Roughly a year and a half ago, I published a column that hopefully shook this city to its football core.
“Remember when Burlington was a football city?” was a desperate attempt to breathe life back into the proud, football-loving Burlington population by exhausting all options, whether it was a complete overhaul of the high school coaching staff, a change in offensive philosophy or more of an emphasis on youth football.
In the 18 months since it was published, everything has changed for the better.
Burlington’s own Steve Tenhagen swooped in and brought hope to a then-stagnant program.
A 6-5 overall record, first playoff appearance in nearly a decade and renewed interest in the sport made famous in this town by Don Dalton and some guy named Tony Romo put football back to the forefront of the peoples’ minds.
Tenhagen wasn’t done there. Last year, after leading the Demons on a magical ride and a return to relevancy, he took a long, hard look at the youth football scene in the city and decided it was time for a change.
Upstart Burlington Youth Football was gaining popularity, as the city’s only opportunity for kids to play tackle football as early as kindergarten.
Meanwhile, the Burlington Spiders were still going strong in the middle school ages, but now forced to compete with the Junior Blue Devils in the sixth- through eighth-grade levels.
Flag football ballooned from around 50 or 60 participants, grades K-5, to 125 in 2014.
More and more, young kids were gravitating toward a less physical emphasis on ball skills and multiple positions.
BYF, much like area programs in Racine, Waterford, Muskego, and Milwaukee, stressed tackle football nice and early, so kids are prepared for the rigors of tackle football by the time high school comes around.
Tenhagen had a vision to merge BYF, flag football and the Spiders in the city and have one feeder program to the high school.
When that didn’t work, and attempts at cooperation became heated, according to several sources, Tenhagen and the BHS coaching staff recently started the Junior Demons, which combines flag and the Spiders, for non-contact football from K-5 and tackle by age 12.
Over the past few months, I’ve talked to as many people as possible to get many sides of the story.
On Tuesday alone, I sought out both sides, and I even received a few calls from concerned people from the BYF side.
The overwhelming disappointment came from the fact that BYF desperately wants to join with the Junior Demons.
The young program wants to combine with the high school coaches to teach the city kids a unilateral idea of football for the present and future.
In a perfect world, this seems like the best option. All kids from the city on one page, learning the right way to play the game from top coaches and nurturing those skills at the next level, high school.
Heck, core groups of 10-15 kids can form a team and play together for 10 years, maximizing their potential for the older levels, when an impeccable chemistry combined with natural talent will run roughshod through the Southern Lakes and Metro Classic conferences.
There is one, huge, Gilbert Brown-sized elephant in this seemingly crowded room – the BYF believes in 5-year-olds playing tackle football, and the Junior Demons simply don’t.
Concussions have struck a certain fear into the parents of football-loving America, and I appreciate Junior Demons’ emphasis on ball skills and fundamentals of football at the younger ages, with no hitting.
On the flip side, BYF teaches proper tackling techniques, by avoiding the head, and medical staff is present at each game.
You can get a concussion falling in the shower, and most likely, a freak accident is more common.
But is the risk worth the reward?
Time will tell, but BYF advocates reiterated injury numbers are far from an issue.
Equal playing time
Guaranteed playing time, something that didn’t exist when I played high school football at Burlington, is the mantra for BYF.
And why shouldn’t it be?
Sure, I had talent, but the kid who worked harder than me ended up taking my job.
However, instead of keeping me in the game with some playing time, the coaches didn’t really reach out to help, ask any questions or keep my interest.
They didn’t mind allowing me to stand on the sideline for an entire game, even when I was a senior on Senior Night. Honestly, I’ll never forget that embarrassment and sadness, especially with my parents and siblings in attendance watching.
It’s OK, I’m good, but I was the mildest case. There were 15 other players just like me that, game after game, stood there on the sideline and didn’t touch the field.
Eventually, we either wanted to quit or acted out in defiance. While the high school level is a bit more focused on winning, it’s important to cultivate having fun at all costs.
BYF Treasurer Jeff Weingart said BYF works to make the game itself is solid and safe.
“There were five big areas we would not compromise on when we put this league together: 100 percent equal playing time; good equipment; certified athletic trainers; concussion-certified, background-checked coaches; and real referees, the same who ref high school.”
BYF is full-contact football. Teams go by grade level (1st – 8th) and are sized and structured so each child essentially plays the entire game be it on offense or defense.
“Kids do wonderful things when they get to play,” said Weingart. “In BYF, nobody is an elite player; they’re all equal, good kids and we work to preserve that so they enjoy the game and don’t grow resentful or lose interest.”
The Junior Demons stress “fair” playing time to all, a slightly different concept than guaranteed. It’s important to point out that this doesn’t really apply until sixth grade, because the flag football players are playing all the time based on lower numbers.
Tenhagen said there will be 22 different starters, which is solid, and if a kid doesn’t start one week, he will start the next week.
“We want to stress fun first and foremost,” he said. “Whether it’s football or even soccer, we want kids to find their niche.”
I really like this quote, as it stresses that it’s not the end of the world if football doesn’t work out right away.
Burlington Demons defensive coordinator Mike Deans says most football players are late bloomers, developing good habits and skills over time and becoming studs by senior year.
Perfect world
Of course, it would be nice if we all lived in harmony, holding hands and singing “We Are the World” with smiling faces.
But at the end of the day, youth football and small-town politics can’t be avoided.
Everyone is right, and egos can get in the way.
At the same time, the idea of guaranteed playing time isn’t always right. The sooner we can teach kids that simply participating doesn’t always garner a 10-pound trophy, the better.
Life isn’t fair, not all people are nice and care about your success and there’s always someone out there bigger, faster and stronger than you.
The recent success of the high school team has trickled down into the youth vernacular, and the same principles and fundamentals that returned the Demons to football relevance should be at least presented to the city’s youth.
However, I want both BYF and Junior Demons to keep up the good fight.
Teach the children with fun in mind first, along with learning, acceptance, growing and finally winning.
The most fun thing to do in sports is win, but Tenhagen hit the nail on the head when he told me Tuesday it’s not about having 40 kids and only playing 15 in order to win the eighth-grade Super Bowl.
The perfect world scenario has the kids that want to play football playing football, plain and simple. If little Johnny wants to tackle his 10-year-old classmate with helmets and shoulder pads, have at it. Just make sure coaches, mom and dad are putting Johnny’s safety first.
And if little Billy only sees himself as a receiver or a quarterback, let him do those things in flag football.
Let Billy explore the 11 different, intricate, unique positions on the football field. By the time he’s 18, his football IQ alone with help him see the field.
To the adults, practice listening, understanding and empathy. Brush those egos aside. You may be the smartest guy in the room, but there’s more than one room in the house.
Finally, to the kids, “do you,” for lack of better terminology. Try football, try soccer, try golf, try volleyball, try basketball, try baseball. Find that unique niche, and go for it without allowing anybody to hold you back.
Laugh, have fun and grow. Just because your entire class is playing tackle, it doesn’t mean you can’t try flag football, and vice versa. Football is an amazingly fun and rewarding game. Nothing comes easy, and the challenges prepare you for not only success on the field, but leadership, responsibility and discipline in the real world.
I am a die-hard football fan, and I didn’t play organized tackle until freshman year. I eventually became the starting varsity quarterback with hard work and dedication. That means whenever you start your football journey, give it your all, soak up all the coaches’ information, set goals and strive for greatness. Every day. No excuses.
BYF and Junior Demons are both great ideas, and both have little Johnny and Billy excited to play football in the city of Burlington.
Options never hurt anyone, explore them.
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