Unlimited Youth Football in Northern Virgina

Northern Virginia

Football Association Alert Readers know that we’ve moved around a bit.

Which means new schools, piano teachers, friends, coaches.

The Penta Posse has taken each uprooting and replanting as normal.

As we constantly remind them: We are not normal…

Anyway, The Dude has always been lucky to find the best coaches in sports.

The Hurricanes Maryland state champions Our luck continues in our move back to Virginia from Maryland. After some checking around, we learned that there is no local Pop Warner football league in Northern Virginia.

But we may have found something better for our boy.

The Northern Virginia Unlimited Youth Football Association is just what The Dude was looking for. The league’s motto is,

“Let the Big Guys Play!”

The program is designed for 6th-8th Graders Only (11-14 Years of Age), and most important:

No Weight Limit, No Experience Needed

The NOVA UYFA tag line continues,

“Prepare Yourself For High School Level – Come Experience The Fun!”

If you are looking for an advanced level of football for high school prep. Contact Joe or leave me a comment.

Or come to the FREE conditioning camp:

July 16th is the start of our Conditioning Camp.

Time: 6pm to 7:15pm

Place: White Oak Elementary School

The minimum weight is 130 pounds, so players are big. And serious.

Email me for questions.

Thank you (foot)notes:

One of the challenges that this league is facing is a government bureaucracy. Your Business Blogger has wrestled a bit with bureaucracies and managing bureaucrats and working with bureaucracies well understands the challenges. The local government employee/zealots have made it difficult for the budget-conscience league to market to the general population. The most common marketing effort for the local sports teams is to place temporary roadside signage.

But the local governing jurisdictions are hammering the leagues with litter-laws, and other special big-government applications.

Joe Whibley, the Executive Director of NOVA UYFA says word of mouth works to identify football players.

“We are always looking for more players to join,” and Joe asks that we all help, “advertising…spreading the word…and recruiting for us.”

The counties are not yet silencing blogs as a media outlet. This is an unpaid endorsement for the Northern Virginia

Unlimited Youth Football Association.

See What Is The Best Predictor of Successful Leadership? See Management Training.

NOVA UYFA is Endorsed by the Northern VA High School Coaches Association

From the NOVA UYFA website,

The Northern Virginia Unlimited Youth Football is a nonprofit organization operating in Fairfax Virginia , under a 501-C(3) charter and is design to provides 6th, 7th and 8th grades ages 11 to 14-year olds the opportunity to play organized tackle football without any weight restriction and playing against 15, 16 year old who should be playing in high school. We do suggest a minimum weight of 130lbs. One of the goals of the NOVA UYFA is to provide a structured competitive sporting environment for middle school kids the tackle football in which any child, regardless of gender, with an interest in playing organized sports, will have the opportunity to do so. It is also the goal of the NOVA UYFA to teach players the 3 A’s, Academics, Attitude and Athletic as alternative to gangs, crime and drugs. The NOVA UYFA playing rules ensure everyone gets a minimum share of plays in each game, and to participate in healthy competition, which includes the opportunity for achievement, recognition and pride in one’s accomplishments.

ELIGIBILITY RULE

1. You must be in 6th, 7th or 8th Grade in the current year as of December 31st.

2. You must be at the age of 11, 12, 13 or 14 on or before December 31st of the current year.

3. You must be resident of Northern Virginia Area.

4. There is no gender rule, girls are welcome to play.

REMOVAL OF PLAYER FROM TEAM/LEAGUE

No Coaches has any authority to remove a player from the team permanently without the permission of the Executive Director of NOVA UYFA, The coach may request to have a player removed permanently from the team, however the Executive Director of NOVA UYFA has the final say.

PLAYING TIME RULES

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Every player will get a minimum of 8 plays during each game providing the player is in good standing with the league/team policy.

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Each Head Coach is to play every kid a minimum of 8 plays as long as the player is in good standing and works the best of their ability at practices.

Note: If any parent or player feels that he/she is not getting the minimum playing time should report to the Assistant Director. We will see if there is a valid reason to have a talk with the Coaches. Please if your child got 7 plays, we will not make an issue out of it unless it becomes a pattern.

SOME OF THE BASIC REASON FOR NOT PLAYING IN THAT WEEKS GAME

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Any player missing 2 to 3 practices in any one week, excuse or not, will miss that weeks game and will still be expected to be on sideline to support their team. (This should hopefully eliminate any favoritism by the coaches)

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Any player that is injured and does not have a doctors written permission will not be allowed to practice or play the game until do so.

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Disrupting practices and being disrespectful to the Coaches/Parents/Players.

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Does not try at all in practice and poses safety risk.

GAME RULES

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We will be playing according to the High School Football Association Rule (12 minutes per quarter)

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There will no tie breaking procedure during the regular season game (a tie is a tie), only during the playoff/championship game will their be overtime.

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Overtime will be each team getting the ball at the 20 yard line and have 4 chances to score. This will continue until one team is ahead after the series.

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Extra point after Touchdown will be 2 points for kicking, 1 point for pass/run.

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Any Player (s), Coach (es) or Parent (s) EJECTED from a game will automatically be suspended from the following played game and following weeks practice. Depending on the severity of the ejection, may possibly miss the remaining season.

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There will be ABSOLUTELY NO taunting, fighting allowed, I don’t care what the reason would be. There is no place for this.

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Any Coaches found cheating will be removed from the league and forfeit all game that were know to be in violations of the league.

OTHER POLICY RULES

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If Scholarship, The parent or legal guardian will be REQUIRE to help with the concession stand for a total of 4 games during the season.

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There to be ABSOLUTELY no drugs, alcohol or any kind of smoking/chewing tobacco allowed on practice fields, game fields, this include the surrounding area of the fields.

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Every parent or player are expected to report any wrong doing they feel their coaches, parents may be doing to our Assistant Director.

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Parents are allow at the practice site providing they do not disturb the practices

A LETTER TO OUR SPONSORS

Dear Prospective Sponsor,

A new unlimited weight youth football program was initiated in Northern Virginia in 2001. The league since then has expanded from 1 team to 6 teams. Next season, the league plans to continue to expand and provide an even greater opportunity for middle-school age young men to play football before high school. In order to accomplish this goal, we need your financial help to continue this work.

The NOVA UYFA is designed for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders (ages 11-14) who are outside the bounds of the age and weight metrics of the local pound-age youth football program. The NOVA UYFA is having a positive impact in Fairfax County and the surrounding Northern Virginia area. The NOVA UYFA program is more than football, it is about providing another opportunity to teach positive values and life skills to these young men – teamwork, how to win and lose gracefully, respect for teammates, officials, and opponents, self control, discipline, self respect, etc. All these positive values will carry over into their lives, as they become adults.

Last season was a successful one. We were able to give young children the opportunity to play and gain valuable experience. The NOVA UYFA is accepted enthusiastically by the players, the parents, and distinguished members of our community. The NOVA UYFA will continue to field teams in Fairfax County and the surrounding Northern Virginia area. This equates to providing an opportunity for youth, ages 11-14, to learn and play the game of football. The teams will be organized around Fairfax County High School Cluster and players are placed on teams based on where they are projected to attend public high school. The intent is to create a true middle school age feeder program into the Fairfax County High School Football Programs. The NOVA High School Football Coaches Association ( www.nvfca.com ) has unanimously endorsed this program. The cost to field these teams is substantial and we need YOUR FINANCIAL HELP to ensure success! It costs approximately $395 to outfit each player, plus organizational set up costs, legal fees, referee fees, field use, etc. In order to provide a greater opportunity for more youth, registration fees do not cover even half of that amount.

Please consider becoming a sponsor and helping the NOVA UYFA shape the lives of our youth in a positive environment! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please see the following page which contains a list of sponsorship levels.

Please make your check payable to “NOVA UYFA” and send it to NOVA UYFA, P.O. Box 2665 Springfield, VA 22152. NOVA UYFA is a non-profit organization, 501 (c) (3), and your donation qualifies as a tax deduction, we will then mail you a receipt with our Tax ID along with a thank you letter..

Sincerely,

Joe Whibley

Executive Director