Announcement

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2020 Buckeye Youth Football Season Information

Posted by Buckeye Youth Football Association (Medina, OH) on Jul 12 2020 at 04:24PM PDT in 2021 Spring Season

Updated with Flag Football information 7/14/2020

Buckeye Youth Football Families,

Thank you for registering your player for the 2020 Buckeye Youth Football season. Below is initial information on plans for the upcoming season.

Firstly, Buckeye Youth Football and the Lake Erie Youth Football League will follow the OHSAA’s conformance to the guidance and recommendations on the Governor’s Responsible Restart with sports programs. To clarify, BYFA and LEYFL are proceeding as if the football season will occur. As we have all seen in this pandemic, plans can be modified and cancelled quickly. BYFA will communicate updates to our families as soon as they are available.

The LEYFL season is planned to start 2 weeks later than normal to provide league communities some flexibility to comply with unforeseen guidance and regulations. First practice for grades 3-6 is scheduled for August 10th. Flag for grades K-2 will have first practice August 11th. Firsts games are Saturday, September 12. Please expect announcements on early voluntary camp dates in the 2 weeks prior to mandatory acclimation practice August 10th. Camps are are shorts and t-shirts only sessions where players can get early work with conditioning, agility training and fundamental football skills. Camps will be for grades 3-6 only.

Note that all registration fees have been deferred until the start of the season. Those fees will be due at equipment handout with dates and times in early August that will be communicated in the near future. Planning for socially distanced equipment handout is under way. Physical forms for grades 3-6 completed in full will also be due at equipment handout. Both payment and physicals are required before players can participate in practice starting August 10th. The required physical form can be found on the OHSAA website and also on buckeyeyouthfootball.com .

Flag Football players in grades K-2 do NOT require a physical to practice or play.

Lastly, this season is the first BYFA will participate in Padded Flag Football for 3rd/4th grade and Rookie Tackle for 4th/5th grade. These levels of competition are widely being adopted by youth football leaders throughout the United States and now within the LEYFL. Traditional 11v11 Varsity level will be held but there will not be JV teams as BYFA is accustomed to. Complete division descriptions can again be found in the 2020 season flyer found in the Documents website section.

Overall BYFA participation is up from 2019 with 4 full K-2 Flag teams following national trends of growing numbers. Great news for the future of Buckeye Football. 3rd graders shall participate in Padded Flag. 4th graders have the option for Padded Flag but most will pursue Rookie Tackle. The number of registered 5th and 6th graders will not allow for 2 full Varsity teams his season. Leveraging the new division alignment the vast majority of 5th graders shall play Rookie Tackle. All 6th graders will participate on a single Varsity team.

The BYFA understands there are many questions and concerns on COVID-19 guidance and the new division alignment. There will be an open Parents Meeting Sunday, July 19th 6-7pm at the Buckeye Youth Football fields where BYFA Board Members will be available to answer any questions. Otherwise please direct any questions to the BYFA contacts below.

Thank you and more information to come.

Let’s Go Bucks!

Eric Keller, BYFA President
erickeller@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
216.570.1546

Dina Harvey, BYFA Cheer Director
dinaharvey@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
216.287.5341

Travis Perkins, BYFA Vice President
Shannon Ardito, BYFA Secretary
Matt Wilhelm, BYFA Treasurer