New football league offers play for 6-14 year olds
Born and raised in Hollister, Edgar Campos remembers playing Pop
Warner football as a child. It was 1986, and there were two
football teams in the town.
My, have things changed.
”
Now there are so many kids,
”
said Campos, head coach of the Hollister Cardinals Starts team,
which is made up of players 6- to 8-years-old.
New football league offers play for 6-14 year olds
Born and raised in Hollister, Edgar Campos remembers playing Pop Warner football as a child. It was 1986, and there were two football teams in the town.
My, have things changed.
“Now there are so many kids,” said Campos, head coach of the Hollister Cardinals Starts team, which is made up of players 6- to 8-years-old.
“We had an overwhelming amount of kids that wanted to play,” Hollister Cardinals president Diane Castaneda said last month. “We wanted to meet that need.”
While the Hollister Vikings of the Pop Warner are currently six-teams strong, the upstart Cardinals, which are part of the National Youth Football League, will field four additional teams for area youths this season, including the Starts, Rookies, Junior Varsity and Varsity.
And with more than 100 kids already signed up and ready to play for the Cardinals, a need was certainly met for the football-craving kids in the Hollister area.
“That’s 10 teams,” Campos added. “That’s a lot of kids. It’s a good opportunity for kids to get on and have some fun out here.”
The Cardinals, in their inaugural season, will kick it all off Aug. 16 against Palo Alto. But before they put on the pads for their season-opener at Gilroy’s South Valley Middle School, the Cardinals are currently learning the basics, learning the fundamentals, and learning the plays at Calaveras Elementary School in Hollister.
Gridders aged 6- to 14-years-old blanketed the fields this week, some catching a football for the first time, others experiencing the excruciating pain of a leg-lift at an early age.
They were all there to learn and play football, though, and that’s all that mattered, said Varsity head coach Moe Fink.
“As long as the kids have fun and no one gets hurt, then we’ve done our job,” Fink said. “Winning is a bonus.”
Fink, who previously coached at the Pop Warner level and who also tried out for the Dallas Cowboys in the late 1970s, is pleased to provide the kids with another option.
“I like to see the kids stay out of trouble … It’s all about the kids and we have a pretty good time doing it, too,” Fink said. “If I didn’t have them, I probably wouldn’t be doing it anyway.”
Admittedly living vicariously through the players (“Probably,” he joked), Fink is planning for the future. The four teams for the Cardinals will include offensive plays that are taken from the Wing-T formation, the same set San Benito High head football coach Chris Cameron employs.
In an effort to pave the way to the high school level, the Cardinals will use the same offensive line gaps and the same passing tree, Fink said.
“When they get to high school, it’ll be that much easier for Cameron,” Fink said. “We might not be the best at showing them what he shows … but it’s a foundation. This is where the foundation starts.”
“Opportunity” seemed to be the most popular word of choice amongst coaches during a practice Tuesday night at Calaveras. Ted Nicolette, who’ll coach the Rookies team, said about 90 percent of the kids playing are new to the game of football.
But with volunteer coaches – three of Nicolette’s assistant coaches have no sons on the Rookie team – the opportunity exists.
“This gives them an opportunity to do something different from hanging out on the street and getting into trouble,” Nicolette said. “If we can get the whole team to come back next year, I’ll be happy. If we can get them to love football as much as we do, that’s all that matters.
“These kids are hungry to play and we’re gonna give them an opportunity,” Nicolette said.
Hollister’s 10-game schedule includes contests against the Palo Alto Knights, Silicon Valley Tigers, Mission Valley Cougars, Modesto Eagles, Tracy Buccaneers and the San Jose Steelers, among others.
A Super Bowl and state championship game will take place in Santa Clara, while a cheer program is in the works for next season.
While youth football leagues act on an age/weight standard – the Cardinals will be no different – the NYFL does play with an X Man, which offers a higher weight matrix for those competing.
For instance, at the Starts level, players 6- to 8-years-old are at 45 to 90 pounds. The X Man can be between 91 and 110 pounds.
Although the X Man’s play is limited, Castaneda points out that it’s beneficial because the players do drop weight.
While the Starts and the Rookies are at their maximum amount of players already, spots are still open for players on the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams.
“If nothing else, they’ll have memories,” Fink said. “They’ll understand that winning is not everything, but it is fun to win.”
“What you get out of it as an individual, that’s a win in itself.”
Starts: Head Coach Edgar Campos
Ages 6-8. Weight 45-90 pounds. X-Man 91-110 pounds.
Rookies: Head Coach Ted Nicolette
Ages 8-10. Weight 55-115 pounds. X-Man 116-135 pounds.
Junior Varsity: Head Coach John Arballo
Ages 10-12. Weight 65-135 pounds. X-Man 136-150 pounds.
Varsity: Head Coach Moe Fink
Ages 12-14. Weight 95-175 pounds. X-Man 176-235 pounds.
For more information, log on to: www.eteamz.com/HollisterCardinalsFootballCheer/
