In Partnership with the National Football League and USA Football
NFL Youth Football Fund and USA Football
The NFL Youth Football Fund and USA Football have partnered with NRPA to provide assistance to park and recreation agencies and organizations playing on public fields. The partnership provides resources and support to agencies and organizations that are committed to growing and improving youth football, infrastructure and advocacy efforts in their local communities.
Visit the NFL Youth Football website for information on NFL Flag, NFL Punt, Pass & Kick, NFL Junior Player Development (JPD) and NFL High School Player Development (HSPD).
The USA Football website contains valuable information and resources for youth football providers, such as:
- Leagues – How to start or manage a league, equipment guidelines, emergency action plans, field set up and guidelines, registration, fundraising and more!
- Coaching – Coaching guide, coaching schools, online coaches training, etc.
- Officiating – Officials exam, libraries and clinics.
- Health & Safety – Injury prevention and emergency care guidelines, conditioning, hydration, nutrition, equipment, research and more!
USA Football Coaching Schools
USA Football Coaching Schools are one-day coaching clinics conducted by top local high school and youth coaches to educate participants on techniques necessary to teach the fundamentals of every position, organize a season with practice planning and give tips for better offensive, defensive and special teams schemes.
Registrants receive lunch, a USA Football Under Armour Tech-Tee, and a gift bag. Also, all schools feature keynote speakers. Keynote speakers from our 2008 Coaching Schools included Hall of Fame RB Lenny Moore, New England Patriots’ Head Coach Bill Belichick and Minnesota Vikings’ OLB Chad Greenway.
Many schools sold out within a month of the scheduled date in 2008. Register early before this year’s schools fill up. Click here for a complete list of dates.
USA Football's Certified Coaching Education Program Now Available to Park and Recreation Agencies and Leagues
USA Football, the sport’s national governing body on youth and amateur levels, is assisting park and recreation agencies and youth football league commissioners employ coaching education in all 50 states. When the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department found itself in need of a program capable of establishing and maintaining a high level of competency among its youth football coaches, it went to USA Football for a solution.
USA Football’s Certified Coaching Education Program (CCEP) is an exciting, 3-D computer-animated online course that instructs how to teach football fundamentals, including proper blocking and tackling techniques. The course, which takes about two hours to complete, incorporates coaching philosophy, practice planning and communicating with young players and parents. At the low cost of only $10 per coach, USA Football’s CCEP enables league commissioners to track their coaches’ progress throughout the course, including scores on 11 quizzes which feature automatic grading.
USA Football, based outside of Washington, D.C., has helped train more than 16,000 youth football coaches nationwide since March 2007 to further strengthen the sport.
Learn how the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department successfully mandated USA Football’s Certified Coaching Education Program.
Learn more about USA Football’s Certified Coaching Education Program.
Host an NFL Punt, Pass & Kick Event in 2009
Youth sports organizers, don't miss out on the opportunity to be one of the thousands of community organizations and schools around the country hosting an NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass & Kick (PPK) competition in 2009!
The program is no-cost to organizers who host a local competition and to every youngster that participates. PPK is for boys and girls ages 8-15. Once you register, a PPK administrative kit will be sent to you.
The PPK Administrative Kit includes:
* Certificates for all participants
* Ribbons for the 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winners
* Footballs (one of each size needed)
* Kicking tees
* Promotional posters
The 2009 NFL Punt, Pass & Kick event host registration will open in Spring 2009. For more information about the NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass & Kick Program, or any other NFL youth initiative, visit www.NFLyouthfootball.com
NRPA/USA Football 2008 Youth Football
Grants Announced
The National Recreation and Park Association has announced recipients of the 2008 NRPA/USA Football Grants.
Click here to see a complete list of recipients.
If you applied for a grant and are not listed here, your agency/organization was not selected to receive funding. The application process was very competitive and NRPA received an overwhelming number of applications for a limited amount of funding. As as result, many deserving agencies/organizations were not able to be funded. All funding decisions are final and may not be appealed.
If your agency/organization appears on this list, you should have received an email from NRPA on 12/17/08 notifying you of the amount of your award and the next steps you need to complete in order to receive funding. If you are on this list and did not receive notification, please send an email to programs@nrpa.org immediately.
Thank you for your efforts to offer quality youth programs in your community.
Click here for complete details on the NRPA/USA Football 2008 Youth Football Grant.
Evaluation Instructions For Grantees
Landmark Study Provides Findings on National Survey of Park Agencies and Youth Football
In 2006, the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) was awarded a grant to develop a national inventory of agency contacts and related data for rectangular fields used for youth football (and often other sports), as well as youth football program providers. Through this grant from USA Football, initial findings and analysis related to field data, ownership factors, public agency budgets (overall expenses and cost recovery), and youth football participation are now available.
Read the Research Article
USA Football Player Academy
USA Football Player Academies are developmental camps designed for athletes, ages 9-14, with a minimum of one-year of playing experience. Similar to an NFL training camp, the 3½ day curriculum will review the fundamental skills of offense, defense and special teams, providing each player with the opportunity to improve their skills.
With instruction from local high school and USA Football certified youth coaches, the curriculum will be progressive and age-appropriate to ensure proper safety. To create a productive learning environment for each athlete, the coach-to-player ratio will be no less than one coach per 10 players. In addition, there are a limited number of participants by position and by age group to maximize the number of repetitions for each station and drill.
USA Football Player Academies provide talented coaches, individual attention, first-class facilities, and gear from USA Football’s official partner, Under Armour.
See the complete schedule, learn more and sign up at
http://www.usafootball.com/academy/index
Features of the Winter 2009 Edition include:
- USA Football Coaching Schools
- USA Football Certified Coaching Education Program
- NRPA and USA Football Announce Grant Recipients
- Parks and Recreation Youth Football Successs Story
- Youth Football Insurance: An added benefit of NRPA Membership
- The Responsible Coaching Awards: Celebrating Responsible Youth Sports Coaches
- USA Football on MySpace and Facebook
- and more...
View the Fall 2008 Edition
View the Summer 2008 Edition
View Past Editions of this Newsletter
Become an Advocate for Youth Football
Would you like to improve youth football in your community? If you desire better programs, properly trained coaches, better fields and facilities or other enhancements to youth football in your community, NRPA can help.
The Youth Football Advocacy Toolkit is a free online resource and is now available to anyone that would like to advocate for youth football in their local community.
This toolkit was developed by NRPA in conjunction with Park & Recreation professionals. The toolkit will help you learn the basics of effective advocacy and how to build public support for youth football.
Think public employees can't advocate? Think again! The toolkit will offer guidance on the role of public employees and help you empower others to support youth football so you'll be ready to ‘Go Forth and Advocate’ for youth football improvements in your community. Keep in mind that the toolkit provides guidance, but you'll need to check your local agency's policies to determine what you can and cannot do as an advocate.
Go Forth and Advocate!
Still need info?
