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For years, EAA, located in the suburbs south of
After about a year of discussions and making sure it was the right thing to do, EAA will begin fielding traveling teams at both the seventh- and eighth-grade levels in the fall of 2008.
Teams are currently and will continue to be fielded at the local middle schools in the seventh and eighth grade, but Johnson said parents wanted to continue their experience they were used to by having their kids play on an EAA team.
“The parents asked us if we could add teams at the higher grade levels,” said Marty Johnson, director of football for EAA. “We talked about and wanted to make sure it would work, so we took this season to make sure we would have the numbers, and we’ll be offering teams at both levels in the upcoming season.”
Johnson expects to field two teams at both the seventh- and eighth-grade levels. The teams will play a schedule that includes teams from the Minnesota Developmental Football League. Most neighboring athletic associations offer similar teams at the seventh- and eighth-grade levels, and the league is their home. There are two other leagues in the Twin Cities that feature association-based teams at the same grade level.
“We’re doing it to service the needs of kids who want to play in a more competitive environment,” Johnson said. “Hopefully it will be able to take some of the burden off middle school teams in trying to form enough teams and get enough coaches to accommodate all the kids who want to play.”
In several cases, the new teams will offer a convenience.
“We have a high number of kids who go to private schools, and some don’t offer football at the middle school level,” Johnson said. “Those kids are then allowed to play for a school that does offer football. Now it’ll be an easy choice for them to continue to play with their friends they’ve grown up playing with in EAA.”
“Hopefully it will give more kids a chance to play football at a level where they want to play,” Johnson added. “The parents decided they wanted to try other venues besides the middle school teams if they could, and we’ve tried to accommodate them.”
EAA had about 400 kids in the third- through sixth-grade program last season.
“We try to field a team of 18 at each grade level in order for them to get playing time both ways,” Johnson said. “We average about 100 kids at each grade level. We’re usually pretty steady at about 10 to 12 teams. We’ve gotten as high as 425 when we’ve had a year with a big grade level.”
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.