USA Football

NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- USA Football has eight youth football partners, but the majority of youth leagues still fall outside those organizations.

With so many different interests at work, USA Football is positioning itself to provide guidance on the future of youth football.

“What we’re doing is bringing the grass roots network together for the first time,” said Nick Inzerello, who led the USA Football Leadership Workshop portion of the NFL Youth Football Summit Wednesday and Thursday. “We talked about how to run state forums and get some consistency on all levels.”

Inzerello, the Director of Football Development, led discussions about how best to deal with the fragmentation of football below the high school level. In that age range, 80 percent of the leagues are operated on an independent basis.

“A lot of them are looking for guidance,” Inzerello said.

USA Football is seeking ways to do that without taking away control from independent local groups.

“We don’t run leagues,” Inzerello said. “We provide resources.”

Among the items discussed was the possibility of developing standard national youth football rules that leagues would have the option of using.

“It was a good discussion,” Inzerello said. “Right now, most use Federation Rules, then remove about 10 percent of them and fill in their own rules on length of quarters, whether to use a running clock and if they do allow kids to play in the A gap (on defense).

“The feedback was that it’s something they’d like. We’re all about putting out recommendations and best practices. Now, if two leagues from across town have different rules and they want to come together to play, they can use USA rules.”

The Amateur Athletic Union, American Youth Football, Boys and Girls Club of America, JCC Association, National Recreation and Park Association, Police Athletic League, Pop Warner and YMCA of America all were represented at the summit.

Among the other topics discussed was a program in which USA Football assists organizations in obtaining background checks on coaches, how to fit equipment to the player, how to educate coaches and field development.

“It’s a revolutionary initiative in youth sports,” said Steve Alic, director of communications for USA Football. “We’re the first organization to fund a program that will provide a gold standard background check for $15.”

National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI) discounts its $25 background check $5 for the non-profit groups and USA Football contributes $5 for each background check, bringing the fee down to $15.

Trish McGonnell, the executive director and co-founder of NCSI, an Ohio company, said the background check begins with a verification of identity.

“Otherwise you can start right off with a faulty premise,” McGonnell said.

McGonnell said background is searched down to the county level and sex offender lists are checked for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The process is repeated a year later, so each person is checked a second time for the $15 fee.

In addition, D.J. MacLean, product manager for Schutt Sports, gave a demonstration on proper fitting of equipment.

The demonstration was taped and will be posted on the USA Football Web site so that leagues around the country can show it to their coaches or provide a link for the coaches to view it on their own.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.