Valley youth to join Optimist Football League

Wood River Middle School athletic director Jim King has believed for years that success in football at the high school level is directly linked to learning the fundamentals at a young age—say, ages nine through 11. Grade school.

So King, who has coached middle school football for many years, was excited recently to reveal that he and a group of Wood River Valley parents have decided to join the Boise Noon Optimist Football starting in the fall of 1999.

"Boise Noon Optimist Football is in its 50th year of operation. It is a very impressive program," said King. "Our non-profit volunteer organization will be called Ketchum/Hailey/Bellevue Club Football. For the first year we’ll play our games in Mountain Home."

That means local youngsters in grades four through six, ages nine through 11, will have an opportunity to play organized football with pads and helmets for the first time. There have been flag football programs offered here before, but never full-contact football with equipment.

King, who grew up in Wendell, said, "I can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner. I think communities need good football programs to get our youth involved.

"People I’ve talked to in Mountain Home have said they’ve seen an immediate impact on their upper-school programs because the kids are learning fundamentals so much sooner."

King and his fellow coaches plan to hold an organizational meeting in March to explain the plans to parents. A board of directors will be chosen and sponsors solicited to help finance the teams. Registration and weigh-ins begin in April.

The seven-game season begins Saturday, Sept. 11 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 23.

Coach Ken Uhrig will supervise the 11-year-old "Pony" team for sixth-grade students, with a weight limit of 135 pounds. Coaches Ken Ward and Steve Anderson have the 10-year-old "Bantam" team of fifth graders, weight limit 120 pounds.

Coach Don Castle has the nine-year-old "Rookie" squad of fourth graders, weight limit 105 pounds.

King said all three youth teams will run the same offenses (double wing) and defenses (five-man front) that are used in the middle school football program coached by Chris Malmgren and Rob Swanson (eighth grade), and King, Mike Renaud and Don Castle (seventh grade).

That approach will provide some continuity as the youngsters proceed into the more competitive middle school football program, he said.

King said there are plenty of issues to discuss and problems to confront in the months ahead. Getting the program off the ground is an accomplishment in itself. Said King, "It’s a big undertaking, but we’ve got some good help."

He added, "Ken Uhrig and I were invited guests to the monthly meeting of the Boise Noon Optimist Football League Feb. 13 at Boise State University. We received a warm reception and they invited us to be part of the league.

"We will be considered an outside program, along with communities like McCall, Kuna, Emmett, Grandview, Mountain Home, Glenns Ferry and Duck Valley. Most of the teams are centered in Boise, Meridian and Eagle, of course.

"The first year we’ll play all our games in Mountain Home. Traveling every Saturday will be tough, but I don’t think we’ll have any trouble bringing other teams up here to play in the years ahead."

Weight is a critical issue with the Optimist Football League because there are upper weight limits at each grade level—similar to wrestling. At registration, a youngster is weighed. Then he is weighed again and again.

King said, "Boise Optimist Football starts sign-ups April 24 and then they have eight other dates to sign up and be weighed. The final weigh-ins take place at a big jamboree on Aug. 28, when all 126 ball clubs come to BSU to be weighed, have their photos taken and have scrimmages."

Parents and sponsors will bear the cost.

Registration fee is $35 to $40 per person, which includes insurance through the Optimist Club. A birth certificate will be needed.

Ketchum/Hailey/Bellevue Club Football will put together a spirit pack including shoulder, hip, knee and thigh pads; pants, socks, a mouthpiece and probably a practice jersey, King said. The spirit pack is an additional cost to parents.

It will cost about $2,000 to field a team, King estimated.

"The coaches will be looking for people and businesses to help sponsor the teams. We’ll have to pay officials and timekeepers when we’re the home team. And we’ll have to find some place to store everything, probably a parent’s house at the beginning," King said.

He added, "Once we’re involved in the program and get it going, we’ll have equipment swaps to exchange merchandise and keep costs down."

Each team will be comprised of 15 to 18 players. Each player will be guaranteed a certain number of plays in each game, said King.

"We’d like to have the kids practicing four days a week. They’ll use the middle school athletic fields in the evenings, after we finish with our after-school practices for the seventh- and eighth-grade football teams," King said.

The board of directors will address common concerns—questions that continually come up even with long-established programs like Boise Optimist Football—things like equalization of playing time and out-of-control coaches, King said.