The Kids Football League begins the 2019 season today with a full slate of games to be played at Owensboro High School.
Nearly 500 young athletes are participating this year, including football players and cheerleaders from age 5 through 6th-graders. While the cheer squads are grouped together regardless of age, football is split into four divisions.
Starting with the youngest group, players under age 8 compete in the flag division. Then they move on to tackle divisions, starting with the rookie league for 1st- and 2nd-graders who play on a smaller field. Athletes are then grouped together as 3rd- and 4th-graders before moving on the the 5th- and 6th-grade division.
“Our goal is to make sure by the time kids are finished with KFL and have gone through our program, they are ready to be a benefit to a middle school football team,” said KFL president Sean Land. “They should be fundamentally sound and they understand the principles of the game.”
With the league entering its seventh year, Land said some of the players from the inaugural season are now competing at the varsity level for area schools.
“Some of our original players are now in high school,” he said. “It’s really neat to see when these kids get into competitive football with their schools how may former KFL players are playing big roles for their teams.”
With the athletes staying nearby as they continue their football careers, Land said it’s especially beneficial to rotate games among middle and high school fields in the county.
“It gives kids a lot of different experiences,” he said. “Pretty much all of our participants are connected to one of the high schools. One of the neatest things for a kid is to get to play on their future high school field when they’re young.”
Land said as has always been the case, the league is putting a big emphasis on safety in all aspects of the game as they help athletes learn skills throughout their time in KFL.
“Kids are taught current tackling techniques, which are vastly different than 30 years ago and probably even 10-15 years ago,” he said. “From the NFL down, the priority with football is a focus on safety. One of our goals is to have players ready for middle school. Safety is certainly chief among those.”
Games begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and last well into the evening, and five more contests will be played Sunday beginning at 1:30 p.m.
“It’s exciting to be on such a great field,” Land said. “OHS is always a great place. It’s a wonderful opener for the season. Our expectation is the season will go well and it will be a success for the players, the parents and for the league.”
