Former Semi-Pro Football Players and Coaches on the American Football Association’s “Most Wanted” List

Sarasota, FL (PRWEB) January 29, 2004

In conjunction with the AFA’s 25th anniversary year (2004) celebration, the American Football Association is in search of as many former semi-pro football players, coaches and team administrators as can be found, so they can be cataloged in a directory intended to preserve, for history sake, the names of those who have been involved in organized semi-pro football - over the past 50 years - all for the ‘love of the game’.

The AFA is in its 25th year of operation as the national association for semi-pro football teams and leagues. Currently the national association monitors the game action of 657 teams finding playing venues in 60 different semi-pro leagues from coast-to-coast. The AFA power rates each team on a weekly basis and sponsors the annual National Championship title for its level of the sport.

In order to help track the whereabouts of former semi-pro football players and coaches the AFA is seeking the assistance of sports media people throughout the country to help locate those who have long since hung up their cleats, shoulder pads and helmets. While todays semi-pro teams toil in basically the same obscurity as did their forefathers of the sport, the AFA national association hopes to capture the names of as many former semi-pro footballers as possible over the next few months for their historic football directory.

“We have semi-pro teams that are more than 100 years old and several leagues that have enjoyed continuous operations for 30-40-50 years or more”, said the AFA founder and president, Ron Real from his Sarasota, Florida national office. “What better time than right now to update our own history book by acquiring as many names and addresses as possible so these semi-pro gridiron warriors don’t get lost in time - altogether”, added Real.

To help preserve the names and football accomplishments of some of the people who became household names among semi-pro’ers from coast-to-coast, the AFA created their very own Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981. Since then the AFA has inducted 431 different players, coaches, pioneers, executives, officials, trainers/equipment managers, historians, media personnel, and even a few from the youth football category, women’s football, and even a ‘super fan’.

While all of the Semi-Pro Football Hall of Famers are accounted for, the AFA’s historians figure there are at least 250,000 former semi-pro players, coaches and team administrators out there ‘walking (many just barely), talking (about their old football glory days), and chewing gum at the same time. Although many of them may be gumming their chew by now - but they’re still proud of the time they spent on the semi-pro fields across the country.

While the National Football League can tell you the names of every player who has ever signed a player contract with an NFL team over the years, the AFA never had the luxury of securing that information for its archives. Until now.

With semi-pro football teams now playing organized football in all four corners of the USA (and in Europe as well), the AFA national association will be attempting to catalog the names of every player on every semi-pro team (all 657 of them) for its upcoming Semi-Pro Football ‘facts and records’ book.

“Seems everyone knows someone who knows someone who, at one time or another, was involved with the semi-pro level of the sport. Even many of the NFL’s old household names like Johnny Unitas, Kenny Stabler, Otis Sistrunk, Jeff Van Note, Tom Dempsey, Bill Walsh, and even the legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi - spent some time on semi-pro ‘fields-of-dreams’ before experiencing their fame in the “big show” (NFL).

Even though the AFA has already cataloged the names of over a thousand players and coaches who have gone from the ‘minors (semi-pro) to the majors’ over the years - the fact remains that there are more than a quarter of a million former semi-pro’ers who deserve to be remembered by being listed in the American Football Association’s historic directory.

ATTENTION MEDIA OUTLETS:

Please help the AFA locate some of our former semi-pro football personnel by running the following notice in your news outlet. The American Football Association is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. We monitor and ‘power rate’ the weekly action of 657 semi-pro teams playing in 60 different leagues from coast-to-coast. And we could use your help locating former players.

SEMI-PRO FOOTBALL’S “MOST WANTED LIST”

The American Football Association (AFA) is looking for former football players and coaches who had been involved with an organized semi-pro football team anytime in the past 50 years. The AFA is in its 25th year of operation as the national association for semi-pro football teams and leagues throughout the United States and has recently formed an Alumni Association for former semi-pro football players and coaches. The AFA Alumni Assn. is in the process of locating as many former semi-pro footballers as possible in order to catalog their whereabouts and include their names in a semi-pro football ‘facts and records directory’ which will be published in conjunction with the AFA’s 25th anniversary year (2004).

For more information about how former semi-pro football players, coaches and team administrators can have their names, teams and playing years recorded in the AFA’s upcoming football history book - contact the AFA national office at (941) 388-3510 (by fax) 941-388-2224 or send your information via E-mail to AFAAlumni@aol.com. There is no charge or fee for being listed as a former semi-pro footballer. Act now in order to become part of semi-pro’s football history.

To find out more about the American Football Association go to our website at

http://www.AmericanFootballAssn.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) http://www.americanfootballassn.com

# # #