In two days, Plant City-area youth football teams will begin the “Run for the Rings.”
The United Youth Football League National Championships are coming back to Plant City from Saturday, Dec. 3, through Friday, Dec. 9. This year’s tournament will see several Plant City Dolphins teams, a Dover Patriots team and other Tri-County Youth Football and Cheerleading Conference squads battle some of the best programs in the country for gold and glory.
Normally held at the Otis M. Andrews Sports Complex, the event has moved across the street for 2016: all of the action will go down at Ellis-Methvin Park, 2401 E. Cherry St. As usual, the park will assign seven full-sized fields for each full day’s worth of football.
After a day of registration on Saturday, Dec. 3, the games will begin Sunday, Dec. 4, and run daily through Thursday, Dec. 8. That day’s games will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the championships will be fought for on Friday, Dec. 9.
ALL-STAR SQUADS
The UYFL more than doubles the TCYFCC’s number of divisions, and that means that some teams have to be creative with their rosters in order to enter the tournament.
In the younger teams’ case, that often means pulling kids from around the league. Head coach Robbie Jordan’s 6U All-Stars team, the Tri-County 6U All-Star Squad, features Mighty Mites from the Plant City Dolphins, Lakeland Gators, East Bay Bucs, Dover Patriots and Brandon Cowboys.
“A lot of coaches, they wanted to pool their kids together because we’re having teams come from all over the country,” Jordan says. “It’s going to be pretty competitive. A long week of practice and a long week of football.”
Jordan, who has coached football for 11 years, is back in the UYFL mix for the first time since 2013.
“I just wanted to get back into it,” he says. “I love working with kids … it’s really nice to give back to the community and be involved with some of the kids.”
There are also divisions with higher age ceilings than that of the TCYFCC, and area teams are also ready for them. The Dolphins are sending out a 14U All-Stars team with players from Plant City High School, and the Dover Patriots will do the same in the 15U division with some Durant Cougars. Tri-County fans can also catch the Pinecrest Pilots and Brandon Lions in these All-Stars divisions.
In between those squads, the teams local fans will see at Ellis-Methvin will be the same ones they’ve seen on TCYFCC Saturdays throughout the 2016 season.
FAMILIAR FACES
As usual, every Dolphins team will see some action in the tournament.
In most cases, the Plant City teams are looking for an elusive taste of championship gold. The Pee Wee, Junior Varsity and Varsity teams, which did not win in the TCYFCC Superbowl, are also coming off of losses in the Florida State Youth Football League state tournament, held from Friday, Nov. 25, through Sunday, Nov. 27.
“We’re going to stress fundamentals and go back over the basics, and, hopefully, that’ll be enough to put us over the top,” JV head coach Jeff Hutchinson says.
Then, there’s the Midgets squad. The only Dolphins team to win in the 2016 Superbowl, head coach Marcus Springfield and his team are looking to end 2016 on the highest possible note: national championship hardware to go with their Superbowl prizes.
“(The kids) are used to this time of year,” Springfield says. “They’re pumped around this time of year. This is the time of year they get excited and start clicking.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.