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Date: 12/3/2015
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Tigers youth football team hasn’t lost a game in five years.
But now the team is hoping it does not lose out on the opportunity of a lifetime.
With a recent 35-7 win over Leominster, the American Youth Football (AYF) League New England U-11 champions earned the privilege of competing in the national tournament in Kissimmee, FL, starting Dec. 5, but with the high cost of travel, need some community help to make it happen.
“We made it to Nationals and then we had just two weeks to fundraise,” explained Wanda Crawford, a volunteer whose son Marcus is one of the team’s running backs and husband James is a coach. “We have to register this weekend and we have to pay for the registration, the lodging, the meals and airfare.”
Teams must check in for the tournament the morning of Dec. 5 and games take place Dec. 6 to 11, with championship tilts on Dec. 12 and 13.
With 18 players, the team originally set a goal of $20,000, a mark Crawford admitted was “aggressive,” but would cover approximately $1,000 toward the cost of each player’s travel arrangements. With time winding down, fundraiser organizers eventually decided to scale back the efforts with a new target of $5,000.
In the 10 days since the effort started, nearly $2,000 had been raised via GoFundMe. The players and their families have also done standouts and other community outreach to make the dream of playing in the tournament a reality.
This would mark the Tigers’ first trip to the AYF National Tournament. Previously, the Tigers had played with the Springfield Youth Football League, but after continuously recording undefeated seasons, joined the AYF league in Connecticut as a way to face stiffer competition.
What followed was another perfect season, including a state championship, a semi-regional win, and finally the New England championship game in Auburn.
“[Going to the AYF National Tournament] would mean everything to them,” Bill Watson, director and coach of Springfield Youth Football, said. “They’ve worked really hard, not only this season, but in the offseason by working out and going to camps. They put a lot of work in to see how good they can be and now they have this opportunity to stack themselves up against some of the best teams in the country. As a competitor, you want to know how you measure up and you never want to leave that answer just floating out there.”
Watson also noted the trip would be a fitting reward for the group that has stressed classroom success as much as on-field prowess.
“We’ve got a lot of great kids throughout our Springfield Youth Football program who come from a variety of backgrounds and families,” he said. “All of these kids understand the importance of academics and they know if they don’t get it done in the classroom, they don’t get to play. One of the big things in the program right now is encouraging kids to get all A’s, so we’ll have kids bringing their report cards and showing them off and celebrating that success. Sports is the carrot that helps drive the importance of learning home until they are old enough to understand how important it is for the rest of their lives.”
To learn more or to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/ktbh529w.