Football Moms
On Somers, N.Y. athletic fields, the NFL's Junior Player Development Program's goal is to introduce kids to football and keep their interest level high.
The Early Show finds that the four-year-old program now includes moms as coaches.
With competition from soccer, movies and video games to capture children's interest, the NFL's Junior Player Development Program's aim is to introduce kids to football.
Why? The NFL hopes to make football an experience for the whole family and add a woman's touch to the teaching.
So far, about 20 moms have survived a training program that began last fall. They have taken to the field as coaches in a three-week clinic for 12-to-14 year olds that began last week.
The program is a test for the NFL's Junior Player Development Program. The Somers high school coach, Tony DeMatteo, and former coach, Jerry Horowitz, who taught the moms, believe the program can be expanded all over the country.
They both said it's important to involved the whole family in the football experience and involving the moms might help to keep the kids interested in the game and add a "softer" touch to their experience with coaches.
Scott Lancaster, who came up with the idea, believes youth sports have been ruined by harsh coaching and overbearing parents who see winning as the ultimate goal. With the fun taken out of the game, he believes, kids are turning off organized sports.
Hannah Storm's book, "Go Girl!," which was recently featured on The Early Show, say 75 percent of kids playing organized sports quit before they graduate from high school. Lancaster believes sports need to be taught differently than they have in the past.
The NFL thinks kids having fun will lead them to wanting to play more. Mothers, the program hopes, can bring something different to the male dominated sport. Some think moms can bring compassion to the sport, a huge factor when kids might be hurt or upset after a loss. Compassion also counts in helping make all kids receive an equal chance to play and get proper equipment.
Girls are also welcomed to play and learn in the NFL's Junior Player Development camps. However, few around the country participate.
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