Youth football teams in the Alle-Kiski Valley are chugging along, even expanding, despite growing competition for kids’ time and expanding football programs at area public schools.
The Rams Youth Football Organization, which takes in kids from the Highlands School District, is fielding three teams this year: 8-and-under, 10-and-under and 12-and-under. There are 57 players total, said Amy Nulph, RYFO president.
“We could always go for more,” Nulph said. “The (12U) are a little bit down because the school opened it up so they can join (the middle school team.)”
This fall will be the Rams Youth Football Organization’s 16th season.
“It’s always been word of mouth,” Nulph said of recruiting players.
This summer they used a connection with Weleski Transfer to advertise on a digital billboard near the Tarentum Bridge.
“They’re offering it to us, so we thought, ‘Let’s just do it,’ ” Nulph said of the billboard.
In Plum, youth football numbers are steady, said Matt Palermo, president of the Plum Midget Football Association.
Plum offers four levels: flag football for 5- and 6-year-olds, and three tackle football teams for 7- and 8-year-olds, 9- and 10-year-olds, and 11- and 12-year-olds. There are about 85 kids who participate in tackle and about 105 overall, Palermo said.
“Because it’s flag, it’s an introduction to the sport and rules,” Palermo said. “When kids enjoy that, it eases them in to tackle.”
Rob Hamilton, coach coordinator for the Lower Burrell Flyers, reported about 12 to 14 kids on the first and second grade team, 24 kids on the third and fourth grade team and 24 to 26 kids on the fifth and sixth grade team. The Lower Burrell Flyers joined a new league this year that includes teams in Westmoreland and Fayette counties, and sets divisions by grade level instead of age.
Those numbers are consistent across the board, but “a little less than what we normally get” at the younger level, Hamilton said. The Flyers also operate a flag football team for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students.
Recruitment efforts include a “try-it week” for kids, a dual-practice with Ameris Taekwondo and hosting educational sessions for parents about youth football, Hamilton said. The Flyers also took in a new nonprofit, Gridiron Home, that aims to focus on not just football but also well-being and mental health.
“We’re trying to create a pipeline from 6-year-olds to the high school level, to give these kids some continuity and learning things the right way early on,” Hamilton said.
In Fox Chapel, teams are growing.
Fox Chapel’s numbers have tripled in three years, said Mary Jane Evagash, who started Fox Chapel Little Foxes three years ago with her husband, Jon. Their 8-and-under team has 22 players, and there are 37 on the 10-and-under and 31 on the 12-and-under teams.
“We — because it takes a village — are creating the culture of football and cheerleading in the Fox Chapel area,” said Evagash. “To create the culture and the mindset in Fox Chapel, it’s not as hard as you would think because the children are creating it. They’re the ones recruiting their friends to play, and telling their parents how we’re being safe.”
Just maintaining player numbers is a win, given the declining participation in sports by America’s youth.
A nationwide study by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association shows a decline of 5% in all sports participation by children 6 to 12 years old from 2019 to 2023. For tackle football, the decline was more than 13%.
Safety first
Maria Larson-Edwards admits she was hesitant when her son, Myles, told her he wanted to play football with the Fox Chapel team.
Studies suggest the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy increases with the number of years and intensity of tackle football participation. CTE is brain degeneration caused by repeated head trauma.
“Me, as a typical, overprotective mom, I had my reservations,” Larson-Edwards said. “But when I met with (Evagash,) I was 100% sold. There was no way I could say no.”
Fox Chapel started ImPACT concussion testing this year, Evagash said. All coaches are CDC “Heads Up” concussion certified and have clearances, she said.
“Parents love that and need to hear that,” Evagash said. “They need to hear that their kids’ safety is being put forward first.”
The Rams Youth Football Organization, Lower Burrell Flyers and Plum inspect their helmets for safety and make sure their coaches are concussion-certified.
“We focus on proper technique and teaching the game in a safe way,” Palermo said.
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Plum also uses guardian caps, a soft-shell helmet cover engineered for impact reduction.
Lower Burrell Flyers had no concussions last year, Hamilton said.
“We get, ‘I heard these kids are getting concussions and they keep playing,’ ” Hamilton said. “Maybe that’s what happened 20 years ago, but, today, that’s not the case. We teach safe tackling techniques, early signs of concussions and ease kids into contact.
“We look at it as an opportunity to educate parents as opposed to the negative connotations of contact sports.”
Stories of parents and boards misusing funds in youth sports also creates hesitancy when recruiting, Hamilton said.
The Lower Burrell Flyers have taken steps to make sure those issues don’t happen, which include having a finance committee and a treasurer, having an outside consultant auditing the books and implementing other checks and balances, he said.
“We double-check everything we do,” said Fox Chapel’s Evagash. “I think we triple-check everything. We want every single dollar to be accounted for because every single dollar goes back to the kids.”
Plum posts its board meeting minutes and financial reports for families, Palermo said.
“My view, as president, is what we’re spending money on and what we’re doing is benefiting the entire program,” Palermo said.
Moving up
Evagash said she started Fox Chapel’s youth football organization in 2023 to build the sport in the district. Fox Chapel High School had its last winning season in 2017.
“I believe feeder programs are important not only for football, but for every sport,” Evagash said. “If you put the effort in a feeder program, you’re going to have success at the high school level.”
The Little Foxes’ league — the United Youth Football League — requires teams to only have players who live in their school district. The league includes Pine-Richland, Mars, Seneca Valley and North Allegheny and other programs that traditionally have had much success at the high school varsity level.
“They’re the teams we play,” said Jason Dean, whose son, Brian, 10, plays for Fox Chapel. “Our No. 1 goal is to keep kids coming back and loving football.
“We want to teach fun and safety. Winning is ultimately the most fun. I’m not here to win youth football championships. I want to compete against the kids we’re going to be competing against four, five years down the line.”
The high school coaches are supportive of the youth program, Evagash said.
“It can only be a good thing,” said Rick McMahon of Fox Chapel’s program. “When I played high school football, the majority of my team came up with me through the Penn Hills youth football program. You want to be on the field with your friends.
“It helps develop a culture. I think there will be a better football culture within the next few years.”
The Rams Youth Football Organization’s Nulph agrees that her feeder program benefits student-athletes when they get to the varsity level.
“At the younger age, we teach them the basics,” she said. “To me, learning it at a younger age, it stays with them, so when they go off to the middle and high school, they know what to expect.”
Plum’s Palermo recognizes his program’s role is developmental.
“We make sure we’re teaching kids the proper technique to the sport, and foster a love for the game that translates into middle and high school,” he said.
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