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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2020)
PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 31, 2020 2019 FORD EXPEDITION | LIMITED* $ $ 13,631 6,000 OFF MSRP!* ALTERNATIVE RETAIL CUSTOMER CASH on all 2019 EDGE $ 9,000 INCLUDING ALTERNATIVE RETAIL CUSTOMER CASH $ 4,500 on all 2019 ALTERNATIVE RETAIL CUSTOMER CASH EXPEDITIONS on all 2019 ESCAPE 3555 River Road N, Keizer (503) 463- 4853 www.skylineforddirect.com *MSRP $75,215, Sale price $61,584 after $4,631 Skyline Discount, $9,000 Alternative Retail Customer Cash, plus license, tax, title and doc fee. 1 at this price. Subject to prior sale. Stk #194529, VIN A70158. Art is for illustration only. All offers expire 1/31/2020. KEIZERTIMES.COM Changes coming to youth football? What’s at stake: • Salem-Keizer school offi cials are considering adopting a recommedation from the OSAA that would affect youth football leagues. • Non-compliance youth leagues could be barred from using school district facilities. Submitted • Representatives of Keizer’s youth football league are unhappy with the proposed changes and the current trajectory of the conversation. The future of McNary Youth Football could be affected if the Salem-Keizer School District decides to adopt the Ad-Hoc Football Committee’s mission statement as a conditional use for district facilities. By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The future of youth foot- ball in Keizer isn’t in jeopar- dy, but there is a chance that it could look different in the years to come. In late-December, Mc- Nary Youth Football received word that the Salem-Keizer School District was consid- ering the OSAA’ s Ad-Hoc Football Committee position statement on youth football as a conditional requirement for the use and rental of Sa- lem-Keizer public fi elds — McNary Youth Football uses McNary High as their main facility for practices and games. The 2020 season won’t be affected if these chang- es come to pass. However, if this recommendation by the Ad-Hoc Committee comes to fruition in the near future, people can expect the fol- lowing guidelines to be im- plemented for youth football in Salem-Keizer. • Kids in kindergarten through fourth grade would be required to play fl ag foot- ball. • Eleven-man tackle foot- ball wouldn’t be available until seventh grade. Fifth and sixth graders would be re- quired to play Rookie Tack- le Football — a seven-man game where the fi eld is only 40 yards long and more nar- row. • Seasons would be lim- ited to eight games (no play- offs). The goal of the proposed changes is to make the game safer and add more partic- ipants. Football has been viewed by many as a more dangerous game in recent years as a result of new sci- entifi c fi ndings of the im- pact concussions have on the brain — exposure data shows children as young as age 9 are getting hit in the head more than 500 times in one season gon Athletic Offi cials Associ- grams,” said McNary Youth of youth tackle football. “While we have a long ation and the Oregon Athlet- Football Vice President Russ Walker. reach, we don’t reach that ic Trainers Society. The OSAA Ad-Hoc However, it is not at all far,” said Brad Garrett, the as- sistant executive director for endorsed by McNary Youth Committee was formed in the fall of 2018, the OSAA. and one of the top- “But it’s be- “ It gives us the opportunity to ics they initially come pretty addressed was the a p p a r e n t provide an age appropriate, steady decrease in that mov- numbers that prep ing forward, safe, environment for kids to football was ex- if we’re go- be successful and have fun periencing. The ing to build committee is made a continu- playing football and hopefully up of more than a um of foot- increase numbers,” dozen former and ball, that we’re going — Scott Gragg, current coaches. According to to have to McNary High Athletic Director McNary athlet- develop and ic director Scott foster rela- tionships at the youth level in Football, who stated on their Gragg, the OSAA has been order to do that. Part of that website that they believe the losing an average of 150 is establishing some baseline proposed rule changes are football participants per year since 2006. “abusive and arbitrary.” expectations.” “The committee basical- “It’s a weird that the de- The full position state- ment, which can be found cisions being made about ly looked at those numbers on OSAA.org, is endorsed by youth football are being and thought of what could the Oregon Athletic Coaches driven by high school coach- we do from an organization- Association, Oregon Athletic es and AD’s. They have no in- al administrative standpoint Directors Association, Ore- volvement in the youth pro- that could promote numbers and help a sport that many people love, including my- self, stay vibrant and relevant moving forward,” said Gragg, who joined the committee earlier this fall. “They have come up with a ton of rec- ommendations.” Plummeting participation numbers in football have been a problem across the country. But as it turns out it isn’t just a high school prob- lem. According to a poll from the National Alliance for Youth Sports, around 70 per- cent of kids in the United States stop playing organized sports by the age of 13 be- cause it’s no longer fun. “The stats show that this isn’t just a high school issue. When you ask kids what’s the reason they quit sports, the fi rst reason that comes out of their mouths is that it’s not fun,” Gragg said. “It’s Please see YOUTH, Page A10 McNary earns second straight MVC dual victory tied the score at 1-1 in the By MATT RAWLINGS second round. Vallejo then Of the Keizertimes The McNary wrestling scored a two-point take- team won their second down in the fi nal round to straight Mountain Valley secure the victory. Matthew Mehlhoff got Conference dual on Thurs- day, Jan. 23, defeating West McNary’s fi rst pin of the evening in the 160-pound Salem by a score of 39-32. match. After “We have dif- jumping out ferent guys each to a 4-0 ad- week stepping “ We have vantage, Me- up and doing hlhoff ’s oppo- something good different guys nent, Adrian for us,” McNary each week Galindo, came head coach Ja- stepping up back to tie the son Ebbs said. match at 4-4 M c N a r y and doing late in the fi rst wrestlers have round. made a habit something But Mehl- this season of good for us,” hoff was able fi ghting from behind in indi- — Jason Ebbs, to earn the fall midway vidual match- McNary head coach through the es and fi nding second round. a way to come Jeremiah Ratliff won a 6-0 out victorious. That theme continued throughout this decision at 195 pounds. The Celtics then were awarded dual. The match started with the 220-pound match thanks the 152-pound bout as to a forfeit. McNary also earned for- McNary’s Ivan Vallejo beat Xavier Finel via 3-1 deci- feit victories at 120 and 132 pounds. But it was sion. After trailing early, Vallejo the 120-pound forfeit that caused the match to swing in the Celtics favor. Grady Burrows, one of the best wrestlers in the con- ference, was originally slot- ted to wrestle at 120 for this match. But since West Salem had already planned to forfeit the match, Ebbs moved Bur- rows up to the 126-pound slot and had Eoan Sharabarin claim the forfeit at 120. The strategic move by Ebbs ended up paying divi- dends as Burrows easily got a pin just over a minute into the match, giving McNary the 30-29 lead on the score- board. “We just wanted to make sure we were getting the right matchups. When it comes to winning duals, a lot of times you need to move things around and do some- thing different to make sure the team is getting the best guys on the mat at the right time,” Ebbs said. The Celtics went up 36- 29 thanks to West Salem’s forfeit at 132, meaning that Please see CELTS, Page A11 KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings McNary’s Grady Burrows (blue singlet) pins his opponent in the 126-pound match to help the Celtics beat West Salem 39-32 in a dual meet on Thursday, Jan. 23.
