Mission accomplished for Kinsfather
By Marty Gitlin
Special to americanyouthfootball.com
Rikki Kinsfather never wanted to be known as "the woman who runs that San Diego youth football league."
Rather, she just wanted to be known as a darn good commissioner.
Mission accomplished.
Kinsfather has served as head of the San Diego Youth Football and Cheer Conference, an affiliate of American
Youth Football, for 10 years. And her resume continues to grow. The organization now includes 6,000 boys and girls,
21 separate associations that even extend into Baja, Mexico, and a popular new indoor football league.
But it's not the grandiose numbers that flips Kinsfather's switch. It's turning raw kids into responsible,
confident adults and knowing she played a part in those transformations.
"I really love seeing young men and women grow," she says. "I see them go through the program, then come up
to me when they're in high school or college and still talk about their experiences with youth football and at
the cheer level. It makes me feel great that I've given something back to these kids.
"We've had several at-risk turn themselves around going through our program due to the coaches they've had.
I think it's important to get involved in kids' lives."
Kinsfather has indeed done that for boys and girls ages 5-15. There are six age categories for both football
and cheering. There are also a smattering of girls crossing over into football and boys following suit into cheerleading.
But it's the new indoor league in which Kinsfather is taking particular pride these days. The first year of the program
for kids ages 10-12 has just completed with the help of the Arena Football San Diego Riptide. Kinsfather managed to rather
quickly put together eight teams for the league, which runs from April through July.
"It gave a lot of kids something to do," she says. "A lot of kids don't play baseball or basketball and football is their
whole lives. Now we're open to expanding."
Kinsfather is always open to something new. But she gives you the rather standard, but heartfelt, answer when asked what
she wants the kids to extract from playing San Diego youth football.
"Our kids are the best and I want the best for them," she says. "I expect the coaches to teach kids to respect other children
and other players, to always be honorable and to teach them the great game of football and that when the game is over, to have
their heads held high and to be proud."
As for Kinsfather, having her head held high is no problem. But she still finds her position as a woman football commissioner
can be rather implausible to some.
"I still get e-mails that start out 'Dear Sir,' " she says with a chuckle. "It's been a challenge, but I know I've gained respect."
No. She's earned respect.
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