Yale Area Football is making a few changes for the 2009 TAFL season:
The first change that Yale parents will see for the 2009 season is a familiar face in a new position. Jerry Davis has been voted in by TAFL as Yale's Community Director effective February 2009. Jerry and his family have been a part of Yale Area Football for the past four years. Jerry's wife Sonya is the YAFL Vice-President and their son will be playing on the 7th grade team this fall. Any Thumb Area Football League questions or concerns should be directed to Jerry Davis at yaleareafootball@hotmail.com.
The second and most noticable change players and families of Yale Area Football will see this fall will be the team names. As of the 2009 season, all age divisions for Yale Area Football will have the Bulldog name and mascot. For divisions that have two teams, there will be a Bulldog "Blue" and Bulldog "White" team. "Blue" teams will be wearing the traditional home blue jerseys and the "White" teams will wear the familiar white road jerseys. This change will allow families to purchase and re-use Yale Bulldog football clothing for multiple seasons. All teams will wear the blue "Y" helmet that was worn for the 2008 season.
Here is the article from the Oct. 16, 2008 edition of the Times Herald:
Bulldogs off to 6-0 start in youth football league
By JOSEPH HAYES
Times HeraldYale plays Croswell-Lexington on Friday with a Blue Water Area Conference football championship on the line.
In the not-so-distant future, Yale could become even better because of an influx of talent coming from the Thumb Area Football League.
The Youth 13 Yale Bulldogs are 6-0 with two games remaining.
"They are doing a great job," TAFL President Tom Tocco said. "They have a great offensive line and a lot of speed outside.
"Bulldogs Coach Brad Kerstin also has been impressed with the talent and coachability of his players.His roster consists of 19 players, including one girl.
He said each is capable of filling in at several positions.
Standouts on the team include Derek Castro, Brett Kean, Bailey Bischer, Crystal Jones and Derek Brown.
"We have some talented kids," Kerstin said. "I can put them in just about any position and they can excel at it. I have linemen who can play quarterback. I have running backs that can play wide receiver or on the line.
"We want every child to touch the ball and at least experience the different positions and have fun.
"The Bulldogs run a pro-set offense and a 4-4 defense."We keep everything simple," Kerstin said. "We want to make sure it's easy for them to understand. We run a pro-set offense because they can relate to it on Sunday when they see the professionals. It's easy to explain to them.
"The Bulldogs practice twice a week and had 13 practices before the season to learn fundamentals.
In the future, Kerstin said he expects his players to compete at a high level in high school and maybe even beyond."These kids know the game, and they have a lot of potential," Kerstin said. "They have a complete grasp of offense and defense.
The good thing about this league is when these kids go to high school, they are already going to be prepared."This gives them an early experience of football. They are already experienced with contact and familiar with being hit.
We teach them to love the game and have fun playing it."
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