John Curley


youth football
Youth sports are supposed to be fun, right? Just kids having a good time with their buddies and getting some exercise. It's not quite so simple anymore. (AP Photo/file)

Raising the bar again with youth sports

BY Chris Sullivan  on September 11, 2012 @ 4:31 am (Updated: 11:15 am - 10/3/12 )

Youth sports are supposed to be fun, right? Just kids having a good time with their buddies and getting some exercise. It's not quite so simple anymore.

If you've gone to a 9-year-old's soccer match or a baseball game recently, you realize the competition and the expectations are through the roof. Whether it's out of control parents or win-at-all-costs coaches, the bar has been raised. But just how far?

I've been coaching soccer, flag football, and baseball for seven years. The yelling and bad behavior that comes from the sidelines these days is unbelievable.

Some days I don't know how players handle all the negativity from their parents and coaches when they dare to miss a ball or let in a goal.

But then again, there are big stakes. The Huskies just got a verbal commit from a 14-year-old.

KIRO host John Curley is coaching his first year of youth football this season. What's the latest in the arms race to win? Scouting. Sending people to other games to find out what future opponents have.

"When I first heard that people are going to scout, I thought, 'well this is just crazy, just the crazy people do that,'" Curley said. "But then what happens is if everybody does it, then you have to do it. If you don't, then you don't have the tool of knowing what's coming at you on that Saturday."

Since Curley can't make it to other games, he's paying for scouting services and he said he's likely not the only one.

"The whole thing is nuts," Curley said. "I paid somebody $200 to get on a ferry, go to Bainbridge Island, watch an hour and a half of 9-year-old's playing football, to come back and give us the report. That's how nutty it has gotten."

I contacted the unnamed scout, who didn't want to be identified.

"I think the first thing that went through my head was, 'what kind of parent, or who would ever consider scouting a 9-year-old football team,'" he said.

I can tell you from experience. Most kids have a tough time remembering their own plays. I can't imagine they can't remember the other team's too. The scout agreed.

"I don't think it will help them one bit," he said. "It will help the coaches think they have an advantage over the other team," but that's about all, he thinks.

It's gotten so severe in some leagues that parents can't even take videos of their own kids playing for fear the tape will be used to help future opponents.

KIRO Anchor Ursula Reutin just ran into an offshoot of this scouting craze. Her son was kept out of recent jamboree to keep other teams from seeing what they have this year. Her son told her 'They just don't want to show all the cards.'

"I thought, oh please, are you kidding me?" Reutin said.

But that's the reality of youth sports today. As a coach, it's hard to draw that line between giving your kids the best chance to succeed and losing focus on why you're there.

"But you can't lose perspective," Curley said. "If you lose perspective, the kids figure 'why am I involved in this.'"

Some would say Curley has already lost perspective with his paying for scouting services, but I understand his passion and desire to help his kids succeed.

The number one reason kids quit sports: It's no longer fun.

Does scouting at this age hurt the fun? Probably not, but it certainly ups the ante for the coaches.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
More Ross and Burbank

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (7)


  • Add A Comment

  • Zagnut wrote...
    Adults living out the fantasy that they are legitimate big-time coaches.
    September 11, 2012 7:04 am
    Pathetic.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Moondoggie wrote...
    I've coached alot of youth sports
    September 11, 2012 7:07 am
    and I pity the foolish coaches that waste their time scouting other teams. I’m 55 years old, and the moments I remember from my time spent playing sports were from practices. Kids are not going to remember if they won or lost a certain game, but if they had a good coach, they will carry to their graves the memories of the camaraderie they felt during practice. However, if they had one of the afore mentioned foolish coaches, all they will remember is that coach used to get all red and the veins on his forehead would bulge out. “Yes” the player would recall years later, “ I heard he died right on the sidelines. Seems he had a 52 pound, 3’9” quarterback who “Just could NOT run the west coast offence!!!!!!”
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FreeRange wrote...
    10 years of youth football
    September 11, 2012 9:52 am
    At least GEJFA has placed rules on scouting. You can't video another team any more. LOL I have seen scouts at our Rookie games. They watch plays and peg numbers for kids to gang up on. It's win, win, win for most. I love a coach that say. "Did you do your best and did you have fun". The tgeam that develops all the players wins most games. I say keep them playing! You really don't know who is good until there Junior year in High School anyway. Most Rookie superstars "careers" are over by 8th grade so i say...let them learn and have fun! If your kid is big and slow as a youngster, keep them playing, they could be the star of the future!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Dirt wrote...
    Scouting isn't so bad
    September 11, 2012 1:54 pm
    I coach a squad of 7/8 year olds in Thurston County Youth Football. Do I scout the other teams? Absolutely! Would I pay for it? Not a chance. Part of the game is studying and learning about your opponent you have to have some scouting to do that.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Moondoggie wrote...
    Hey Dirt
    September 11, 2012 3:05 pm
    I’ve got some 7 year olds that run the Wing-T to perfection, so if you need to schedule a practice game to ready yourself for the big game give us a call. We are not there yet on our cover-2 defense but with the two a days we have been having, it won’t be long! I would love to trade coaching secrets with you so please give me a call. Do you use a three-four defensive formation or a four-three? I go back and forth every year depending on the personal we have. Boy this 7-8 year age restriction sure forces us coaches to deal with a lot of turn over. The NFL coaches don’t know how easy they have it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Moondoggie wrote...
    I'm dying to know
    September 11, 2012 3:16 pm
    After you spend a few hours of your life scouting 7-8 years old, how do you break it down for your players? “OK kids listen up! We are throwing out the playbook”. “But coach, we only have two plays, play #1, I hand the ball to Ricky, and play #2, I keep it myself”.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    One play.
    September 11, 2012 7:01 pm
    When I played peewee football we only ever wanted to run one play, and we begged and begged and begged to run it all the time; Flea Flicker! No one bothered to scout us, but man did we have fun!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }