, defense, and special teams schemes. Highlighted offenses included wing t, double wing, spread, and single wing teams. It was interesting to see different schemed teams from all around the country perform.
One of the better games we watched this afternoon was The Manalapan Braves (NJ) vs. The Garden Villa Giants (Houston, TX). Even though Manalapan ran away with it a just a bit in the second half, it was still a hard fought game. The difference in the game favored Manalapan- coaching and discipline. The Giants had a very athletic team with an excellent passing game. They were able to hit a nice deep pass & catch in the second half to keep them in the game. But, Manalapan remained disciplined and was prepared for this game. Obviously both teams were very talented. The Giants program had a several teams competing in Florida, as did the Braves. Safe to say these organizations are youth football powerhouses.
AYF kids are a lot bigger than Pop Warner participants (weight and size). Even though most of the games were very competitive, the larger sized teams wore down the smaller teams in the second half. We also noticed that regardless of size, the better coached, disciplined, tough, and fundamentally sound teams did well.
We were able to catch an unlimited championship game as well. Watching this 8th grade unlimited game was pretty much like watching a high school game. Big kids!
Here is what all the championship teams have in common:
Fundamentally Sound: Proper tackling, blocking.
Clean Play: Didn’t take many penalties, didn’t turn the ball over. Disciplined football. The offense, defense, and specials team phases were executed fluently.
Strong Coaching: Organized teams. Prepared teams. Disciplined teams. Strong effort teams. All of which reflect strong coaching.
Good athletes: We were able to see solid athletes play. A-t-h-l-e-t-e-s! Some of these kids were electric. There are were physically explosive players competing in these games.
Maintained Composure: These championship teams always stayed at an even keel, calm even disposition.
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