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November 5, 2009

Sunglasses highly recommended

Quincy Alexander

It’s always fun to take a look back. It is interesting to see where we were to better understand where we are going.

Sunday gave me a chance to reminisce and realize the future is so bright for today’s young athletes that I had to find some shades.

If you hadn’t read or heard by now — let me inform you. The Corbin Redhound seventh grade football team brought home some hardware this past weekend.

It was the Kentucky Middle School Football Association seventh grade State Championship. Yes, you read right — Corbin is the home of the seventh grade STATE CHAMPS.

What were you doing in seventh grade? I know, I know. You walked to school in five feet of snow, up hill both ways and all of that, but seriously.

What were seventh and eighth grade football players doing two years ago? They were doing the same things every other middle school team was doing — going through the motions.

That was until a couple of guys decided that football in this state would be better off if only there were just some organization to the middle school football being played. These kids played one or two teams several times and called that a season. Now, that didn’t happen everywhere, but even in the best scenarios there still wasn’t anything to play for.

Some teams didn’t even play the same length of quarters in a game and some played on shorter fields.

Greg Mitchell, a middle school coach in Lexington, and Jeremy Bass, the Spencer County Middle School coach, thought that something had to be done. Thus was born the KYMSFA.

“This is just an outstanding way for them to compete,” Bass, the Vice President of the KYMSFA, pointed out. “It’s helping middle school football and in turn high school football across the state.”

The playoffs that concluded Sunday was the second such event for the KYMSFA and there were more teams in it this year and they even had to divide up the eighth grade into two divisions. The response has been tremendous and already there are indications that the concept has improved play across the state.

“They actually get to play for something,” Mitchell, the president of the KYMSFA, added. “The passion is at a level that we have never seen before, and it’s an opportunity to show them that hard work and dedication pays off.”

The Redhounds were not the only local team to shine on Championship Sunday. The Meece Briar Jumpers dominated the eighth grade division two title game to take a trophy home to Somerset.

I was impressed with how well all the teams played, but what stood out the most was how you could tell that the players are showing signs of growth beyond football. I talked to several of the young athletes and was blown away with the level of maturity on display.

It is amazing the opportunities these kids have now, and how much it is affecting their lives. There is even a Middle School All American game that is played in San Antonio, Texas. Again, what were you doing in middle school?

I want to congratulate the Redhounds and the Briar Jumpers one more time and close with this — buy yourself some cheap sunglasses.

For more info on the KYMSFA, check out www.kymiddleschoolfootball.com

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