In February of 2018, a legislative measure AB 2108 (the Safe Youth Football Act- California) was created, but failed to be submitted to the committee for consideration because of the efforts of the Save Youth Football Coalition (Save Youth Football California). Heading into 2019, make no mistake, youth football is still under attack. There has been five states that presented legislation that would ban tackle youth football for kids under 12. In New York and New Jersey the proposed measures are still being considered. With that said, the leaders of the Save Youth Football California have created an alliance and are ready to fight for the great sport of youth football.

We began to come together as the Save Youth Football California Coalition, and as the Alliance we will continue to serve you with an amplified mission and new services. We are here to stay, and we have work to do.

The California Youth Football Alliance (CAYFA), is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring, improving, and advancing the sport of youth tackle football. We aspire to relentlessly and continually advance the great sport of football so that more generations of student-athletes, coaches, and communities can experience the intellectual, emotional, social, and physical developmental benefits of the sport.

The CAYFA was co-founded by Steve Famiano, Joe Rafter, and Ron White, who were a part of the original Save Youth Football California Coalition that led the charge to defeat the California state bill to ban youth tackle football in April of 2018. They started CAYFA because there is a void in the youth football structure. Youth tackle football is a very diverse community with many leagues/conferences, associations/chapters, and players. By coming together to create a unified voice we protect our right to play youth tackle football as well as strengthen our sport and all those it serves.

CYFA: Over the recent years, many advances have been made in youth tackle football to make the game safer. These improvements include and are not limited to:

This list is only a start. More is to be done, and the CAYFA intends to inspire and drive continued advancement in California.

CYFA: While a few paragraphs would never suffice to sufficiently define the benefits of tackle football, we have summarized our views herein. Kids playing tackle football learn a combination of values like teamwork, self-discipline, overcoming adversity, sacrifice for others, academic-rigor, healthy nutrition, leadership, and acceptance by bringing together a diverse cross-section of the community. Tackle football uniquely integrates these values due to the intellectual, emotional, social, and physical requirements of the sport.

Further, youth tackle football promotes an active lifestyle that helps combat obesity rates in youth, which have increased by 300 percent over the past four decades and that lead to a broad range of health problems previously not seen until adulthood, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and elevated blood cholesterol levels. Tackle football also helps combat behavioral health problems that are linked to increased risk of sleep disturbances due to increased use of  mobile phones & gaming consoles screen time. Tackle football offers every level of athlete regardless of speed, experience, or body type the ability to compete with their peers and themselves to experience athletic success.

CYFA: As you can see, youth tackle football provides value and has been on a path towards improvement. With all this progress to date, we have more to achieve. Our vision is for youth tackle football to be the safest sport in California. We welcome others across America to join us in making an impact in their state.

Our goals to progress this vision are:

Specifically, we will need to commit more effort to improving and advancing:

CYFA: To achieve this vision and these goals we will need legislators, administrators, coaches, referees, players, families, suppliers, and the youth football community at large to come together like never before. Our path to success is paved with the same values intrinsic to the very sport we love. An informed and engaged administrator, parent, referee, and player is our greatest asset. In general, regardless of your role, we propose the following actions to make the 2019 season better than 2018:

Engaging the CAYFA to explore how we can partner in your local community; and

Conduct your offseason preparation with improvement and safety top of mind as you plan for the fall of 2019; and

Deepen your commitment to safer play through consistent and diligent rule enforcement; and

Play a more active role with safety standards in your football teams.

Watch for legislative developments in 2019, and take action to support AB1.