Kent Phoenix Development Team

Under 14s

Children (12-14 years old) play in the Under 14s Development Team.

Like the Cadets, the u14’s play the Flag Football version of the game (5 versus 5) but at this age, the players can start to focus on the skills needed to play kitted American Football. Boys and girls play together and everyone can be included. No previous experience is necessary.

Building on skills emphasised at Cadet level, as the children’s physical development starts to reveal the kind of positions to which they might be suited, they can start to specialise a little more. However there is still plenty of learning to be done and players may want to try several positions before they find the one they enjoy most.

Equipment requirements start to change at this level. To play Flag Football, all the children need is a gum shield, suitable footwear and plenty of water. Find out more about what kit is required here. However, as the kitted development work begins, the club provides each player with a helmet and shoulder pads, but the purchase of lower body pads and pants has to be sorted out by families as it is important for the children to have their own sets. If you have any questions our Coaches and Staff will be happy to advise on what you will need and when.

We train for three hours on Sunday mornings (09:45 till 13:00). The players continue to focus on Flag Football until 12 noon alongside the Cadets. When the Cadets go home,  the u14s have a further hour of practice as we begin to introduce the techniques and skills required for kitted football.

Players aged 11 or 12 years old will start the ‘kitted’ techniques without kit. When a child turns 13, should the player, parents and coaches all agree, they can begin to do some work in pads and helmets. However contact is deliberately limited. This is still very much a developmental stage.

Players at this level also start to work from more detailed playbooks. The formations, adjustments and plays must be studied and learnt off-by-heart. Knowing the plays and their responsibilities in each play will help each player to be ready to contribute fully in games.

Like the Cadet team, the players can show off their skills and compete through locally organised tournaments and events. Although the scores are more important to this age group, the emphasis of the tournaments is still on having fun and what the player can learn from the experience of competition.

As the children grow older, their progress in Flag tournaments (supplemented by the kitted developmental work they do) will stand them in good stead for the next level of competition with the u16 Kitted Team; their first experience of official BAFA league football.