What to expect as a Kaneland Knight in 2013 Kaneland Youth Football and Cheer (KYFL) is a youth sports league that plays and cheers in a competitive and highly respected conference. Our league is affiliated with the Midwest Youth Big 12 Football Conference (MYFC). We are privileged to play against other leagues in the MYFC; Yorkville Foxes, Burlington Central Panthers and the DeKalb Bengals. All kids are given an equal opportunity to earn their position on each team. Playing time is earned on dedication, commitment and ability in our program. KYFL has a mission to ensure all participants learn football & cheer fundamentals, as well as team play, good sportsmanship and fair play, in a manner that allows them to enjoy the game. KYFL strives so that each and every player receives the opportunity to maximize his or her individual potential through fair and equitable instruction. Tackle Football: All team levels are divided by age as of 9/1/13. Our conference has tackle football levels at 8U (7 & 8 year olds), 9U, 10U, and 11U. KYFL will assign team rosters based on numerous factors, which may include; previous team assignment, siblings, coaches children, and will distribute players based on experience, weight, and height. KYFL does NOT accept team requests or carpool requests. All players practice at the same location and at the same time, so carpooling is encouraged for players on any team. Each team will participate in 8 regular season games every Saturday, beginning August 24 th and running through the end of October. Following the 8 regular season games, any qualified teams will participate in playoffs the weekend of October 19-20th and Championship weekend, which is October 26-27 th. Please see the MYFC Team Links tab on the left for more information regarding the other leagues in our conference. Also, see the Directions Tab for information on all field locations.
Tackle Football Uniform/Equipment: KYFL will provide each football player with; a helmet, shoulder pads, personalized game jersey, practice jersey, game pants, socks, and a mouth guard. Additional expenses that will be incurred for football include: Non-metal cleats, athletic supporter/cup, water bottle, and black practice pants (if desired). You are welcome to purchase an upgraded mouth guard, however it MUST have a strap that attaches it to the helmet. This is a conference rule. Cheerleading: The cheer squads are grouped by age and school year (as of 9/1/13), staying within a 2 year age range, as enrollment and team sizes allow. We expect to place 6 year old cheerleaders on a Flag Cheer squad, then match all ages above to cheer for football teams within their age group. The squads will be informed of their team as soon as the football teams are finalized. We expect rosters to be finalized by the third week in June. KYFL does not accept any team requests or carpool requests. Cheer squads are assigned to cheer for a specific Tackle Football team or Flag team. All squads cheering for Tackle Football teams (ages 7 and above) will cheer at all home AND AWAY games, which are held every Saturday. All cheerleaders are required to perform at the annual MYFC Cheer Exhibition at the end of the season. This is NOT a competition for the cheerleaders, but an exciting way for the cheerleaders to take center stage and showcase their hard work from the season. The date of the exhibition is not known at this time, but should be available at the start of the season. All cheer squads are required to cheer for their assigned Football teams who qualify for playoffs. Playoffs and championship weekends go through October 27 th. Cheer Uniforms: Each cheerleader is required to purchase her own uniform for the 2013 season. KYFL is using the same uniforms from our 2011 and 2012 season, so if a uniform will still fit through the end of November of this year, your cheerleader can use that uniform.
KYFL requires the following items to be identical; Uniform top, uniform skirt, hair bows, and pom poms. These items are required and available for purchase through KYFL for the cheerleader to keep after the season. A white body suit or fitted white Under Armour long sleeve top is also required. White leather shoes dedicated for cheer are also required. KYFL will host a uniform resale this year that will coincide with the uniform fitting. This date is TBD and will be at Harter Middle School. Please see the Cheer Tab on this website for further information regarding the uniform resale. Flag Football: Our Flag Football program is open to all players ages 5 & 6. (as of 9/1/13). Our Flag program starts with practices on August 5 th with games starting August 26 th. Our Flag teams are assigned by KYFL. KYFL does not accept team requests or carpool requests. KYFL provides Flag players with a personalized jersey and a mouth guard. Players are also provided with flag belts on game day. Costs to you will be non-metal football cleats. You may also choose to purchase football pants, however player are welcome to wear shorts. Our Flag players do not wear helmets. Our Flag football teams will play against other KYFL Flag teams only. We are having an in-house flag league. All games are played at Harter Middle School. Practices will be held at Harter Middle School on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 5:30-7:00 pm. Flag games will be played on Monday and Wednesday nights from 5:30-7pm. Equipment & Uniforms: Equipment pickup for Tackle Football will be in July with exact dates TBD. Detailed information regarding Equipment handout will be emailed to you at a later time. All paperwork requirements for KYFL must be received before any equipment and uniforms will be provided. This includes the physical or birth certificate! There will be no exceptions. Cheer Uniforms will be distributed the second week of practice. Flag Jersey will be distributed at practice before the first game. Equipment return for Tackle Equipment will be held in November, times will be available at a later date. All Equipment must be returned in good, clean condition. If there are any issues with equipment at return,
please let us know. Any equipment not turned in, will result in fines to you as per the Equipment Guidelines signed at Equipment Handout. Summer Clinics: KFYL is happy to be able to provide Summer Clinics for Tackle Football & Cheerleading this summer. This is not a requirement, but it is a great opportunity for the players/cheerleaders, coaches, and parents to meet one another and begin a great relationship for years to come. In football, the clinic will focus on agility drills, begin teaching the fundamentals of football, and assess football knowledge and skills. In cheer, the clinic will teach cheer moves, jumps, and basic stunts. Check back to our website for more camp information. Communication: Email is the primary form of communication utilized by KYFL, so please be sure that we have all the best possible email addresses in order to contact you and other family members. We will utilize all email addresses provided during registration, but you can always update or add your email information by logging onto your account on our website. If you are unable to communicate via email, please notify your coach by/at the first practice to ensure you have worked out how you will receive information. We also utilize the text system to announce emergency updates to everyone. Please ensure that you have agreed to receive texts if you wish to utilize this form of communication. This can also be found on your account through our website. Football Practice: Practice starts July 29 th. All practices are held at Harter Middle School. Practice times are 5:30-7:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. 11U Tackle teams may also practice on Friday at the discretion of the Head Coach. The practices will be hard work, and are designed to get the players ready for playing games. Tackle football is a challenging TEAM sport that requires a lot of practice with teammates. It s extremely important that all players get to practice on time, each and every night. If your child is going to miss practice for any reason, inform the coach as soon as you know. An unexcused absence may affect the child s playing time during game day.
It is your job to ensure that your player has the items needed for practice and your player is ready to take the field by 5:30. Please ensure your player has PLENTY OF WATER! Another item that is helpful during the hot weather is a small cooler for water, ice and cold towel that players can use during their breaks. Cheerleading Practice: Cheer practices start July 30th and are held 2-3 times per week on Monday, Tuesday and/or Thursday. Practice times are 5:30-7:00/7:30pm. Each coach/squad will determine the final practice schedule and often goes down when school starts. Practices are held at Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove. Because the cheer routines are also heavily dependent on every member learning and performing their part, it is equally important that cheerleaders attend every practice so they can work together and become a great unit. If your cheerleader does not attend all practices, it may affect her participation of the halftime routine for that week. This is primarily a safety issue, however it is also a commitment issue. Games: The first games for Tackle & Cheer will occur on August 24th. Tackle players are expected to arrive at least 1 hour in advance of their kickoff time to ensure they have an opportunity to warm up as well as any pregame instructions from the coaches. ALL Tackle players/teams 10U and below are required to WEIGH IN approximately 30 minutes before game time. This is an MYFC rule and ensures that players who carry the ball fall under those weight guidelines. There are no weight restrictions to play in the game, only for ball carriers. Cheerleaders are expected to arrive 40 minutes prior to game time unless the coach requests more time. This gives the cheerleaders 20 minutes to warm up and have them ready to go 20 minutes before game time! All cheerleaders participate in the Pregame festivities, such as player announcement/tunnel. So, Game Time for cheerleaders is 20 minutes before start of the game! The games typically last around 1 1 2 hours. Games have 10 minute quarters with a 10 minute half time. The game schedule is determined by the MYFC. The games should occur mainly on Saturday, but a few Thursday night games are possible at the
11U level. The game schedule from MYFC most likely won t be available until the beginning of August but we will communicate any updates as soon as we have them. The scheduling goal of the MYFC is to have 4 home games and 4 away games for the regular season. Food During Games: PLEASE do NOT plan to feed your child during their game!! We only have your child for 2-3 hours on game day, and we know that any child can go that long without eating. Unless your child has a medical condition that we are aware of through their physical form, DO NOT feed your child during this time. Please plan to feed your child before they arrive or have something ready for them when they are finished. Our coaches work very hard preparing your child for game day and there is nothing more frustrating for your coach when they cannot find your child or your child is distracted because they are eating. Team Moms: The team moms are responsible for ensuring the parents are kept informed of upcoming activities and assigning volunteers tasks. Some of the items to be addressed by the Team Mom are assigning times for parents in the Apparel Booth, help with the setup and take down process for home games, get parents to assist with the down markers/chain gang, game announcing, game scoreboard and help with Homecoming activities. If you are interested in being a Team Mom, helping the Team Mom, or helping out in general, please let the KYFL Parent Liaison/Beth Nemechek or your coach know ASAP. Pictures: We will have our pictures on Saturday, August 10th and they will be taken by TSS Photography. We plan to do this at our Game Field on Meredith Road in Maple Park (old Kaneland Middle School) Additional details will be provided as the date nears. KYFL Events: KYFL will host a really fun fundraiser for all our parents..the KYFL KNIGHT OUT, to be held on August 10th. This is a great chance for all
our parents to meet and get to know the coaches, board, and other parents. KYFL Golf Outing is another fundraiser that we started in 2011. It was a huge success and was a lot of fun! This year our Golf Outing will be held in September with the date TBD at Hughes Creek Golf Course. You don t even need to golf! You can also just join us for dinner and raffles KYFL will also celebrate Homecoming weekend with special game day activities. We are always looking for great ideas for homecoming, so please let us know how you can help! NIU Knight. KYFL will offer tickets to a NIU game. It is also a chance for the kids to go on the field at halftime and can get autographs from the players. This is always a great time. Fundraising/Sponsors: Our registration costs do not cover all the expenses of the program. We rely on fundraising and sponsors to support the program and keep registration costs down. We strongly recommend that each family participate in any upcoming fundraiser to ensure our program can continue to provide quality equipment and compete with other programs in the area. Our mission is to be the best program and to provide the best facilities. We need your help to accomplish these goals. Safety and Injuries: Safety is a primary concern of KYFL. Football & Cheerleading are challenging sports and injuries sometimes occur. KYFL buys high quality protective equipment for football and each team is supplied with a medical kit that includes a variety of medical supplies. Please keep in mind that the Football and Cheer coaches are NOT trained medical professionals. They will do their best, but it is always best if a parent is present at all practices and games. If your child has any type of injury, you should contact the coach immediately to let them know. If your child may require any medication at or during any KYFL event, such as an inhaler, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILTY to administer this medication. If your child is old enough to self administer, that is fine, however NO COACHES, BOARD MEMBERS or KYFL REPRESENTATIVES are allowed to administer medications to your child. You must stay on site during any practices/games if this is a possibility.
Volunteering: Do I have to volunteer? YES!!! Every family is expected to volunteer for at least one activity during the year, but we welcome as much help as you are able to give. The entire organization is run by non-paid volunteers. There are a lot of committees and events that you can help with and no prior experience is needed. Saturdays when we have home games the activities start by 7:30 am and will last until late afternoon/evening. Your assistance in the field setup/takedown, Chain gang, Announcing, Game Clock, Apparel tent and other field help would be greatly appreciated. We realize that you have a busy life! But every person volunteering has other commitments in their life just like you do; a job, a family, a house, school, other activities, etc. We all need to find the time to help make this program great for our kids. Serious Commitment Expected: Football and Cheerleading are not for everyone and being a part of these team sports requires a serious commitment on the part of the children and the parents. KYFL STRONGLY DISCOURAGES your child from participating in multiple sports during their KYFL season. When you register your child with KYFL, it is our expectation that your child is committed to KYFL. If your child is involved in another activity that does not cause them to miss any KYFL scheduled practice or game that is completely appropriate. If practice time is missed for any reason, it can have a significant effect on your child s game playing time or cheer halftime/sideline role. All practice time is critical! Regardless of the reason, missing practices means that your child will not be ready to compete physically or mentally, and this causes both a competitive disadvantage and a potential safety issue for your child and for the rest of the team. If too much practice time is missed, or your child is consistently late to practice, the head coach has the right to have your child sit out of games or the exhibition. Lead by Example:
Parents and spectators are required to abide by all policies posted on the website and by requests from Board members at all times. Please take the time to visit the Policies Tab of the website and read all policies, everyone is responsible for proper behavior, and violations will be dealt with accordingly. Remember, the KIDS are the ones who are most affected by everyone s behavior, so make the program great by setting a great example. We need your feedback to improve: Remember that every person is a non-paid volunteer helping the kids in the program, so we ask that before you criticize, please ask if you can help. If you see something that isn t going well, let us know, but please offer up your help to improve it. If you encounter a situation or issue that requires the board to be involved, please bring it to our attention immediately. A listing of the board members is available on the Contact Tab. The KYFL program is always looking to improve. So please feel free to speak up if you are unhappy or are unfamiliar with things going on around you. New this year is a Feedback Tab on the left. You can always post something there. THANK YOU for joining the KYFL family! We are happy to have you and are looking forward to another great season. GO KNIGHTS!!!