Growing up, the idea of traditional football was every child’s dream, but it is now on the decline. Starting in the youth league, football has decreased in participation numbers all over the United States. People believe that this is due to safety concerns and untrained coaches. Whatever the reason, due to the lack of participation in youth football, there is a clear disconnection in high school. At Ipswich High, the team’s lineup lacks experience, starting eight underclassmen on both offense and defense. In most cases, the varsity games would have upperclassmen playing for the majority of the game, but for Ipswich, it’s the opposite.
After their undefeated 2020 season, Coach Kevin Fessette decided to step down as head coach while the twenty-plus seniors on the team graduated. Seeing the open spot, Zack Lamkin stepped up in hopes of leading the team to victory. Four-year senior captain Behnji Dessources witnessed the change in culture between the coaches; he states, “It was definitely a different feel. Lamkin is much more of a player’s coach. You can see Lamkin’s connection with his players.” After the 2020 season, the Tigers had a completely different roster that became plagued with injuries. The team was young and inexperienced, forcing them to start multiple first-year players.
Coach Lamkin believes the huge class in 2020 could possibly hurt the Tigers’ future. Lamkin explains: “I think part of having that big class was that a lot of kids were intimidated by that class, and they waited to come out because they thought they wouldn’t play or whatnot with other schools; it was big class after big class, so going from basically playing all seniors to having so little seniors forces a lot of kids who didn’t have varsity experience to come out and play right away.”
Lamkin believes that younger players withheld joining until the 2020 class had graduated, causing the younger players to dive in immediately to the sport of football without enough experience. The Tiger Football program has struggled with their participation since the 2020 season. With a large class of talented freshman coming in 2022, Lamkin hopes they don’t see the same struggles in the future; he is optimistic about the team’s future.
Due to the lack of numbers Ipswich has rostered compared to other schools, it’s been a struggle to put an experienced team out on the field. There are many reasons kids don’t want to play football. Football is a long, consuming season. It’s also a very dangerous sport. Coach Lamkin said, “I think it’s too easy to not play football. It’s too easy to not commit four months of your life to watching films. I think there’s a fear behind football that’s been blown up by the media, and in our case, having low numbers forces people to play before they are ready. Mostly, I think there’s a fear of injury.”
Lamkin believes that playing tackle football while people are younger will teach them how to hit and form properly. It teaches hand and eye coordination as well as improved motor development. “I think when you learn late, your body learns a different way, and football has a lot of unique motions and actions.” Football requires knowledge of form-tackling, which is an unnatural skill for the body to perform. Without proper form, it can lead to serious injury. This is where you see the media shine the light and bring fear to the idea of playing football. “There is a huge difference physically between a 15-, 16-, and 18-year-old’s body, so most of the time the underclassmen are still going through puberty. They also don’t have the same mental toughness they will have in junior and senior year, so it forces them to fight a battle they probably shouldn’t be fighting.” Lamkin believes another reason there is a disconnection is due to maturity, both physically and mentally. A majority of the younger players lack the maturity that the more experienced players have. Playing football has many benefits, both physically and mentally. With any regular sport, there have been improvements in self-esteem and anxiety reduction. As well as mentally, football provides players with a reduction in chronic illnesses like heart disease and strokes. There are also the more commonly observed benefits, like an increase in stamina, cardiovascular health, muscle strength, bone strength, and coordination.
While Ipswich will be left with a large number of underclassmen, Coach Lamkin is tenacious in his pursuit of his team’s success. As the underclassmen mature and grow in the future, they will be expected to dominate their rivals. As attitudes and values towards contact sports change, so does our perception of football in our society. However, it is a great sport that teaches mental and physical tenacity and sportsmanship. It deserves our respect.
