PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 31, 2020
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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.