Youth football squads fill cramped local park to practice
By TYLER DOMAAS
DCN Reporter
The sun begins to set on the field. Orange leaves swirl around, riding the wind to their next destination. At the playground, three girls run around giggling. A football lands in the dirt next to one of the girl’s feet. A small football player who is fully padded runs up, retrieves the ball, and runs the ten yards back to his practice.
There are two football teams that practice in this park. The field that each team practices on is roughly the size of the infield of a baseball diamond. Just a few yards off one of the fields sits a park and playground. A small hill separates the practicing teams.
Carlos Gonzalez is the head coach for the Kenwood-Chester Raiders, which is comprised of seventh and eighth-graders. In the past the team played on the fields at Marshall School but that all changed five years ago.
“Five years ago Marshall moved us off of campus due to the making of a new soccer field,� Gonzalez explains as he watches the players from his team run a lap around the small field. “This field is the only one they could spare for us.�
Chad McCoy, the head coach for the fifth and sixth-grade team, watches as his team lines up, and runs another play.
“There are two teams that practice on this field. One is the A team, or the seventh and eighth-graders and the other is the B team, or the fifth and sixth-graders.� he says.
One player breaks free from the pack of players, holds the ball up, and runs it down the small field. McCoy smiles and shouts for the kids to line up again.
Unlike the A team, the B squad doesn’t keep score or keep standings in their games. They also only play six games and don’t have playoffs, unlike the A team.
McCoy walks up to one of the players, points out his position and gives him advice on what to do on the next play. He steps back, and watches as the ball is hiked. The players collide, and the play ends.
As darkness takes over, the one light above the field blinks on and off a few times, somehow signaling that the practice is over. The players trudge up to the cars of their awaiting parents, talking about the day's practice.