USA Football

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA -- With just three months of year available to play football, youth in the northern city of Fairbanks, Alaska, have had to make the best of a shorter summer season to play football. Despite these challenges, the American Youth Football and Cheerleading of Interior Alaska is growing at a steady rate.

A member of the Armed Forces, Tony Duncan has been stationed in Fairbanks since 2001. Duncan is the president of the league. Prior to moving north to Fairbanks, Duncan was stationed in Louisiana.

According to Duncan he first got involved with the league after bringing his family to Fairbanks and registering his youngest son.

“I’ve coached football for over 18 years prior to our family moving here, so it was natural for me to start my involvement as a coach,” Duncan said.

In between deployments to Iraq, Duncan managed to remain involved with the league as a coach since moving to Fairbanks, and just last year was elected as president of the league. His wife, Kim Duncan, has acted as Cheer Coordinator since 2001.
 
Youth football started in Fairbanks by Terri M. Lambert. Despite the dedication of volunteers such as Lambert, the association was barely surviving. When Duncan had arrived in Fairbanks in 2001, there were just six teams serving all age levels.

“It was really struggling, there wasn’t much competition and the quality of play was suffering,” said Duncan.

For the past four years, the youth league has been thriving due to the hard work of Duncan and many other volunteers. 
 
The league just completed its most successful season yet, fielding 23 teams and more than 800 players registered.

“It has really been amazing how this thing has turned around. We’ve continued to expand the league beyond the borders of Fairbanks to include several outlying areas such as Delta Junction and beyond,” said Duncan.
 
According to Duncan, a number of factors are responsible for the recent growth of the league.

“The military population has continued to grow, which is one major factor. We also made some changes to our website and moved our offices to a more prominent downtown location,” he said.

Some unique marketing efforts have also contributed greatly.

“We did a lot of self-promoting within the community. We were able to double and triple our individual advertising without spending a lot of money in the process,” added Duncan.
 
One area that Duncan continues to work hard at is establishing partnerships and affiliations with the local high schools.

“We have a good relationship with most of the local high schools, but we’re also reaching out to the middle schools as well. For example, we’ve partnered with Northpole High School to use their practice fields,” described Duncan. “Our previous president is now the head coach at Monroe High School and continues to coach with our league.”
 
Despite all the growth and success, Duncan cites a few unique challenges the league faces from being so far north.

“We only have three months of summer from July to September, so many families cherish those few months to do those outdoor activities they love such as hunting and fishing. So when we can get so many families out to support their children in football, it’s great to see.”
 
Another area that Duncan hopes to improve on has been financial support from the community.

“We don’t have an NFL team or college football up north. Other places around the country have the NFL communities to help with fundraising. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of help so we have to invent a lot of ideas ourselves,” explains Duncan.
 
Despite the fundraising challenges, Duncan remains steadfast in keeping registration fees low.

“I’ve lived in places where fees were $300 or more per child. We charge $185 and we’ve always held firm on keeping the fees as low as possible. We don’t want to turn any child away from the opportunity to play football because of the cost factor,” added Duncan.
 
For Duncan, the inspiration for running the league is a simple one.

“We’re helping kids stay off the street. Up north, if they’re not participating in youth sports, they’re likely getting in trouble,” Duncan said. “We want to provide a positive influence for the youth in our community. In football we help teach them values of teamwork and respect that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.