Guest Editorial: Fielding Football Offers Alternatives and Discussions

— by Justin Paulsen —

The issue of youth (age 6 – 18) football in a topic of major discussion in communities across America. The discussion is notable because of all of the comments raised in response to “Does Football Have a Future on Orcas?”.

The question as raised in our community is actually a sign of something very good at work. For the first time in a VERY LONG time, our High School and our Rec Program are working together to establish the level of interest/need for programming within our community in an effort to properly focus resources and to target programming that best benefits users.

Last year, in response to some concerns from parents relating to full-contact football, the Park & Rec program introduced a wildly popular flag football program, aimed at introducing younger kids to the concepts of football and the dynamic of team cooperation and play. At the same time, they also offered a program for youth that wanted to play at the “next level” in full contact football. The programming proved that the interest was there for multiple levels of participation.

Because of our constantly shifting demographic make up, this research and analysis on the part of our Island program leaders is critical to making sure our programs are relevant to the community. The danger or lack-thereof, and the liability or lack-thereof, will be an issue that will likely continue to be debated as long as the sport continues to exist.

The analysis of that situation will likely be handled around many dinner tables between parents, their children and perhaps a few grandparents who have an opinion (yes MOM… I hear you!). I for one am just glad that our program leadership is taking a proactive approach to making sure our programs are meeting the needs of our community in the most effective way possible.

[Editor’s note: If you are interested in learning more about this and providing input, there will be a community/parent/youth football meeting on February 24 at 5:00 p.m. in the high school cafeteria to discuss our options and our vision going forward. Please contact Kim Ihlenfeldt at (kimi@oiprd.org) or Vicki Vandermay (vvandermay@orcas.k12.wa.us) for additional information]