American Football Association Working To Help Promote Semi-Pro/Youth Football Awareness This Season
The AFAs official 'On-Line publication, the American Football News, is currently deveoping a feature story in conjunction with USA Football, Inc. (an NFL sponsored non-profit program) to help promote amateur football in the United States.
(PRWEB) June 23, 2004 -- The AFAs official 'On-Line publication, the American Football News, is currently developing a feature story in conjunction with USA Football, Inc. (an NFL sponsored non-profit program) to help promote amateur football in the United States. The AFA has recently received permission to hyperlink their new AFNews website to USA Footballs site to bring added awareness to the relationship that semi-pro teams across the country have with their local youth and amateur football organizations. During the months of July and August the AFA will conduct a survey to see how many semi-pro football teams in the United States have hands-on working agreements with the youth football organizations in their local areas.
USA Footballs dedication to youth football will be expressed this coming weekend (June 25-26) in Cincinnati, Ohio as they host their first National Conference on Youth and Amateur Football. The conference is being billed as the 'Huddle 2004 and in the middle of this prestigious football huddle will be several National Football League and NFL Players Association top name executives.
Joining NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on the conference speakers list are USA Football Chairman Jack Kemp, NFL Players Association Assistant Executive Director Doug Allen, University of Cincinnati Head Coach Mark Dantonio, American Football Coaches Association Executive Director Grant Teaff, Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis, USA Football Executive Director Dave Ogrean and others dedicated to the advancement of youth and amateur football worldwide.
Taking part in one of the panel discussions (Coaching in America) will be AFA Hall of Famer Joe Galat. Galat is the Executive Director of the American Youth Football organization, which, next to Pop Warner Football, is one of the largest youth football programs in the country today.
American Football News (on-line) will cover the conference and make the story available on our website (www.AmericanFootballNews.com) on July 1st. when it opens to public viewing for the first time. The AFN will also be searching for stories during the year linking semi-pro teams helping promote youth football organizations in their area.
While this years USA Football National Convention on Youth and Amateur Football is geared primarily toward the youth level of the sport, I have hopes that they will someday see the importance of assisting the adult amateur level of the game too", said AFA President Ron Real. Weve (AFA) been waiting a long time for the professional football organizations such as the NFL and NFL Players Association to lend their financial support to non-profit organizations dedicated to what is known as 'grass roots football. Now that theyre helping to bring youth football under one roof - its our job (semi-pro football) to impress them that the 'semi-pro football level of the sport is really just another name for 'adult amateur football and our national association should receive consideration for advancing our levels efforts as well".
These things just dont happen overnight", cautions Real, founder of the AFA national semi-pro football association and president for the organization for the past 25 years. While the NFL has never looked at organized semi-pro football as anything to get excited about - they may someday want to consider the AFA as an extension to all the work theyre doing now to get youth players involved with the sport of football across the country. These youth footballers wouldnt always be 8 to 12 years old", says Real. Theyll need somewhere to go after their high school and college playing days are over to continue playing the game they grew up to love so much", he added. The percentage of high school players that go on to play college ball is very small compared to the number of youth players that get an opportunity to play at the high school level. Even a smaller percentage ever get the opportunity to play the sport professionally - so our semi-pro level provides a place for those who acquired a passion to play football at a very early age - a stage to continue doing what they love to do - PLAY FOOTBALL."
While the term 'semi-pro football is often misunderstood, there are more players from this level of the game receiving college scholarships each year, than there are semi-pro players who sign professional football contracts. The AFA has gone to great lengths over the years to prove that semi-pro football players are full time adult amateurs . . . and not part time professionals - thus keeping their amateur status in tact should a college football opportunity become available to them.
The American Football Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit tax-exempt corporation that currently monitors (and 'power rates on a weekly basis) 720 teams playing in 62 different leagues from coast-to-coast. Those teams are divided into two seasons (spring/summer and fall) during the year. The semi-pro leagues provide annual playing venues for more than 75,000 adult amateur players, coaches, team and league administrators, trainers, equipment managers, public relations people, officials and even cheerleaders . . . . and most of them, at one time or another, were involved in a youth football program somewhere in the United States when they were kids.
Recently the AFA president and the USA Football executive director Dave Ogrean sat down at a meeting to discuss how the American Football Association could assist USA Football, Inc. in the advancement of youth and amateur football in the United States. Real pledged the support of the AFA national organization by assisting with bringing awareness to youth football by trying to get more of his adult amateur (semi-pro) teams to help conduct youth football clinics and special youth football game day promotions in their local areas. The AFA monitors semi-pro football teams in 46 different states during the year and can assist USA Football in networking Youth and Amateur football awareness nationwide.
Interested in learning more about what USA Football, Inc. is doing to promote youth and amateur football? Check out their website at www.USAfootball.com.
Want to know more about the American Football Associations promotion of semi-pro (adult amateur tackle) football? Check out our website at www.AmericanFootballAssn.com and/or www.AmericanFootballNews.com.
The AFA Media Guide order form can be downloaded by clicking
http://www.eteamz.com/americanfootballassn/files/MediaGuideOrderForm2.pdf
Media - contact Dave Burch at AFA National Office
(877) 624-4485 or (941) 388-3510
(e-mail) amerfoot@aol.com (or) usafoot@aol.com
(website) www.americanfootballassn.com/
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