March 2008, from the NRFL Executive Council

This is the first in a series of columns that will appear on hopefully, a regular basis, written by a member of the Executive Council or Executive Board or perhaps an area coach.  Topics will cover many areas but will be focused on football, sportsmanship, maybe even fundraising, anything that pertains especially to youth football as we know it, in the Northern Rocket Football League.

The task of creating this first column falls to me, so perhaps a brief introduction is in order; my name is Walt Lodes Jr. and I am the current President/CEO of the NRFL and have been involved with this organization since 1977.  In addition to serving on the NRFL Executive Council, I am on the Board of the Comstock Park Rocket Football program and have coached (at all “Rocket” age levels) in that program for the past 31 seasons.

What I would like to talk about is, the NORTHERN ROCKET FOOTBALL LEAGUE or as we refer to it, the NRFL.  During my time in the NRFL I have witnessed much of the phenomenal growth that the league has enjoyed, especially in the past 20 years or so.  Not only has the number of teams and players increased, an almost annual occurrence, but the organization itself has grown administratively to accommodate those increases.

Unlike some other youth sports organizations (YSO’s) of our size, many who offer other sports, the NRFL specializes only in football.  To borrow and put our spin on the old Gerber baby food slogan; “football is our business—our only business.”  I would encourage anyone interested to view the NRFL history page elsewhere on the website to see how the league has grown and transformed into, according to the Detroit Lions Youth Football Forum, “the largest independent youth football program in Michigan.”  But suffice it to say that those of us involved with the NORTHERN ROCKET FOOTBALL LEAGUE, feel that it is not only one of the premier YSO’s in Western Michigan but in the entire state as well.

As an organization we are committed to constant improvement for the benefit of our member areas and in turn our players, parents and coaches.  The NRFL is incorporated under the laws of the State of Michigan as a 501c3 non-profit organization and all officers of the Executive Council are unpaid volunteers.  The league is a member-partner of the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) and has numerous ties to local and state organizations and schools such as the Grand Rapids Rampage, Grand Rapids Griffins, Ferris State University and the Detroit Lions Youth Football Forum.

The NRFL has long advocated continuing education of its coaches and has annual mandatory coaches meetings held in conjunction with our PCA training sessions.  Meetings are also held for our many volunteer officials and again, mandatory attendance is required.  We were also one of the first YSO’s in the area to require that ALL coaches and board members of our member areas have state-police conducted background checks.  Four years ago we began issuing photo ID’s to all coaches and these have to be updated annually by attendance at the aforementioned meetings/training sessions.  All of these safety precautions as well as opportunities for coaching education have been implemented to make our programs as safe and fun for our players as possible.

An example of maximizing the potential for fun in the NRFL is flag football. About ten years ago, Lowell, a member area did a flag-football pilot for boys and girls younger than the minimum “rocket” age of 8.  Since that time three-quarters of all NRFL member areas have instituted some type of flag-football component.  In 2007, almost 1,200 boys and girls ages 4-7 played flag-football and it is expected that these numbers will continue to  increase.  Cheerleading has also grown, with many new programs being started within existing NRFL areas, so much so, that in 2007 an Executive Council position was created to better serve these cheer components.

What makes the NRFL so vibrant?  Quite frankly it’s our member areas.  They are a diverse group both in size and location and since the NRFL is chartered as an umbrella organization, everything is done with the express goal to make us better as an organization.  The member areas for 2008 and the county the program is located in are: Baldwin (Lake), Beal City (Isabella), Belding (Ionia), Big Rapids (Mecosta), Caledonia (Kent), Cedar Springs (Kent), Chippewa Hills (Mecosta), Comstock Park (Kent), Coopersville (Ottawa), East Grand Rapids (Kent), Farwell (Clare), Grand Rapids Christian (Kent), Greenville (Montcalm), Howard City-Tri-County (Montcalm), Kenowa Hills (Kent), Kent City (Kent), Kentwood (Kent), Lowell (Kent), Morley-Stanwood (Mecosta), Montabella (Montcalm), Mt. Pleasant (Isabella), North Park (Kent), Northview (Kent), Reed City (Osceola), Rockford (Kent), Sparta (Kent) and brand new for this season- NorthPointe Christian (Kent).

As an umbrella organization, the NRFL allows the member areas total autonomy, except in game scheduling and the drafting of teams (if, multiple teams in the same age group) and the league bylaws and rules.  Some areas are incorporated as non-profits themselves and two are actually operated under their city recreation departments.  We are also classified as an instructional league with no all-star teams, post-season or championships.  That unique spin alone makes us different than most other youth football programs in the area and that uniqueness has been a constant of this league since its inception.  Being an instructional league hasn’t obviously hurt the high school programs that benefit from the players who play in the NRFL.  Although the connection from any NRFL program to their particular area high school teams varies, many area high school standouts can trace their football roots to “rocket” beginnings.  In any given year, over half of the high schools with an attachment to an NRFL component make the MHSAA football playoffs. Belding, Caledonia, Coopersville, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Lowell, and Rockford

have all played in a state championship game since 1990 with impressive results.  I don’t mean to imply that having a “rocket” program in the NRFL will lead to a high school state championship, after all the tail doesn’t wag the dog.  But, as evidenced by the success of the schools mentioned above, it obviously doesn’t hurt either!  Perhaps in the near future we can get a high school coach from a member area comment on the connection between “rocket” football and his team.  We’ll see.  It’s an obviously debatable  topic so if anyone wants to weigh in with their opinion, send me your views in care of nrflmi.com—until the next edition.  THANKS!  AND BE A GOOD SPORT!!!!