Seasons
News and Announcements
Buckeye Youth Football and Cheer Skills Camps Beginning 9/15/2020
Buckeye Youth Football & Cheer Families,
As the Buckeye Schools are reopening and athletics have returned to campus BYFA will hold youth football and cheer leading skills camps as a fundraiser and alternative to the postponed 2020 fall LEYFL season.
The sessions will be non-contact and non-competitive to focus on fundamental skills and comradery around our sports in these unprecedented times. Camp will be offered for grades K-6. Participants will be assigned to smaller groups by age and will not closely interact with other groups the entire camp.
The camps will comply with all Buckeye Youth Athletics Outdoor Practice Protocols for COVID-19 listed on the registration form found in the Documents section of this site. These guidelines for players, spectators, and coaches are put in place for the safety and wellbeing of our community. Parents of youth grades 3-6 will NOT be permitted on the fields during the sessions. For grades K-2 parents only (no other siblings) may view and encourage our youngest players from designated areas around the field while maintaining social distancing. Camp participants shall not enter the practice field for any session without BOTH a passed temperature check and individual water bottle not to be shared. Face coverings must be worn to and from the practice field but are not required on the field per the protocols.
Camp Details: Held at the Buckeye Youth Football Fields, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm, beginning September 15th and ending October 15th. Registration fee includes the 10 camp sessions and a camp participant t-shirt.
Payment: The fee for each football and cheer camp participant is $40 payable by cash or check. Checks shall be made out to BYFA.
Registration: The attached registration form completed in full along with payment can be turned in between 5:30-6:00pm before the first two sessions on Sept-15 or Sept-17. Early drive through registration submissions will also be accepted at the Buckeye Youth Football fields Saturday, September 12, 9:00-11:00am and Sunday, September 13, 6:00-7:00pm.
Thank you for supporting Buckeye Youth Football and Cheer!
Go Bucks!
Football questions: Eric Keller 216.570.1546 erickeller@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
Cheerleading questions: Dina Harvey 216.287.5341 dinaharvey@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
Buckeye Youth Football Fundraising Through FlipGive; We Need Your Help!
Buckeye Youth Football and Cheer Families,
We hope this message finds you and your families well. The BYFA and the entire LEYFL community are all desperately missing youth football this Fall. We are though looking forward to the Spring 2021 restart.
BYFA is also desperately missing our 2020 fundraising opportunities. The annual fundraiser event traditionally held at St. Martin’s and concession stand sales have provided us with the funds we need to maintain our football fields and equipment. They also allow growth of the program such as past purchases of the equipment shed and bleachers. BYFA has significant equipment and uniform needs in the coming seasons and the lack of 2020 funds will be challenging. Field maintenance and insurance costs also have not stopped.
You can help.
USA Football has partnered with the FlipGive app to give football programs nationwide a means to raise funds on the online purchases our families already make. FlipGive gets a referral percentage by directing traffic to participating online retailers. They then share a portion with us.
Your extra clicks at no cost to you could be supporting Buckeye Youth Football on purchases made through the FlipGive app or website. Major retailers such as WalMart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Apple, Nike, Target and even Amazon participate. The giving percentages differ and some give more than others. Please visit their site to see the long list of available retailers. If your family ever goes to BW3 PLEASE use the app and BYFA will earn 6% of your bill!
I am typically a skeptic of these things and initially my opinion of FlipGive was no different. After speaking with their reps I have been using the app for the last month on our typical purchases. It has been very easy to use at all the retailers mentioned above. The earnings can add up quickly when the whole team is on board.
We found one of the best ways to support BYFA is through the purchase of digital gift cards through FlipGive. They are ready to use instantly upon purchase. At Home Depot and Lowe’s I have purchased digital gift cards at the register and used them at the same speed as a credit card.
To help support Buckeye Youth Football please download the FlipGive smart phone app or visit https://usafootball.flipgive.com/. Then create an account and enter the BYFA team code RPHW4C. You may also see an automated invitation email to join FlipGive soon.
Please reach out to me anytime with questions on how to set up and use FlipGive. It really is easy after getting started. Please also forward this on to any other family or friends that can help.
Thank you for your continued support of Buckeye Youth Football and Cheer!
Matt Wilhelm
Treasurer, Buckeye Youth Football Association
wilhelm_matt@yahoo.com
Lake Erie Youth Football League Fall 2020 K-6 Season Postponed to Spring 2021
Buckeye Youth Football Families,
As we continue to learn, plans can be modified quickly in this global pandemic. LEYFL held an emergency meeting on Friday, July 17th to discuss the latest developments with the Ohio Governors Responsible Restart with sports requirements. We have confirmed the July 7th Governors orders for contact sports have been extended to July 22nd. Please see the links below. Among other requirements athletes and team staff members must receive a negative COVID-19 test result before traveling to each competition.
The vast majority of LEYFL communities do not have the resources to safely organize Youth Football under these requirements. Most communities also need adequate time to prepare for the season by organizing equipment purchases, ensuring municipal field use, etc. Waiting for further guidance on or after July 22nd is not an option for all. In a nearly unanimous community decision, LEYFL voted to postpone the Fall 2020 Youth Football season until Spring 2021.
Ideally our pandemic situation greatly improves by the Spring. Initial plans call for a March to May 2021 season. We understand the conflicts with other Spring sports and activities that this introduces but feel this is the best path forward. Registration forms submitted for the Fall will be kept for use in the Spring but can be returned or destroyed upon request. Physicals recently completed for grades 3-6 last one calendar year and can also be used for Spring football. Flag players grades K-2 do not require physicals. There are then further plans to have a traditional Fall 2021 LEYFL season.
Buckeye Youth Football is investigating if non-contact football skill development practices/camps can still be held in the Fall. These would be for the surrounding Buckeye Community only and meet the Ohio non-contact sports requirements. BYFA requires further guidance from Buckeye Schools and will need to account for unknown Ohio requirement updates. Buckeye High School continues to move forward as if sports will begin on August 1st and our practices/camps could potentially start soon after. We will update our families as soon as possible by email, Facebook and our website buckeyeyouthfootball.com.
Thank you for your understanding and more information to come in the near future.
Eric Keller, BYFA President
erickeller@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
216.570.1546
Dina Harvey, BYFA Cheer Director
dinaharvey@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
216.287.5341
Travis Perkins, BYFA Vice President
Shannon Ardito, BYFA Secretary
Matt Wilhelm, BYFA Treasurer
Sunday, July 19th Parents Meeting Postponed
The previously communicated parents meeting scheduled for Sunday, July 19th at the Buckeye Youth Football fields has been POSTPONED. More information will be provided by the BYFA soon.
2020 Buckeye Youth Football Season Information
Updated with Flag Football information 7/14/2020
Buckeye Youth Football Families,
Thank you for registering your player for the 2020 Buckeye Youth Football season. Below is initial information on plans for the upcoming season.
Firstly, Buckeye Youth Football and the Lake Erie Youth Football League will follow the OHSAA’s conformance to the guidance and recommendations on the Governor’s Responsible Restart with sports programs. To clarify, BYFA and LEYFL are proceeding as if the football season will occur. As we have all seen in this pandemic, plans can be modified and cancelled quickly. BYFA will communicate updates to our families as soon as they are available.
The LEYFL season is planned to start 2 weeks later than normal to provide league communities some flexibility to comply with unforeseen guidance and regulations. First practice for grades 3-6 is scheduled for August 10th. Flag for grades K-2 will have first practice August 11th. Firsts games are Saturday, September 12. Please expect announcements on early voluntary camp dates in the 2 weeks prior to mandatory acclimation practice August 10th. Camps are are shorts and t-shirts only sessions where players can get early work with conditioning, agility training and fundamental football skills. Camps will be for grades 3-6 only.
Note that all registration fees have been deferred until the start of the season. Those fees will be due at equipment handout with dates and times in early August that will be communicated in the near future. Planning for socially distanced equipment handout is under way. Physical forms for grades 3-6 completed in full will also be due at equipment handout. Both payment and physicals are required before players can participate in practice starting August 10th. The required physical form can be found on the OHSAA website and also on buckeyeyouthfootball.com .
Flag Football players in grades K-2 do NOT require a physical to practice or play.
Lastly, this season is the first BYFA will participate in Padded Flag Football for 3rd/4th grade and Rookie Tackle for 4th/5th grade. These levels of competition are widely being adopted by youth football leaders throughout the United States and now within the LEYFL. Traditional 11v11 Varsity level will be held but there will not be JV teams as BYFA is accustomed to. Complete division descriptions can again be found in the 2020 season flyer found in the Documents website section.
Overall BYFA participation is up from 2019 with 4 full K-2 Flag teams following national trends of growing numbers. Great news for the future of Buckeye Football. 3rd graders shall participate in Padded Flag. 4th graders have the option for Padded Flag but most will pursue Rookie Tackle. The number of registered 5th and 6th graders will not allow for 2 full Varsity teams his season. Leveraging the new division alignment the vast majority of 5th graders shall play Rookie Tackle. All 6th graders will participate on a single Varsity team.
The BYFA understands there are many questions and concerns on COVID-19 guidance and the new division alignment. There will be an open Parents Meeting Sunday, July 19th 6-7pm at the Buckeye Youth Football fields where BYFA Board Members will be available to answer any questions. Otherwise please direct any questions to the BYFA contacts below.
Thank you and more information to come.
Let’s Go Bucks!
Eric Keller, BYFA President
erickeller@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
216.570.1546
Dina Harvey, BYFA Cheer Director
dinaharvey@buckeyeyouthfootball.com
216.287.5341
Travis Perkins, BYFA Vice President
Shannon Ardito, BYFA Secretary
Matt Wilhelm, BYFA Treasurer
