SAN ANTONIO — On a Thursday night in December, Brian Morgan stood at the 50-yard line on a community football field as two teams from the Outlaws, a youth organization, practiced to his left and right. Both teams — one with 6- and 7-year-olds and the other with 10- and 11-year-olds — were preparing for championship games in a few days.
Unlike the coaches in track suits, Morgan, 43, wore a jacket and slacks, having just returned from a business trip to Houston. As the younger boys in full pads clanked off one another on one side of the field, Morgan took stock of the controversial Texas Youth Football Association, which he co-founded 15 years ago.
The association, which contains 105 organizations that have up to five teams in different age groups, fueled a national debate about youth football and parenting after several teams were featured in the television series “Friday Night Tykes.”
Coaches were shown screaming at young boys and leading them in risky drills. Parents were portrayed as overbearing. Children cried and vomited during practices in brutal heat. One stadium banned TYFA teams. USA Football, the N.F.L.-funded group that governs amateur football and promotes safe tackling, slammed the association because of coaches’ language.
–
“Here, this is normal,” she added. “I couldn’t figure out why people would want to watch it. Every part of the country has their crazy sports — gymnastics, soccer, basketball. I’m competitive on the treadmill and the grocery store.”
Connell dismissed concerns that boys were forced to play in TYFA against their will. She gave Colby a choice to switch sports, she said, but he declined. She also thought it was unfair for people elsewhere in the United States to doubt her sincerity.
“That hurt the most, that people were questioning me as a parent,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s our life.”
