52 FEBRUARY 2020 The Arcadia Grid Iron Football teams started playing in 2015. PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVID ALFARO By Mallory Gleich Started by local parents David and Katrina Alfaro, Arcadia Grid Iron Flag Football is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. Back in 2015, there were only two Grid Iron franchises in Arizona. The sport has gained such popularity that now there are 25 franchises spread across seven states. “We started it because of our love for the sport and for the kids in our community. Our first season was in January 2015 and we had 17 teams. We now have 57 teams,” said Katrina. Grid Iron is a recreational and competitive league for kids ages 5 to 15. It is supported under One Sports Nation, which is a youth sports league franchise. Under this company, Grid Iron also offers basketball, soccer, baseball and volleyball. At the Arcadia location, only football and basketball are available. Children do not have to participate in tryouts and anyone can register to play in the program. The teams are co-ed and children don’t have to live in certain boundaries in order to play in Arcadia. There are multiple teams made up of different age groups: 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-15. They are split up by either friend requests/coach requests or by schools or home addresses. “All of our teams play all of the Arcadia teams within our location of Grid Iron. Each season is an 8-week season,” said Katrina. Volunteer head coaches are able to determine their own practice schedules, but kids usually practice during the week for an hour or hour and a half to prepare for 40-minute games that are held on the weekends at Tavan Elementary and Arcadia High School. Football seasons are offered three times a year, in the winter, spring and fall. The winter season started in early January. “We are [at this time] the only flag football league that has special teams. We do real kick-offs and punts. The teams are named after the NFL team names and each player gets an NFL logo reversible jersey for whatever team he/she gets placed on,” said Katrina. The Alfaros said that they’ve seen a spike in flag football participation in the last few seasons because of the risks involved with tackle football. “With more and more studies coming out about CTE and concussion risks, more and more parents are choosing flag over tackle until high school,” said Katrina. Katrina’s husband, David, has been coaching in Arcadia for the past nine years, and during his time coaching Arcadia’s Grid Iron Flag Football team, he’s enjoyed seeing the children’s progress. “We just love being out there and watching all the kids play,” said Katrina. “We started in 2015 so there are kids that started with us in the 5/6 age group that are now in the 9/10 and 11/12 age groups. 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53 FEBRUARY 2020 By Mallory Gleich The Arcadia Titans Youth Football Club is celebrating two state championships for the 2019 season. The club’s 11u team won their 5th consecutive state championship, and the 13u team won their 2nd state championship in a row. The club was started back in 2016 by Jerry Connelly, Michael Cummings and Bryan “Smitty” Smith. At the time, there were no opportunities for the youth in the neighborhood to play tackle football. The men put their heads together and created the club for children ages 9 to 14 to learn the ins-and-outs of football and participate in games and championships. “Our goal is to teach our kids the proper way to play, discipline, hard work, learn how to compete, and never quit. If they want to play high school football they will be prepared and way ahead of other kids,” said head coach Connelly. Teams are divided by weight and age. For example, the 11u team has 11-year-olds under 125 pounds, 10-year-olds under 105 pounds, and by exception, 9-years-olds might also be added to the roster. Teams are usually made up of 15-18 children. “This program has been an incredible opportunity for these boys over the last five seasons. Many of them have played together in flag football since they were 5 years old,” said coach Ben Ashley. “It has taught them to put the team before themselves…they have learned to protect each other, pick up competitors on the field when they are down and win with grace.” During the 2019 season, practices started in early February and the teams got together three times a week. “We have several former college football players and high school coaches on our staff, so practices are run like a high school practice,” said Connelly. “There’s a brief warm-up with practice usually broken up into five 15-minute segments of fundamentals and drills and then about 20 minutes of live scrimmage.” Connelly said that each group plays a regular season, and then the top eight teams advance to a playoff game. There is a single game elimination to determine who goes to the state championship. Although the program is not run in conjunction with the high schools in the area, the club hopes to establish a relationship with them in the coming year so that they can add more coaching staff. “We have kids going to Brophy, Saguaro, Chaparral and Arcadia, and at the end of the day they have their own priorities. But if we can send 15 to 20 kids a year to Arcadia to help turn the program around, that would be great,” said Connelly. During the season, teams play around six to seven games and must win three in the playoffs in order to enter the championship. During the fall season, the club had three teams and succeeded in winning 24-2. The 11u team won the state championship with a score of 27-0 against the Red Mountain Devils. “The 11u team only gave up six points all year. In the last five seasons the team has gone 43-2,” said Connelly. The 13u team finished the season overall at 9-0, winning their championship 35-28 in overtime over the West Valley Nightmare. The 12u team, which was created this past season, finished 6-1 and became the No. 3 seed in the tournament after losing in the semifinals to the Red Mountain Devils, who ultimately won their championship. “When they make mistakes in practice, they self-manage, hold each other accountable and run together as a team. This is just one small example of the team’s exemplary coaching and leadership,” said Ashley. “They are now 44-2 in five seasons and I can honestly say that I truly believe this program has helped shape them into all-around better athletes, leaders and ultimately young men.” After the championship games, the players celebrated their accomplishments with their parents and teammates. Games for the 2020 season will start in early March. For more: arcadiatitansyouthfootballclub.com. The 11u Cadet team with coaches Jerry Connelly, Jeff Niemann, Mike O’Malley, Jason Henley and Bryan Smith holding their NYS Champions Cadet Division trophy after winning the game 27-0. PHOTO COURTESY OF JERRY CONNELLY (from left) Kadin Beler, Trey Brown, Dr. Milissa Sackos (Asst. Superintendent of Secondary Education for SUSD), Will Constantinou, AHS Athletic Director Rudy Alvarado and Marcus Williams. PHOTO: CHRIS PAUL/HOFFMAN PAUL PHOTOGRAPHY By Jennifer Marshall Four Arcadia High football players – Kadin Beler, Trey Brown, Will Constantinou and Marcus Williams – were recently chosen for the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) All-District Football Team. According to SUSD Director of Athletics Nathan Slater, the head high school football coaches from Arcadia, Chaparral, Coronado, Desert Mountain and Saguaro come together at the end of each football season and nominate their best players. After nominations are submitted, the coaches then vote on the top players, and the young men from Arcadia were four of the 25 kids who made the SUSD All-District Football Team this year. “To be an All-District football player,” Slater said, “you have to have earned the votes of enough of the coaches to win in that position.” Arcadia’s four football players were honored at the SUSD All-District awards banquet held in December at The McCormick Resort in Scottsdale. The banquet featured a guest speaker and was attended by the SUSD’s governing board members, the high schools’ administrators and athletic departments’ partners in sports medicine. “Banquet time means a nice evening for the kids to dress up with their family, receive a plaque and listen to their coach praise them,” Slater said, “and it gives us the opportunity to recognize the best athletes in our organization.” While the award does not entail playing an All-District football game, the honor shines on a resume and is impressive to college recruiters. And since all of the Arcadia winners aspire to attend college, that is an added bonus. Here are the winners from Arcadia High: SENIOR KADIN BELER What are your achievements at Arcadia? I have a weighted GPA of 3.94. I’ve served in student government throughout high school. I’m senior class president and president of the African American Student Union Club. I’ve lettered in football, basketball and baseball, and I’ve been recognized as a scholar athlete in each one. My junior year playing football, I made 1st Team All-Region flex player. This year, I made 1st Team All- District quarterback, 2nd Team All-Region quarterback, and I was nominated for the Ed Doherty Award. What does the SUSD All-District Team mean to you? It’s truly something special to be recognized as an All-District/Region athlete. What an honor to know that people believe in you and your abilities to create change in the game. It pushes me to work harder and allows me to strive for even more opportunities. I’m thankful and very appreciative of this recognition. JUNIOR TREY BROWN What are your achievements at Arcadia? While holding a 3.2 GPA, I was 1st Team All-District and All-Region tight end. Leading 4A in sacks, I’m Arcadia’s record holder. This season, I had 24 catches and five touchdowns. What does the SUSD All-District Team mean to you? All-District means that every Friday this season I represented my team and myself as best as I could every single game, and I feel very honored to be recognized among many other great athletes in the district. SENIOR WILL CONSTANTINOU What are your achievements at Arcadia? I was the 2019 4A 1st Team All-District and All-Region linebacker. After leading the district and region in interceptions, I was 2nd in the state for interceptions completed by a linebacker. I made 86 tackles during the regular season, and I also played multiple spots on defense and on special teams. What does the SUSD All-District Team mean to you? It means a lot, but it really means much more having earned it with the help of my teammates. SENIOR MARCUS WILLIAMS What are your achievements at Arcadia? As a young man who has been through good and bad, I’m on a path to creating a legacy. As a 1st Team All-District and All-Region wide receiver, I set the school record for touchdown catches, scoring 12 with almost 1,000 yards of total offense. I also played defense and on special teams. What does the SUSD All-District Team mean to you? This means a lot to me. I’m very grateful. Arcadia athletes named to SUSD All-District Football Team Titans Youth Football celebrates championship wins