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Congratulations Marcus Smith! Marcus was selected in the  NFL
draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Marcus
reports to the Cowboys on May 15th, after graduating on May 12th from the University of Arizona with a degree in Sociology. Marcus is an alumni of Balboa Youth
Football! We are all proud of you and thank you for showing that Education
and Football go hand in hand. And a special congratulations to Marcus’
Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Smith Ed is the President of the Balboa Youth
Football and Cheer Association a member of American Youth Football.
San Diego Youth Football All American Scholar Athlete Award
Banquet had Matt Wilhelm (Linebacker NFL's Chargers) as guest
speaker. Sharing the podium with Matt was Gino Gordon former San Diego Youth
Football player now attending Francis Parker School. Gino holds a 4.0 Grade
Point Average. He will be attending Harvard University this Fall. Good luck
Gino AYF is proud of you on and off the field.
Two young players have opened the eyes and touched the hearts of the
Southern Dutchess football team. Read
the full story.
 Giving is What AYF is
all About: Thank You Palos Verde AYF!!
Palos Verdes Football and Cheer has
not forgotten our leagues in hurricane affected areas in the Gulf Coast and
has donated $20,000.00 to help re-build youth football programs.
Thank you to league president Steve Micks, representative Lisa Kohl, the
entire board of directors, coaches volunteers, players and families for your
extraordinary act of giving. You have set a standard we call all be
proud of. Thank you Palos Verdes!
TEAM CHEER IS OFFICIAL CHEER APPAREL SPONSOR
Team Cheer is pleased to announce its
continued affiliation as the Official Cheerleading Apparel Sponsor of
American Youth Cheer. Read more!
AYF and NAYS Launch Online
Coach Training Program
The National Alliance For Youth Sports (NAYS) and American Youth
Football (AYF) have announced a new program available to AYF members, a
convenient online training clinic... read more
American Youth Football Victorious
over Pop Warner in the Second Annual Drew Brees Gridiron Classic!!
The Brees Gridiron Classic
presented by Macys matches American Youth Football and Pop Warner teams
against each other for the youth football championships of San Diego. Last year AYF came out on top winning 3 out of 4 games and had a similarly
successful outing this year, again capturing 4 out of 5 San Diego
Championship titles.
Wellington Mara
Once
a Giant, you were a Giant for life," were the words of New York
Giants owner and NFL patriarch, Wellington Mara, who died Tuesday
November 1st, 2005 at age 89. AYF President Joe Galat knows these
words well, having worked for Mara as a coach of the Giants. Read More.
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
AYF is elated to announce that there will be football
played this season in Gulfport Mississippi and the surrounding areas,
despite the devastation of hurricane Katrina. The Sun Herald (Southern Mississippi)
reported: sign-ups to be held on October 10th and 11th. Thank you to
Dave Bickel, AYF's hurricane relief coordinator, and all of you who gave
from your hearts and offered, football equipment, donations, field
equipment, prayers, well wishes, your time, support and dedication, You have
truly made a difference in the lives of your fellow AYF'ers. THANK YOU!
There is a movement afoot in Orlando, Fla., to
unseat the traditional youth athletics infrastructure. Led by former
businessman Tim Young, the Junior Braves Athletic Association has
exploded in less than three years of existence and is taking the city by
storm. Read all about it!
Jerry Dini has been involved in youth sports for
35 years. His list of honors and accomplishments is long as a football
field, and it now includes induction into the AYF Hall of Fame
The Pacific Coast Youth Football and Cheerleading
program has grown remarkably since joining the AYF family. This year, more than 100 teams and more than 3,000 youngsters
are part of the program! Read more about it, including the Junior Rose
Bowl, in our monthly feature article!
AYF opens doors for middle
schoolers
Middle schoolers in the Charlotteville/Albermale
area of Virginia didn't have an opportunity to play football until a
local AYF organization opened the door for them. Read
the full story by clicking here!
The Mountaineer Youth Football C onference in
Bridgeport, W.Va., is a model of why the AYF formula
works. Flexibility, says director Randy Workman, is the key.
An AYF-sponsored "Rising Stars"
camp in Ohio during the summer allowed some inner-city youngsters the
opportunity to learn about the game of football in a positive,
supportive atmosphere.
Shoes for Study
"Giving Back" is not just a slogan with American
Youth Football.
The Shoes for Study Program, through which
youngsters pledge regular school attendance and allocated time for
study, was launched by American Youth Football in the spring of 2001.
Since then, hundreds of pairs of athletic shoes were distributed to
student athletes. American Youth Football will track the improvement of
these students and update our membership at the end of this school year.
Nike Global Community Affairs has contributed nearly $1 million in shoes
as part of this program. We are confident American Youth Football
recipients will respond with improved academic performance.
National Football League Selects AYF as National Youth Football Partner
President Joe Galat is happy to announce that the
National Football League has selected American Youth Football as
National Youth Football Partner. The directive from the NFL office read: "We are excited to work with you on the National
Partners/Local Agency Grant programs and salute you on the tremendous
work that you do to assist the youth of this country."
This alliance will enhance football at its most
critical level through various programs. This partnership allows AYF to enhance our publications, web presence and
recruitment. Our AYF staff is dedicated to spark the
passion of football communities where no teams exist, and increase the
support for existing teams.
Those of us who have served as volunteers in youth
football appreciate the priveleged few that are paid to play the game we
love. We are remembered as the first to help develop the skills that
elevated them to success. Many of these fellows, with all of their
training, meetings, practices taking up much of their time, still find
the time to volunteer in their communities on their day off. NFL Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz is actively involved in
establishing community coaches clinics.
The game of football has come full circle. Thanks
to NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, the grass roots
football programs are now part of the big picture. The programs are
beneficial to the inner-city as well as the suburban programs. The NFL
has made selected grants to spearhead the rebuilding of inner-city
football fields. Benefits include local agency grants ($500 - $2,500)
towards equipment, field repair, scholarships, staffing and development.
American Youth Football, Inc. will make applications available
to all of our teams. American Youth Football, Inc. is
committed to help the National Football League to positively influence
its most valuable resource: America's Youth!
The Oro Valley Dolphins of Tucson, Arizona, won
the first American Youth Football PeeWee national championship game over
Thanksgiving weekend in Santa Monica, California. The Dolphins completed
an undefeated season in which they didn't allow a single point until the
national championship game. Their coach, Steve Marshall, wrote an
account of the title game.
It's the holiday season, and we thought it would
be appropriate to share a couple of amazing stories of Giving Back --
the motto for American Youth Football! Just click the link above to read
them!
Armand Colombo has made his mark as a high school
football coach in Massachusetts. But his impact on American Youth
Football is also felt, especially by AYF's president,
Joe Galat. Colombo's been an inspiration! Read about
it!
Program benefits emergency workers
AYF's Shoes for Study Program,
which provides athletic shoes to youngsters who commit to school
attendance and study, has had a side benefit for emergency workers, too.
Some of the shoes that have been donated were too large for the
youngsters, and they have been donated to police, EMT and firefighters
in appreciation of their heroic efforts. The program has been run in New
York City, New York State, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati.
Little Vikings
In just five
years, the town of Hayfield has gone from not even fielding a youth football
team to boasting an undefeated team — the 8-0 Hayfield Little Vikings. Full Story
Trinity strikes Gold with AYF
Trinity County, which rests in the far northern
section of California, has been on the verge of bankruptcy. What it lacks in
wealth, however, it makes up in pride. That’s shown in the rousing
first-year success of AYF. Full story
Mission Accomplished for Kinsfather
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. Read more!
Inner-City Girls Benefit from Cheer Donation
American Youth Football and Team Cheer cooperated on a
Giving Back back program for needy youngsters in California, Arizona, Texas,
and Florida. Cheer uniforms were donated through American Youth Cheer. The
girls were extremely excited, and some of them were even in tears!
Giving Back has been the motto of American Youth
Football since its inception. One highlight is the "Shoes for Study"
program, in which youngsters who sign a written pledge to stay in school
receive athletic shoes. To date, more than $2 million dollars in shoes have
been awarded through the program.
The Need for AYF
There are more than 20 million youngsters in North
America participating in football. Boys and girls are involved in flag,
touch and tackle football, and cheerleading. Most teams are
community-sponsored and run by volunteers. This currently fragmented
participation needs structure and vision. American Youth Football will fill
that void!
Carson In! Giants
linebacker Harry Carson inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Read More
On
championships-bound squad, secret weapon is coaches, parents UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER. 12/3/2005
San Diego Balboa Raiders and its
counterpart in the junior midget division are two of five teams from San
Diego scheduled to compete in the AYF national championships. Read the Story here.
A $6.5M TD
for Tucson: City to host national youth football, cheerleading
championships Tucson Citizen 02-11-2005 Read the Story here Page2
A new day dawns for Mohawks in AYF
On the field, the game the East Providence Mohawks will play this fall
remains quite the same as the one played by their brethren in the area
youth football ranks. Away from the gridiron, however, the Mohawks
became the first and most visible organization to split with the
well-established Pop Warner league and join up with the burgeoning
American Youth Football association. Eastbay RI 08-25-2005
‹ Full Story ›
Bengals,
Marvin Lewis to Announce Youth Football Collaborative
WKRC 12 Cincinnati 8-19-2005 Read the story here
Score one for the kids
Bengals, Marvin Lewis' foundation join in
football collaborative
Cincinnati Enquirer 08-23-2005
The Bengals and the Marvin Lewis Community Fund, along with
the Hatton Foundation, and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, have joined forces
to create the Inner-City Youth Football Collaborative. The plan is to be
unveiled at a Monday Paul Brown Stadium news conference, where Lewis,
Bengals president Mike Brown, and Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Johnson
are to appear.
The collaborative plans to reach more than 2,600
youth in Cincinnati in the National Youth, American Bantam, and Buckeye
Youth leagues. The ICYFC provides new equipment, offsets league fees,
and secures field time for practices and games while also exploring the
possibilities of a new youth football facility in Cincinnati. American
Youth Football, with the help of NIKE, has agreed to donate cleats for
every child in the three leagues. Read more
Football: Youth football
league grows to 4,000
Tucson Citizen 08-30-2005
Football dreams are dancing in
the heads of Tucson-area American Youth Football players. Their season
starts Saturday with a record number of teams. Read Story Here
Youth football coaches say
'no hard feelings'
Needham Times By Franceen
Shaughnessy/ Staff Writer
Thursday, September 1, 2005 Read
Story Here
Ready for kickoff
St. Petersburg Times August 26, 2005
More than 2,000 children, parents and coaches... Read
Story Here
Metro: ‘More than just football’ League teaches life’s lessons
By LaMond
Pope The Journal Gazette October 12,2005. Read
Story Here
Southern Califiornia Youth Football Program To
Host New Orleans Area Team (I-Newswire) - ( PALOS VERDES
PENINSULA, CA ) Read Story
Here
Pearl River youth team heads west for Thanksgiving
BY JACOB BROOKS ST.
TAMMANY NEWS November 21, 2005 Read Story
Here
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