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Upcoming Dates
3/12 - AAA Scholastic winners announced
3/12 - UA Combine
Jacksonville, FL
3/26 - UA Combine, Southlake, TX
3/31 - 2010 AYF/AYC Memberships Expire
4/1 - MyAYF.com Relaunch, new rulebooks
4/2 - UA Combine
Houston, TX
4/9 - UA Combine
Metairie, LA
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Take the Field Project
Does your community need a new football field? E-mail Joe for more information. |
AYF/AYC Staff
Click the name to e-mail Joe Galat President Jessica Abramovich Executive Director Dee Grayer Football Commissioner Elizabeth Bray Cheer Commissioner & Director, Member Communications Arielle Krieger Director, Marketing Operations Craig Heitczman Director, Social & Marketing Communications Shannon Shy Director, New Membership Kristin Walker Director, Events Diedrea Willis Step Coordinator |
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Planning on Membership in AYF for the 2011 Season?
Renew or Join Now at JoinAYF.com!
On March 31, all 2010 Season AYF memberships will expire and your organization will no longer have access to MyAyf.com or AYF services. Annual Membership begins April 1. In order to avoid an interruption in service and get the most out of your membership - Register Now at JoinAYF.com and be prepared for kickoff 2011! |
 Driving Towards 1 Million!
With 2 months of 2011 under our belt, AYF membership is already driving past 800,000 members.
Please help this initiative: tell neighboring youth football programs about how AYF can serve them, either by joining forces with your group, or as a "direct" member of AYF! Remember, AYF serves any youth football or cheer organization, from teams to cities and state-wide conferences. AYF remains a NON-INTRUSIVE SUPPORT SERVICE for youth football programs in all 50 states.
Click to see how you can help AYF reach 1 Million and grow your program!
Let's Give a big AYF Welcome to our New Members
ABT Gators, AYF Oklahoma, Baton Rouge AYF, Bell Creek Ravens, Bell Eagles, Central Charles Jaguars, Charles County Spartans, Easterwood Packers, Colonial AYF, Coweta County Cobras Youth Enrichment Association, Dallas AYF, Delaware Youth Football and Cheer, Easterwood Packers, Florida Youth Football, Gainesville AYF, Granite Hills Eagles, Inland Valley AYF, Jersey Shore Conference, Macon AYF, Milan Italy Association, Murrietta Rams, Norcal East, Norfolk Panthers, North Smithfield XPress, Northeast Ohio, Northborough Southborough Youth Football and Cheer, Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Saints, Panama Central America Association, Paramount Junior Pirates, Pennsylvania Elite AYF, Port Jervis AYF, Prince Georges Storm, Riverside County AYF, Saint John's River AYF, San Francisco Warriors, SIRFCC Florida, Southside Saints, Watts Rams, Westborough Youth Football and Cheer, Western Pennsylvania AYF, Westside Cubs Youth Football and Cheer, Winston Salem AYF.
The question is... Are you in?
 | | American Youth Football & Cheer: Are you in? (2011) |
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Growth of the Big East Region
 The BIg East Region got a MAJOR boost thanks to the arrival of New Jersey AYF, which has close to 30 associations! We want to extend a warm welcome to a conference with a long history of excellence. AYF is gaining a stellar football program and a cheer program that has won more than 90 national titles since the early 90s! Learn more about New Jersey AYF on their site |
 Time to Give Back! Donate money that will go directly to helping young players, teams or even leagues play football. (100% of donations go directly to community football and cheer programs in need) If you've got extra equipment or uniforms, let us know. To help understand where money or donations go, AYF has created a new web page dedicated to it. Click here and see how you can help and please pass this link along to potential 'Givers'! Look Who's Giving Here's a big thank you to Don Lipari and his Central Florida Youth Football, who donated 250 helmets to Ocala Youth Football Association.
Riddell Donates $25,000 in Product All AYF/AYC Sponsors participate in the Circle of Giving Back. This month Riddell donated an assortment of equipment and pad sets to inner city L.A. programs in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) Coming Soon AYF, our partners and members have given more than $15 Million in donations to AYF communities. We are now working on taking our mission of Giving to another LEVEL! We are making it easier to donate and request equipment and uniforms! Visit Myayf.com for more and stay tuned! |
| New Divisions to Football and Cheer
In support of AYF and AYC's belief that every child has a right to play, we have created two new divisions. Both cheer and football will now have the Challenger Division and an Age16-18 Division.
- Challenger: Supports youth athletes with disabilities. For AYC, this is a mixed-age division is solely based on skill set.
- 16-18: Championship division for youth athletes' whose local high schools do not support a football or cheer program. In addition, AYC has increased their age divisions to 18 & under to accommodate athletes who do not qualify for their Junior Varsity or Varsity Cheer Squads. Our goal is to provide an opportunity for these squads to showcase their skills at competition only. We do ask that they not participate in outside competition to avoid injury and increased insurance coverage.
- See complete 2011 AYC Cheer Divisions
- Contact the AYF National Staff with any questions.
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XP XTREME PROCISION: Coaches Corner
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Its Time....
Join Now or Renew your Organization's Membership at JoinAYF.com
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The New MyAYF.com for 2011
In April, we will launch the brand new MyAYF.com. We know you will enjoy its new look and hundreds of new resources! You will be able to access everything from your Membership Certificate, rule books and league forms to recruitment support, donation requests, insurance passwords, sponsor resources and much, much more!
New resources currently on MyAYF:- Grant and financial resources: donate/request equipment & uniforms
- Presentation template to help recruit your own sponsors
- A sample 'Solicitation Letter' to help you acquire sponsors
- Local NFL Team Community contacts
- Recruitment videos and presentations
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PlayAYF.com
Many of you have been waiting for an AYF/AYC player registration and communication system; and after years of work, it's here! We have developed PlayAYF.com to deliver online registration and communication services to AYF/AYC conferences and associations. PlayAYF lets your entire organization register online! That includes players, coaches and volunteers, saving you loads of time and hassle. Click here to check it out. Here are some of the highlights of the services available with PlayAYF:
- Easy and fast player and volunteer registration
- AYF/AYC required forms included in the registration process
- AYF-specific and/or other custom questions handled
- Pre-populated AYF Rosters
- Easily create and manage teams
- Transfer rosters with one click to MyAYF.com for submission to AYF
- Get real-time registration and financial reports
- Accept major credit cards or paper checks
- Fully-integrated online background checks with LexisNexis available
- Communicate with your members, using our free e-mail tool
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Last chance to get your AYF Nationals Hoody
Hurry before they're gone!! Free shipping exclusively for AYF members.
Get it now at www.ShopAYF.com.
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Under Armour AYF Combine Clinics 
Under Armour and its Combine coaches are teaching AYFers the same tests that NFL hopefuls go through at the NFL Combine. We are seeing tremendous improvements in football skills and testing from our athletes across the country. Each week, we post full Combine Results from weekly Under Armour AYF Combines.
What are Combines all about? Watch the video below from Phoenix.
 | | 2011 Under Armour AYF Combine Phoenix |
New: The AYF Under Armour All Star Watch List Top AYF Combine performers are added to the Watch List following each combine. Check the Website Weekly to see the TOP AYF Performers in the Nation start their campaign for a spot in the 2012 All-Star Game! Click Here to view 'The Watch List'
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AYFPLAYERS.com presents AYFers Unplugged:
AYFPlayers is the only social media site where kids can play online in a private, controlled, safe environment and win great prizes. To sign up, use your AYF Membership Card number. Don't have number? Click here to request one.
Excerpt from a blog, "How do you PROTECT your house?I protect my house by never quitting! I play nose guard and the A and B gaps are mine. If you gain 1 yard on me, I take it personally. When my teammates make a tackle, I hit them in the head and tell them, fire it up! I keep my team fired up! My team is my house and we all protect each other. We all help each other, and we all win together. ~ 11 years old, 3.5 GPA |
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Joe's Presidents Corner
It's UP to you!
Spring is near and associations will be looking for staff, volunteers and coaches. BE CAREFUL! I am not talking about just background checks. Background checks may reveal issues with the law. Ironically, no matter how potentially damaging to our kids a person may be, you are not permitted to reveal these findings publicly. You may suspend or sanction volunteers, as a result of an unfit background report. We wish you the best judgment in handling this important challenge. When I cautioned "be careful," I was referring to your selection of staff, coaches and volunteers. The most important quality to seek is PMA. The common thread with us all, is our desire to provide a safe athletic environment for our children. When one's own child is involved, it becomes an emotionally explosive situation. Can your staff be UPlifting for other than their own kids? Yes, of course. There is no way to predict a person's attitude and leadership under pressure. When asked, "What is the single most important quality for a football player, coach or administrator in AYF or AYC?" I always answer, "PMA!" (Positive Mental Attitude) Performing a "Check UP from the neck UP" is difficult. No victims allowed. Hint the test word is "UP". UP is the opposite of Down. Avoid those who are Downers. One down person will bring others down with them. Never take on someone who is a downer. You know the type. The kid in the back of the class who will always seek attention through negative behavior. The word UP has thirty definitions - yet to me, that one word defines our choices in our daily lives. We can Wake UP, Dress UP - then we have a choice. We can Fire UP or Mess UP according to our attitude. When faced with a problem, are we UP to it? Do we say, if it's to be, it's UP to me? Or do we fail to Speak UP and Clam UP or just sit back and grumble. Being involved in football in the USA at any level brings instant credibility. Sadly, that credibility can be used in the negative manner. Abraham Lincoln said, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." While raising five children, I have witnessed the good and bad of youth sports. It does not take long to see the difference. Be careful when selecting your staff. Good managers manage good people. The AYF National Staff is an example of PMA and UPlifting enthusiasm in every project they tackle. I hope you have similar staffing success when selecting your staff. Be careful! Some administrators assign their staff a trial period to see how they handle that credibility and power. Setting UP a trial period is a good idea to determine if a person is UP to the tasks assigned. Associations need to conduct yearly reviews of their volunteers and coaching staff. The most valuable resource in America is our children. AYF is dedicated to those exemplary adults who teach the values learned on the football fields and cheer mats (the practical classrooms). It is said of Joe Montana (49ers Super Bowl-winning quarterback) by his teammates, "when he looked at you in the huddle - you became UPlifted, more confident, we played better than the sum of our team's individual talent." Let's dedicate this 2011 AYF season to UPlifting each other to a Positive Mental Attitude. |
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