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Tackle Questions and Answers
Hill Country Tackle Football Information and FAQ’s
At Hill Country, we play in the CTYFA (Central Texas Youth Football Association). The association is made up of teams from the following associations. All ages are your child's age on July 31.
Hill Country Cowboys
Round Rock Dragons/Tigers
South Austin Optimist Scorpions
Bastrop Bears
Town and Country Warriors
North Austin Optimist Bulldogs
Del Valle Cardinals
Manor
Georgetown Bulldogs
Pee Wee Tackle (Player Ages: 6 and 7) Hill Country has not fielded a team before but wants to make every effort to do so in 2007.
We encourage all 7 year olds who are less than 80 lbs and have never played tackle football before to start in this division. This is our only division with a weight limit. The weight limit is 80 lbs.
This year we are going to play an 8-man game.
Team size will be between 12 and 16 kids up to possible 20 kids.
All Pee Wee Tackle games are on Saturdays (usually in the morning or early afternoon).
Pee Wee Tackle will have a game every Saturday between late August and early November with the exception of Labor Day weekend and possibly a bye week.
There will be travel involved in this league. Depending on the number of Pee Wee teams formed there is a possibility that you could end up traveling to all the other league locations for games. In general we have about the same number of home and away games.
PeeWees (Player Ages: 5-7 (under 75lbs), Rookies (Player Ages: 7&8), Juniors (Player Ages: 9&10), and Seniors (Player Ages: 11&12)
The Rookie, Junior and Senior Divisions have no weight limits. There is a 75lb weight limit for PeeWees.
All games in these divisions are on Saturdays according to age, starting with the Rookies , then the Juniors, and finally the Seniors. Some Senior games may be played in the evening.
Tackle games will be held every Saturday between late August and early November with the exception of Labor Day weekend and possibly a bye week.
There will be travel involved in this league. Depending on the number of teams formed, there is a possibility that you could end up traveling to several of the other league locations for games. In general, we have about half home games and half away games depending on how many teams get formed in each division.
Team size in these divisions will be between 16 - 24 kids with a possible max of 30 if we only have one team. Teams must split if they have 31 or more players. Our idea is smaller teams means more playing time for each child and we try to do this as much as possible.
The Rookie division plays on an 80 yard field and the others play on a regulation 100 yard field.
We do allow your child to play for their middle school team and at Hill Country, provided they meet the age requirements.
Practice
The scheduled practice times for tackle teams are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday nights from 6:00pm until 8:00pm, and Saturday mornings - 9:00am - 11:00am, until school starts, then Monday is dropped. Games are held on Saturdays.
Practice days, times and durations will depend a great deal on the coach.
Every child must participate in two (2) practices with no contact before they are allowed to engage in full contact practices.
All practices will take place at the Friendship Baptist Church complex unless a coach receives approval from the board to practice off the property.
How teams are selected
All tackle players will workout together for the two weeks (usually grouped by age). Depending on the team size, there will be a player draft held and teams chosen. During these practices they will go through football and evaluation drills. This first week there is contact after the first 2 days of practice. Starting the 3rd day, full contact practices begin.
Coaching
With the increase in the number of players in the Hill Country tackle program, we are always looking for competent coaches.
We encourage all parents who are interested to help out at practice and coach their children, under supervision of the Head Coach.
Head coaches will be selected from the pool of applicants by the coach selection committee before the season begins.
All coaches will be required to go through the coach certification training (an online class) and submit a background check. (For more info on coaching contact a tackle league coordinator.)
Tackle Football Frequently Asked Questions
What equipment do I need? The league provides all equipment, including the jersey (which the player keeps), game pants and pads, helmet, shoulder pads, and game socks (player keeps). You will need to provide cleats, a practice jersey, practice pants, additional pads, and mouthpiece. Athletic supporters or cups are not required but strongly recommended, especially as you child gets older. We recommend a mesh practice jersey. For practice before teams have been selected players should wear a comfortable, cool t-shirt and shorts until the coach tells them to come dressed in full pads.
When does practice begin? Practice for the tackle teams is set to begin on August 1st. It is important for your child to attend practice as soon in the season as possible. The tackle learning curve is pretty steep and every practice your child misses could put him further behind the other kids. These are estimated dates and will be confirmed later in the summer. Please check the website in late July for the most current information.
When does the season end? All tackle games should be completed by November 11th. At present the expected last day for games will be November 4th. However the number of teams and weather conditions over the fall may cause that to change.
What paperwork do I need? All players will need a copy of their birth certificate and a parental behavior form signed. These documents are on our website.
What if I am not sure if my child wants to play Flag or Tackle? If you are uncertain but think your child might want to play tackle, it is likely best to sign up for tackle and start with the tackle players on August 1st. This way he or she will have a week or so to see if tackle is for them or not and move to flag if desired. It is much easier to pick up flag coming from tackle than the other way around.
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