Modifying Plays for youth understanding

Question
Hi-I'm a Jr. Football board member looking for a way to help out our coaches with a talented kid playing Z position.  He's struggling with reading/comprehension of the loaded wristbands we use to reference our plays.  Any suggestions on how to modify so he understands his role at Z better?  He's 10 and 1st year playing Z on Varsity.

Answer
Dear Cindy,
Every football coach has a system that they feel comfortable using and every system is different. There are hundreds of schemes in use today; making it almost impossible to guess which one is being used by any one football coach.

You might want to try the system I use which is simple and hard to forget. When I want the slot-back to run a post route, I say 搒lot, post? If I want the wide-out to run a curl route I say, 搘ide-out curl? All other offensive players are required to memorize their assignments for that play.

The other option is also simple it is called homework, homework, and more homework lol. Have the student write down 3-4 plays on a piece of paper and have him take it home to memorize. Once he learns those plays give him 3-4 more plays to learn. Do not give him the whole play book at one time it will overwhelm him. Never give the kids the play book they will just misplace it and tick off the football coach lol. Give it a try and let me know what happens.

Your friend, Louis