IN-DEPTH: Youth football is undergoing a seismic shift in and around Fort Wayne

For decades, the Police Athletic League (PAL) was the signature organization in Fort Wayne and Allen County when it came to youth football.

On fall Saturday mornings, kids around the area would descend upon fields that the night before had hosted high school football games. Kids were assigned teams based on where they lived, or they could request to play for a specific team if there was a family connection.

After their 12-year old season, kids would then head into middle school football and beyond in their proper school boundaries.

It was a smooth operation, for the most part, providing tens of thousands of kids an avenue to play developmental football without any ties to a high school football program.

For better or worse, times have changed. And unfortunately for PAL and other local organizations like Metro, the new approach is leaving those institutions behind.

With the primary goal being to close the gap with football programs in and around Indianapolis and northwest Indiana’s “Region,” Fort Wayne’s school corporations are going on the offensive. Some will say it is long overdue, but it has already made significant waves in the youth football landscape despite some of the leagues having yet to play a single game.

New this fall, the Fort Wayne Community Schools Youth Football League (FYFL) and the Homestead Youth Football League join the likes of Carroll Charger Youth Football and Leo Cub Football as in-district programs to build symmetry and camaraderie beginning in first grade.

No longer are the casual leagues with no school affiliation going to thrive around Fort Wayne. PAL and Metro may cease to exist in the near future, an unfortunate byproduct of a new strategy for winning.

Get the kids (and parents) to commit early, league and grow as a unit with a consistent message and hit the ground running at the high school level.

It is easier said than done, but it is a must if the area is going to close the gap with some of the state’s powerhouses.

“When we looked at schools in Indy, they all have really good feeder systems,” Homestead coach Chad Zolman said. “Places like Center Grove and Ben Davis, all of it is done through the school.

“Honestly, PAL has done a great job and fed our supply of kids well. But this is more about trying to better the program for those kindergarteners, first- and second-graders who want to be Spartans from the outset.”

Even before the new, more-lenient transfer rules came into effect on June 1, there was little loyalty to high schools within Allen County. Don’t like the coach? Transfer. Log jam at your position? Transfer. Feel you aren’t being given a fair opportunity? Transfer.

In other words, loyalty is non-existent. One of the hopes within Homestead and FWCS is creating bonds between the football program and the youth will lead to less defections.

“When we started evaluating things we could do to improve the program overall, retention of players was a big one,” Zolman said. “It is not like we are going down in numbers, but with the changing landscape with the new transfer rule, which all coaches hate, we need to be more proactive in trying to hold onto those that come up in our schools.”

THE CHALLENGE OF FWCS

Unlike schools like Homestead and Carroll that are one-high school districts, Fort Wayne Community Schools has five high schools and over 28,000 students. Add the open enrollment rule where students can choose to attend any district high school prior to their freshman year and athlete movement is rampant in one of the state’s biggest school districts.

How do you combat that in football? By constructing a youth league that puts the focal point on each of the high schools and their designated feeders.

The FWFL will also be constructed into grade tiers like Homestead, with Grades 1-2 playing 6-on-6 flag, Grades 3-4 playing 7-on-7 limited contact and Grades 5-6 going full 11-on-11 full padded tackle.

There is also an option for third thru eighth graders for flag football only. Sixth graders will play in the youth program, with seventh and eighth graders making up the rosters for the middle school squads.

“The conversations have been around for a long time about program progression with the way you learn football and identify with the high school program,” said Snider coach Kurt Tippmann, who is at the forefront of the FWCS Youth Football initiative. “With the (Summit Athletic Conference) opening up with non-conference games, our coaches have been able to talk more easier with others around the state about the benefits of an in-district youth program.”

The approach sounds daunting. Each of the five FWCS high schools – North Side, South Side, Northrop, Snider and Wayne – will have their own feeder systems. Kids in grades 1-6 will make up the youth teams at each level. The goal is for each school to have multiple teams, so North Side Grades 1-2 Team 1 can play Northrop Grades 1-2 Team 2, and so on.

The leaders of these new natural feeders will be the high school head coaches themselves, with the expectation that they will commit to building their own pyramid of teams from the youth levels to the feeder middle schools into the high school.

With consistency comes rapport and perhaps more pride in coming up as a future Panther, Bruin or Archer.

“The most challenging thing we have is to make it the best football experience for kids, for parents and for coaches,” Tippmann said. “What makes the kids have a positive experience? What are the parents looking for? What about the high school coaches?

“We set out to create a league that satisfies all three of those goals.”

Development is also important. Teaching the basics is still the priority with kids, and each high school head coach is going to be trusted to do what’s right for the majority. The same goes for the coaches of each of the teams. Youth sports can be a cesspool of selfishness and lack of integrity. It is up to the “adults in the room” to ensure that an operation as big as FWCS Youth Football League has the right people in positions of influence.

“There have been a lot of meetings and conversations, and all five each coaches have met with (FWCS superintendent Dr. Mark Daniel, which hasn’t happened in my 30 years in the district,” Tippmann said. “That speaks volumes to what is important and what the expectations are. Our superintendent is very serious about this and has a very well-defined plan which could be adopted by other sports as well.”

Coaches already in their roles will need to adjust their schedules to make sure they are giving equal time to their respective feeder program. New head coaches, such as Darrion White at Wayne, is coming in at the perfect time in the sense that he doesn’t need to adjust, as he doesn’t have past habits to break.”

“It’s a lot to take on with everything being so new,” said White, who is also trying to install his schemes and lay the groundwork in Year 1 with the Generals. “I think the advantages are that we can have touch points with kids in our pipelines so that we can encourage them to stay in the pipeline.

“Another advantage has to do with schematics and language. We can now encourage continuity in those areas from the top down.”

But the new approach also adds a lot of responsibility to a position – head coach of a varsity program in FWCS – that has largely gone undervalued in the district in terms of stipends. More time without more money can be a tough sell, particularly if coaches feel they are underpaid compared to other neighboring districts.

“So far, it’s been a ton of added time,” White said. “There has been a flood of parents with questions just due to the newness of it all. It’s been a balance of trying to push this new initiative while also building a culture and program that is in its infancy.”

WHAT’S THE GOAL?

Outside of Snider, no FWCS team has won a state championship since Wayne did it in 1995.

Sectional title droughts are equally stunning. South Side last won a sectional title in 2005. Northrop did it last in 1999. Wayne hoisted a sectional trophy in 1996, while North Side has gone 35 years without a postseason title of any kind.

While Carroll reached the Class 6A state championship game in 2022, that is the lone year that the Chargers as a program have advanced past the regional round. Homestead hasn’t won a regional title since 1998, the only time it played for a state crown.

Even Bishop Dwenger is re-evaluating its youth program as it is on a five-year drought without a regional crown, an eternity at such a tradition-rich institution. The once-mighty CYO league has seen perennial powers like St. Vincent struggle to fill its roster, something that was once automatic.

The two aspects of the “new” youth football format are retaining talent and closing the gap with those around the state who have operated their own youth programs for years. Fort Wayne is behind the times, plain and simple.

To better the chances for everyone, from consistent state title seekers to those looking to end lengthy playoffs droughts, a consistent message in scheme and building pride in being the “future” at South Side or Northrop could go a long way.

There will be obstacles and unforeseen challenges, but the rewards could be substantial.

“We would like to get to a point where all the leagues in the area are consistent and perhaps we have a Fort Wayne or northeast Indiana championship with these youth teams,” Tippmann said. “If we can all implement the same ideas and grow our sport, it will pay off at every level.”