Things look rosy for Pacific program
By Mike Scandura, Special to
AmericanYouthFootball.com
Craig Burris, who serves as the Pacific Coast
Youth Football & Cheerleading commissioner as well as the Western Region
Director for American Youth Football, may not be a fan of the hit
TV show "Survivor." But Burris can
imagine what it's like to be all alone on an island.
"We raised weights five pounds across the board
when we joined AYF
last April, whereas the other organization we were with had
constraints," he said. "If we didn't play within those constraints, we
would have been on an island by ourselves.
"We also dropped the older-lighter concept and
didn't make older kids play even though they were lightweights. Coaches
were getting older kids and squeezing them into sardine cans to play."
Not good. Even worse, by the end of last season
Pacific Coast was "down about 1,000 kids." According to Burris, joining
AYF has helped boost membership by nearly 24 percent
— to the point where the program numbers more than 100 teams and some
3,000 youngsters in football, plus 1,200 cheerleaders.
In the process, Pacific Coast added three cities
(Belmont Shore, Monte Bello and Long Beach) and now numbers 16.
Virtually every association added one team, and some added more.
That's not all. Burris raves about the benefits of
having "an NFL
partnership" and the fact that each association saves over $1,000 when
it comes to insurance, registration fees and the fact they're not
required to attend various conventions. But the impact on kids was of
paramount importance.
"I think what we were doing was unhealthy, with
the older-lighter concept," said Burris. "We took them out and made them
play within their own peer group. We've increased (the number of) teams,
and going into the playoffs 75 percent of the cities participating have
a team in the playoffs.
| 
The Largest Youth Football & Cheer Organization in the
Country
