Kos. County Pee Wee Football League Celebrates 30 Years
Posted
Jerad Shaw-
On Saturday, the Kosciusko County Pee Wee Football League wrapped up its 30th season with the 15th annual Pee Wee Classic. The Classic is an end-of-the-year celebration acknowledging the sixth graders that were a part of the program that year. A great showing of support from family, friends, and even just football enthusiasts battled the chilly temperatures to send these young men out in style. After 30 years of service to the youth of the community, it’s no surprise that there are some remarkable people involved with this program. During their history, only three presidents have been in charge of the league. The league was started by Jim Breading, with the help of Gary Fribley, among others. He was followed by John Miller, whose wife sang a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner on Saturday evening prior to the Classic. The league’s current president, Tim Taylor, just finished up his 16th season of leadership. The creed of the KCPFL hasn’t changed over the years. “Our main focus is fun and fundamentals,” said Taylor. There are a few other pieces to this puzzle that haven’t changed over the years either. Official Jim Rose just wrapped up his 22nd year tossing yellow flags and donning the stripes as an official. Rose has worked all levels of football games, but found the field at what is now Lakeview Middle School his home most Saturday mornings for the last two decades. Along with Rose, Roy Blake – more commonly known as Rev – still continues to work games for the KCPFL. If you ever had the opportunity to play in a game that Rev was working, you certainly heard him tell you to use the ground, and not the opposing player. His love for impacting the youth of this community is another example of why we are spoiled in this community. Hopefully I’ll have more on Blake in the coming weeks. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a man that has spent the better part of 26 years on the board of directors, Tom McCall. If you’ve ever met McCall, it’s impossible not leaving him without a smile on your face. If he isn’t giving you a fake handshake, he’s showing interest in your life that you rarely see in this day and age. He even remembered my son’s birthday after introducing them more than 5 months ago. McCall is someone that after you meet him, you enjoy every time you get to speak with him after that. He’s another of many blessings we have in this community. In a day and age when safety of football players is of the utmost importance, it’s at the top of the list of those in charge of the KCPFL as well. The league has at least one, if not multiple EMTs available at games and practices to assess injuries. They also limit the weight of ball carriers to allow for more fundamental tackles. The focus on eliminating contact to the head isn’t just for games on TV on Sundays, it’s also a practice on Saturdays during KCPFL games. From Labor Day until mid-October, the boys of fall can be found at Lakeview. For 30 years, the KCPFL has put the fun in fundamentals and produced some of the best football talent here locally. Former Warsaw Community High School standouts Brad Seiss, Jarod Leisure and Andy Conrad, just to name a few, started their careers in the KCPFL equipment. Next September will mark the league’s 31st season as an avenue for the youth in our community to play and learn the right way to play the game. Football teaches invaluable lessons to children, and that’s a task that the KCPFL doesn’t take lightly. With great coaches, and great leadership from the top, this league continues to be an important part of this community.
