Two years ago, MSMC Parks & Rec made the difficult decision to veer away from tackle football and focus on flag football only. It was a decision that was met with harsh criticism in the community, I know because I was one voicing my displeasure with the decision. It would be hypocritical of me to only voice displeasure of a decision made, and not praise them for the decision to bring football back two years later.
When the decision was made to bring football back, help came from an unlikely place. Clark County Youth Athletics started during Covid, its main goal being a place for kids to still play football while everything else was shutdown. The last few years has seen them have success not just in Conference 127 but also at Battle at Rocky Top, a national tournament where teams come from all over the country to play. At the high school level, Montgomery County & Clark County are arch rivals, but here at the youth league level they have found a way to work together partnering to bring football back to Montgomery County. CCYA President James Day, who also coaches the MoCo 5/6th grade team, said this about the partnership. “Extremely excited for this upcoming season and getting Montgomery County youth back on the football field. There’s been a lot of support from families and communities and making this happen. I was honored when Coach Meade reached out to me and ask if we would help establish something in Montgomery County, like we had in Clark County we cannot wait to get the season started. I ask the community to come out and support these kids and help us get the excitement back for Youth Football in Montgomery County.
It’s not just 5/6th graders from Montgomery County taking the field though, Montgomery County will also have a 3/4th grade team coached by James Willoughby. We caught up with Coach Willoughby for his thoughts about youth football being back. Here is what he had to say, “As a dad who grew up playing football right here in Montgomery County, I was shocked to find out that when it was time for my kid to strap on those pads and go to work, we would have to drive over to the next county to play. I couldn’t be more excited to be part of the next steps here for our community as we bring back tackle football for our kids with the 3rd/4th grade and 5th/6th grade Indians Teams. My 3/4 team has around 36 kids on it, almost all of which have never played tackle football before. We are all learning to hit and tackle and memorize our assignments for offense and defense. I have high hopes for my team and the 5/6 team this year as we make Montgomery County Youth Football known in the 127 Conference. Programs that we will be competing against are Anderson, Woodford,Mercer, Berea,Clark, Danville, and Frankfort, We also have non-conference games we are scheduling with Rowan and Irvine to help those programs get games. Football has always been a part of Montgomery County Culture, I hope that after the Friday Night Lights that everyone in our community will wake up and come support our Young Indians on Saturdays.”
If you want to support these young Montgomery County Indians your first chance will come Saturday @ Cunningham Field. Here is the schedule for that:
12:30 PM – MoCo 5/6 vs Rowan Co. 5/6
1:30 PM – Clark Co 3/4 vs Rowan Co 3/4
2:30 PM – MoCo 3/4 vs Rowan Co 3/4
If you can’t make it Saturday, have no fear here is the rest of the team’s schedule. 3/4 & 5/6 will play same opponent.
8/16 @ Madison Southern vs Estill Co.
8/23 @ Woodford Co 9:30 AM – MoCo 3/4 vs Frankfort 3/4
8/23 @ Woodford Co. 11:00 AM – MoCo 5/6 vs Buc Trojans 5/6
9/7 @ West Jessamine 6:00 PM – MoCo 3/4 vs Anderson Co.
9/7 @ West Jessamine 7:30 PM – MoCo 5/6 vs Anderson Co.
9/13 HOME vs Woodford Co.
9/20 @ Mercer Co.
9/27 @ Berea
10/4 HOME vs Clark Co.
10/11 BYE WEEK
10/18 HOME vs Danville
10/25 HOME vs Frankfort
11/1 Playoffs
11/8 CHAMPIONSHIP
We hope you get out and support these young, future Indians!
Until next time,
FromCorner2Corner Boys
