Let’s face it – the odds are stacked very high against anyone becoming a PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE.  However, lots of kids are good enough to go on to play their chosen sport in COLLEGE – and many of those are lucky enough to get an athletic scholarship to help pay their way through school.
Here are the facts on men’s athletic scholarship availability at NCCA Division I Universities:
·        Baseball:           11.8 scholarships per team
·        Soccer:             9.9 scholarships per team
·        Basketball:        13 scholarships per team
·        Football:         85 scholarships per team
Out of the “Big Four” sports, Football scholarships outnumber the other three sports COMBINED by a ratio of nearly 2.5 to 1 !  There are simply many more Football scholarships available to student-athletes than in any other men’s sport.  Football requires more players per team than the other sports and Football brings in more revenue to the Universities than the other sports.
What other team sport allows kids to EXCEL regardless of whether they …

• are BIG or SMALL ?
• are FAST or SLOW ?
• can CATCH well - or NOT CATCH well ?
• can THROW well - or NOT THROW AT ALL ?

The Chesterfield Football Association can help give young athletes a head-start on their dreams of “making it big” someday. 

-     The Chesterfield Football Association is a member of the Gateway Football League, and players of all sizes are allowed to play.  Nobody is too heavy to play on our teams.  The Gateway Football League follows the national high school rules

  
-     Our teams are grouped by school ages (August 1^st to July 31^st), so players can be on the same team as their classmates. 
  
-     We use blocking and tackling dummies, as well as blocking sleds, just like High School, College and NFL teams.  Other football programs do not have ANY dummies or sleds! 
  
-     We have LIGHTS for our practice fields, so once it starts getting dark early in the evening, we can get the most out of each practice.  Unlike some programs, we don’t have to cut our practices short due to darkness. 
  
-     Some programs have up to 50 players on a team.  Chesterfield doesn’t allow more than 25 players per team, and we average 20 per team.  Less players per team = more game playing time!  It also means more time doing drills in practice and not standing in long lines waiting for a turn.  More practice = better football players! 
  
-     Chesterfield mandates a minimum number of plays per game for EVERY player.  Some programs don’t have a minimum play rule, and consequently, some players may never get in on a single play during a game. 
  
-     Our goal is to teach the fundamentals of football to ALL players.  That is why we build teams with a small number of players – so we can maximize the practice time and game playing time that each player gets.  Any High School coach will tell you, the more repetitions kids get in practice and the more playing time they get in games, the better prepared they will be for High School football.  And that is our goal for EVERY player – not just the best players.

Did you know…
·   According to a Mayo Clinic study the risk of injury in youth football is no greater than in other recreational or competitive sports.
·   According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, youth football has 12% FEWER injuries per player than Soccer.

The YOUNGER a child is, the less likely they are to get hurt.  The Mayo Clinic’s study showed that the risk of injury for a FOURTH GRADER playing tackle football was ONE-FOURTH of the risk of injury for an EIGTH GRADER playing football! 

In order to reduce the risk of injury, CFA teams – and all of the teams we play against - are organized by AGE, with maximum weights for backs at every age. So, everyone will be playing against other players that are similar in size.

What sport does your family watch most on TV during the fall and winter?  For most families it is FOOTBALL! Wouldn’t it be great to give your child a chance to participate in the most-watched team sport in America?

For more information on football safety please read this article on the Pop Warner site