Weight Limits

I have read a lot of messages about weight limits and they all seem to be missing the point. When addressing safety, weight is not nearly as important an issue as age. Having a 140lb 13 yr old hit a 140 lb 10 yr old is far more dangerous than having a 140lb 10 yr old hit a 90 lb 10 yr old. That 13 yr old is more mature, aggressive, and muscularly developed than that 10 yr old. Clubs implementing strict weight rules inevitably leads to kids having to move up divisions and play with older kids, or allows older skinny kids to move down and play with younger kids. I have seen first hand a 10 yr old being forced to play up and taken away in an ambulance after a 13 yr old planted him. That is wrong. Kids should play in their own age group no matter what their weight. During a game, you will not see 150lb Johnnie chasing down a 90 lb wide receiver and tackling him hard. Any coach with some common sense is not going to put 80lb Billy at fullback to run up the middle. I have been in an unlimited league for a while, and the 11 & 12 yr olds on my team range from 78lbs to 180lbs. We don't have a problem. During practice, we seperate kids by size to learn tackling. During the game, there are no heavy kids hitting tiny kids. My FB is 125lbs and has no problem running over those 170-180lb lineman. The litte 78 lb kid plays WR and never gets tackled by a lineman. Football is designed to place kids by weight and skill. A lot of clubs who have been around for a while like the weight limits because those old coaches like having light fast kids on their team and don't want to mess with momma's butterball, so they fight to keep the weight limits. Kids are bigger these days for what ever reason, it is time youth football use some common sense and play football the smart way. Age is the safety factor, not weight! Do the research, unlimited leagues do not have more injuries than pound ball. We have had no significant injuries in our league the last two years. The pound ball league I was in had injuries every year because the heavy kids were forced to play up. I bet if your league would switch to unlimited weights, your enrollment would double. LET THE BIG KIDS PLAY TOO, but use some common sense when doing it.