As autumn draws closer, families around Plant City are excited to prepare for football season. But, for the Antioch Redskins, practices will be different this year. For the first time in the team’s 50-year history, not enough players signed up to play.
However, the board of directors won’t let this shortage become a setback.
Antioch is a member of the Tri-County Youth Football and Cheerleading Conference. TCYFCC requires 15 players for any participating team as a safety precaution. But, this year, there were only 11 who signed up to play for Antioch before the cut-off date.
“We’re just having a shortage of kids,” said Mike Wilkinson, president of the Antioch Redskins. “They’re at that age group when most of them want to play baseball.”
Wilkinson said the numbers had been declining through the past few years.
The boys who had signed up to play had two options: Stay with the team for practices only, or switch to another team. Adam Cain, who coached Antioch for the last two seasons, has been leading the biweekly practices and said eight to 10 boys had been attending.
“We have a lot of kids who have never played sports before, let alone football,” Cain said.
He has decided to lead the players in strength and conditioning exercises before coaching them in complex techniques of the game. They use a variety of equipment, including old tires for plyometrics (jump training) and baseballs. Varsity players from Plant City-area high schools will occasionally visit the workshops to work on technique with the players, as well.
Cain also hopes to host Friday night scrimmages to “have a good old time for the kids.”
Cain said he would get the boys who have stayed involved in arena football. It requires only eight players on the field at a time. The season starts in January and lasts until May, and Cain’s team will play at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Other TCYFCC teams have offered to help out by playing games at Antioch’s field. Antioch still will receive money from concessions and admission at these four games. It can add up to an estimated $2,000 per game. Maintaining an income is necessary for Antioch to stay in the conference and pay its bills, Wilkinson said.
Emily Sikes, vice president of the Antioch Redskins, said she appreciated the support of the conference and its other teams.
“They’re basically donating all of this money so we could move forward,” Sikes said. “That’s awesome.”
Cain’s workshops are open to any boys who would like to learn to play football or improve their skills. They practice at 6:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, at Antioch’s field, 8510 Franklin Road, Plant City.
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.