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High School "Club" football teams will be playing in the spring in Illinois

YDFan_2000

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Jul 29, 2020
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If for any reason there is not a high school football season, I am hearing that many towns are in the process of creating "Club" teams so kids can play this spring. These Club teams will have no association with their high school or middle school, however they will of course consist of mainly the same players. These club teams will not be sanctioned by IHSA or any youth league such as Pop Warner, TCYFL, etc. and will play independently against other programs. The only challenge I am hearing is finding field space, but that shouldn't be a major problem. Many of the high school "Club" teams will rent equipment, responsible for paying the insurance and play other teams and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Heck, in the fall I heard that the Naperville Patriots and a few other youth travel football programs would practice during the week and then travel to Wisconsin or Indiana to play games. I am sure the same thing will happen in the spring. The state cannot stop kids from playing football or other sports, it would be a lot safer from a COVID perspective if the kids played for their schools rather then play Club Football and/or play out of state. I think people are fed up w/ IHSA, IDPH, and the Governor not providing a solution and allowing the kids to play when every other state has proven they can play and do it safely. These Club teams that are being created and teams willing to play out of state are the result of not getting any direction or assurance of a season and I don't blame them! There is NOTHING the IHSA, IDPH, or Pritzger can do to stop these high school "club" games from being played this spring in the state of Illinois!
 
If for any reason there is not a high school football season, I am hearing that many towns are in the process of creating "Club" teams so kids can play this spring. These Club teams will have no association with their high school or middle school, however they will of course consist of mainly the same players. These club teams will not be sanctioned by IHSA or any youth league such as Pop Warner, TCYFL, etc. and will play independently against other programs. The only challenge I am hearing is finding field space, but that shouldn't be a major problem. Many of the high school "Club" teams will rent equipment, responsible for paying the insurance and play other teams and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Heck, in the fall I heard that the Naperville Patriots and a few other youth travel football programs would practice during the week and then travel to Wisconsin or Indiana to play games. I am sure the same thing will happen in the spring. The state cannot stop kids from playing football or other sports, it would be a lot safer from a COVID perspective if the kids played for their schools rather then play Club Football and/or play out of state. I think people are fed up w/ IHSA, IDPH, and the Governor not providing a solution and allowing the kids to play when every other state has proven they can play and do it safely. These Club teams that are being created and teams willing to play out of state are the result of not getting any direction or assurance of a season and I don't blame them! There is NOTHING the IHSA, IDPH, or Pritzger can do to stop these high school "club" games from being played this spring in the state of Illinois!
Insurance? Cost of playing?
 
Insurance? Cost of playing?

Insurance just wont be purchased if that happened.

Schools are not going to rent their equipment to outside organizations. That and finding field space would be the issue.
 
Insurance? Cost of playing?
There would obviously be a cost to each player, whether high school or middle school. You could easily get insurance under a local youth team's umbrella and/or negotiate your own rate for the 2 months that the kids play. I heard that Schutt rents out equipment now as well. Having a Club team is very possible and can be done fairly easily, yes it will cost some money but I am sure many families will pay for the cost of insurance, equipment, and field space to have their boys play.
 
There would obviously be a cost to each player, whether high school or middle school. You could easily get insurance under a local youth team's umbrella and/or negotiate your own rate for the 2 months that the kids play. I heard that Schutt rents out equipment now as well. Having a Club team is very possible and can be done fairly easily, yes it will cost some money but I am sure many families will pay for the cost of insurance, equipment, and field space to have their boys play.

Could you get a few teams? Sure.

Anything wide spread? No.
 
If for any reason there is not a high school football season, I am hearing that many towns are in the process of creating "Club" teams so kids can play this spring. These Club teams will have no association with their high school or middle school, however they will of course consist of mainly the same players. These club teams will not be sanctioned by IHSA or any youth league such as Pop Warner, TCYFL, etc. and will play independently against other programs. The only challenge I am hearing is finding field space, but that shouldn't be a major problem. Many of the high school "Club" teams will rent equipment, responsible for paying the insurance and play other teams and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Heck, in the fall I heard that the Naperville Patriots and a few other youth travel football programs would practice during the week and then travel to Wisconsin or Indiana to play games. I am sure the same thing will happen in the spring. The state cannot stop kids from playing football or other sports, it would be a lot safer from a COVID perspective if the kids played for their schools rather then play Club Football and/or play out of state. I think people are fed up w/ IHSA, IDPH, and the Governor not providing a solution and allowing the kids to play when every other state has proven they can play and do it safely. These Club teams that are being created and teams willing to play out of state are the result of not getting any direction or assurance of a season and I don't blame them! There is NOTHING the IHSA, IDPH, or Pritzger can do to stop these high school "club" games from being played this spring in the state of Illinois!
Steps are absolutely being taken. Success remains in question. South of I80 is becoming the mecca of indoor sports. Why not outdoors? LOL
 
Could you get a few teams? Sure.

Anything wide spread? No.
mc140 you are absolutely correct! This would not be widespread. Like all "Club" teams (soccer, hockey, etc) all expenses are paid by the families so I am sure only certain towns will be able to have a team. You can group 7-8 towns, create these "Club" teams and play a 6 game season easily. I assume the cost would be $400-$500 per kid and I am sure many families would pay that for their kids to play football. This is definitely a reality and can happen very easily. My point is that even if Prtzger and IDPH say no to football for spring, kids will have options and can legally play in the state of Illinois albeit just not for their high school
 
I could see this happening many park districts and youth organizations have already signed on for Spring football independent of the current league structures in the area, to expand it and scale it up to high school kids would take some work but is not totally out of the realm of possibility.
 
mc140 you are absolutely correct! This would not be widespread. Like all "Club" teams (soccer, hockey, etc) all expenses are paid by the families so I am sure only certain towns will be able to have a team. You can group 7-8 towns, create these "Club" teams and play a 6 game season easily. I assume the cost would be $400-$500 per kid and I am sure many families would pay that for their kids to play football. This is definitely a reality and can happen very easily. My point is that even if Prtzger and IDPH say no to football for spring, kids will have options and can legally play in the state of Illinois albeit just not for their high school

It would be much more than that. But I could see it.
 
The clubs would need helmets, pads, insurance, and a place to play. How many start up clubs would have the money to do that? I am guessing not many
 
The clubs would need helmets, pads, insurance, and a place to play. How many start up clubs would have the money to do that? I am guessing not many

You need parents to fork out between 1k -1500. Plus find space to practice a sport you can not currently practice.
 
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Every team had a first year. Started with no equipment. But its only money. I'm thinking Schutt, Riddell, Nike and every other equipment & uniform supplier is sitting on a pile of equipment that went unsold last summer because the Governor waited until August to kill youth football and push off high school. Sure, 40 + states played football. But that leaves 10% + of the market collecting dust in a warehouse...plus D3, D2, NAIA, and FCS. This might be the cheapest year to start a new team / league from the equipment standpoint.

Insurance? If you are playing out of state, clearly teams in other states are getting insurance. Its only money.

Practice space? I've watched youth soccer practice at the local park. They might not be able to "reserve" the space, but if 50 kids show up and start practicing I don't see anyone complaining now. And in some communities the youth league actually owns their facility, so I don't see a problem as long as insurance covers...

As I posted elsewhere, the Kankakee Eastside Bulldogs played a full out of state fall schedule. It can be done. The expenses, however, for a one year league might be high. But for parents accustomed to plunking down $1000+ dollars for travel baseball, softball, soccer, AAU basketball etc. it shouldn't be a problem - particularly since some of those travel teams were cancelled.
 
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If this is being done as a solution to play football for just this spring, the effort/expense involved to get it done would be way higher than what really makes sense. Even assuming you figure out equipment and insurance, finding places to practice/play is really difficult right now. The travel baseball/softball org that my daughters play for has spent a crazy amount of time, starting last summer, to find fields to use for this spring/summer. Thinking you could form a team/org/"league" from scratch on Feb 1 and just have fields to play on in March/April is pretty unrealistic.
 
The thought that crossed my mind, is if this were to happen, even on a small scale, how big would rosters be? You sure as hell aren’t going to get parents to pony up $1500 if kids weren’t guaranteed some playing time.
 
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I wonder how "demographic equity" would play out in club football? Probably like the other club sports already in motion?
 
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Commercial Insurance broker here.....

It's already happening in other states. California link

Insurance will be a non-issue for the team. Will be expensive but will be able to get it.

The equipment will be an issue and uniforms. Again will be expensive to play but it is what it is.

The issue is where are they going to play? No HS or College will let them use their facilities because of the liability. No waiver will be any good here. Possible a park district field?
 
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The thought that crossed my mind, is if this were to happen, even on a small scale, how big would rosters be? You sure as hell aren’t going to get parents to pony up $1500 if kids weren’t guaranteed some playing time.
Agree, not every kid that would play on their HS team will play Club. The rosters will be much smaller and mainly for kids that will get on the field and play. That being said, no way will it be $1500, it will be much less. There are many private fields out there and I’m sure many of the non-public schools (Mt Carmel, Joliet Catholic, Fenwick, Loyola, St Francis, ICCP, etc) will allow games to be played on their fields as this is a way to recruit and promote their school. Games may have to be played on Thursdays - Mondays due to lack of fields but I can assure you this can be done at the Club level.
 
Agree, not every kid that would play on their HS team will play Club. The rosters will be much smaller and mainly for kids that will get on the field and play. That being said, no way will it be $1500, it will be much less. There are many private fields out there and I’m sure many of the non-public schools (Mt Carmel, Joliet Catholic, Fenwick, Loyola, St Francis, ICCP, etc) will allow games to be played on their fields as this is a way to recruit and promote their school. Games may have to be played on Thursdays - Mondays due to lack of fields but I can assure you this can be done at the Club level.
Sounds great, hope these young men and ladies get a chance to play.
 
Interesting topic, and as person No. 25 weighing in on it, a vote here is cast that this has zero chance of working. Zero.
And I am not knocking the commentators who say this is great and the extraordinar-to-me phrase, "it's only money." There's nothing wrong with supporting the idea. This is not a math problem. It's simply opinion.
Ten reasons why this has zero chance of working:
1) Who's going to play at the high school level? And I am giving the benefit of the doubt here that high school football is cancelled for the spring/summer of 2021 on Feb. 1 so time is not an issue. I am also going to give the benefit of the doubt that there are NO high school sports this spring/summer because if there are, then obviously some multi-sport athletes would choose to play a sport for their high school team rather than football for a club team. If it's an either/or, we have zero way of knowing the percentage of players who would choose club football over a different high school sport, or vice versa, so let's just say there are no competing high school sports so we can maximize the possible number of club football players.
Are current seniors who expect to play football at the D3 or D2 or D1 level in college in August going to play? Are current seniors who won't play organized football again after high school play? Are seniors who never played varsity football going to play? That's your pool of seniors.
Your current juniors ... same situation as the senior class.
Your current sophomores ... do you want sophomores playing tackle football against seniors who are going to be playing football in college? What about sophomores who didn't play as freshmen for whatever reason. Maybe they moved from Lincoln-Way East where 120 freshmen played football to Waukegan, where 25 try out for the sophomore team.
Your current freshmen: Does anybody think it's a good idea for a freshman to be playing tackle football against seniors?
So what you are going to have to have are either age-group teams or not allow freshmen and sophomores to play.
Which leads to ...
2) How many schools will have to be combined to field a team?
In youth football, there are geographical boundaries that determine which organization a child can play for. Who's going to draw boundaries for club football teams. How do you do that? What do you do if Stevenson High School with 4,000 students gets 30 juniors and seniors who want to play, and neighboring Buffalo Grove High School only gets 8 juniors and seniors who want to play?
Do kids just sign up with whatever club team that want, regardless of geography?
Does a freshman wide receiver from Belvidere North sign up to play for a club team in Antioch that has Antioch High's senior quarterback who is committed to play at Minnesota in the fall because the Belvidere North kid thinks playing with a college calibre QB will improve his game?
And if that happens, what does the senior with limited football skills who signs up with a club team in the Antioch do when the wideout from Belvidere North signs up and is a much better player? In high school, there are three choices: A) sit on the bench and enjoy being part of the team; B) quit the team; C) get cut from the team.
In club football, you've paid money to play. That changes the equation.
3) How much practice are these kids going to get?
Practice before the season is, what, 15 days? But that's after working as a team during the summer. Here, guys are going to be put together who've never seen each other before. Again, it can't be a high school-only team because what happens for the schools that don't get enough players?
Think high school hockey here ... a club sport. For boys teams, there is a JV division, a varsity division, and a division for teams made up of players from several schools.
4) Who's running this club organization? In club hockey at the high school level, there is an umbrella organization: AHAI.
There is no umbrella organization for club football at the high school level.
5) Could high school-age teams be formed under the guidance of the area youth football programs?
Seriously, who's going want to touch that one? OK, so let's try. The TCYFL can theoretically add divisions for freshmen/sophomores and juniors/seniors.
But the fact is, youth football programs at the "varsity/heavyweight" division are basically feeder programs for the local high school team. Only what is going to happen when the teams in a division can't field enough players for a team? Youth football situations are all similar. At the peewee level, programs can field two or three full teams. By the time the kids get to eighth grade, it's sometimes tough to field one team. Now, you want high school kids to play youth football in significant numbers.
6) What kind of coaching are these kids going to get? Remember, you're going to get some players who are not even remotely skilled at football and this is in an era when safety has emerged as a top priority.
And again, why do you do when one side of a line has future college players running with the ball, and the other side has inexperienced who are playing for the first time since eighth grade because they quit freshman football because they never played in games?
7) Who's going to pay to have police officers on hand to settle any disputes that get out of hand which at the club level, could happen. It may never happen, but not having a police presence at a tackle football game at the club level makes no sense.
8) Who's going to pay to have the ambulance on hand, like it is at every high school game? And who's going to pay for athletic trainers to take care of injuries that occur at practices, let alone game?
9) Are you familiar with club volleyball? There's a "must play" component built into the program. But in volleyball, pretty much a kid can get in and play any spot, and the player next to them can cover. For example, a 6-foot-4 hitter can cover for a 5-9 kid who was inserted into the front row to get him playing time.
In football, where are the non-skilled players going to "hide?"
10) Just think about the last time you watched a high school varsity football game, and at no point in the game, was there a delay because a kid was down on the field and shaken up/injured?
11) Money. It's only money? In Lake County alone, I can think of five high school districts where a minimum number of kids would sign up for club ball, and that number would be significantly reduced because instead of paying the standard school fee to play sports, the fee to be paid for club football would be much higher.
How much higher? You are starting a club league with no helmets, no shoulder pads, no hip pads, no knee pads, no jerseys, no football pants, no footballs for practice.
You can use any open field at any forest preserve and get 30 kids together to practice, but there is lined field,l no goal posts, no nothing other than a big empty field. I personally have seen peewee level kids practice in a big open grass area that has nothing to do with football. The peewee kids are just starting out. They don't know better.
As far as playing games, high schools are obviously out. Some towns like Buffalo Grove have a field for their Buffalo Bills youth football program. Good for them. Waukegan has a city park with an artificial-turf football field. Good for them.
But do you realize how many youth football programs practice in just empty areas and then need the high school field for games?
Anyway, I respect those of you who think it's a good idea and more importantly, a doable idea. You have a valid opinion. I just see things in a different light.
 
Interesting topic, and as person No. 25 weighing in on it, a vote here is cast that this has zero chance of working. Zero.
And I am not knocking the commentators who say this is great and the extraordinar-to-me phrase, "it's only money." There's nothing wrong with supporting the idea. This is not a math problem. It's simply opinion.
Ten reasons why this has zero chance of working:
1) Who's going to play at the high school level? And I am giving the benefit of the doubt here that high school football is cancelled for the spring/summer of 2021 on Feb. 1 so time is not an issue. I am also going to give the benefit of the doubt that there are NO high school sports this spring/summer because if there are, then obviously some multi-sport athletes would choose to play a sport for their high school team rather than football for a club team. If it's an either/or, we have zero way of knowing the percentage of players who would choose club football over a different high school sport, or vice versa, so let's just say there are no competing high school sports so we can maximize the possible number of club football players.
Are current seniors who expect to play football at the D3 or D2 or D1 level in college in August going to play? Are current seniors who won't play organized football again after high school play? Are seniors who never played varsity football going to play? That's your pool of seniors.
Your current juniors ... same situation as the senior class.
Your current sophomores ... do you want sophomores playing tackle football against seniors who are going to be playing football in college? What about sophomores who didn't play as freshmen for whatever reason. Maybe they moved from Lincoln-Way East where 120 freshmen played football to Waukegan, where 25 try out for the sophomore team.
Your current freshmen: Does anybody think it's a good idea for a freshman to be playing tackle football against seniors?
So what you are going to have to have are either age-group teams or not allow freshmen and sophomores to play.
Which leads to ...
2) How many schools will have to be combined to field a team?
In youth football, there are geographical boundaries that determine which organization a child can play for. Who's going to draw boundaries for club football teams. How do you do that? What do you do if Stevenson High School with 4,000 students gets 30 juniors and seniors who want to play, and neighboring Buffalo Grove High School only gets 8 juniors and seniors who want to play?
Do kids just sign up with whatever club team that want, regardless of geography?
Does a freshman wide receiver from Belvidere North sign up to play for a club team in Antioch that has Antioch High's senior quarterback who is committed to play at Minnesota in the fall because the Belvidere North kid thinks playing with a college calibre QB will improve his game?
And if that happens, what does the senior with limited football skills who signs up with a club team in the Antioch do when the wideout from Belvidere North signs up and is a much better player? In high school, there are three choices: A) sit on the bench and enjoy being part of the team; B) quit the team; C) get cut from the team.
In club football, you've paid money to play. That changes the equation.
3) How much practice are these kids going to get?
Practice before the season is, what, 15 days? But that's after working as a team during the summer. Here, guys are going to be put together who've never seen each other before. Again, it can't be a high school-only team because what happens for the schools that don't get enough players?
Think high school hockey here ... a club sport. For boys teams, there is a JV division, a varsity division, and a division for teams made up of players from several schools.
4) Who's running this club organization? In club hockey at the high school level, there is an umbrella organization: AHAI.
There is no umbrella organization for club football at the high school level.
5) Could high school-age teams be formed under the guidance of the area youth football programs?
Seriously, who's going want to touch that one? OK, so let's try. The TCYFL can theoretically add divisions for freshmen/sophomores and juniors/seniors.
But the fact is, youth football programs at the "varsity/heavyweight" division are basically feeder programs for the local high school team. Only what is going to happen when the teams in a division can't field enough players for a team? Youth football situations are all similar. At the peewee level, programs can field two or three full teams. By the time the kids get to eighth grade, it's sometimes tough to field one team. Now, you want high school kids to play youth football in significant numbers.
6) What kind of coaching are these kids going to get? Remember, you're going to get some players who are not even remotely skilled at football and this is in an era when safety has emerged as a top priority.
And again, why do you do when one side of a line has future college players running with the ball, and the other side has inexperienced who are playing for the first time since eighth grade because they quit freshman football because they never played in games?
7) Who's going to pay to have police officers on hand to settle any disputes that get out of hand which at the club level, could happen. It may never happen, but not having a police presence at a tackle football game at the club level makes no sense.
8) Who's going to pay to have the ambulance on hand, like it is at every high school game? And who's going to pay for athletic trainers to take care of injuries that occur at practices, let alone game?
9) Are you familiar with club volleyball? There's a "must play" component built into the program. But in volleyball, pretty much a kid can get in and play any spot, and the player next to them can cover. For example, a 6-foot-4 hitter can cover for a 5-9 kid who was inserted into the front row to get him playing time.
In football, where are the non-skilled players going to "hide?"
10) Just think about the last time you watched a high school varsity football game, and at no point in the game, was there a delay because a kid was down on the field and shaken up/injured?
11) Money. It's only money? In Lake County alone, I can think of five high school districts where a minimum number of kids would sign up for club ball, and that number would be significantly reduced because instead of paying the standard school fee to play sports, the fee to be paid for club football would be much higher.
How much higher? You are starting a club league with no helmets, no shoulder pads, no hip pads, no knee pads, no jerseys, no football pants, no footballs for practice.
You can use any open field at any forest preserve and get 30 kids together to practice, but there is lined field,l no goal posts, no nothing other than a big empty field. I personally have seen peewee level kids practice in a big open grass area that has nothing to do with football. The peewee kids are just starting out. They don't know better.
As far as playing games, high schools are obviously out. Some towns like Buffalo Grove have a field for their Buffalo Bills youth football program. Good for them. Waukegan has a city park with an artificial-turf football field. Good for them.
But do you realize how many youth football programs practice in just empty areas and then need the high school field for games?
Anyway, I respect those of you who think it's a good idea and more importantly, a doable idea. You have a valid opinion. I just see things in a different light.
I think I need a smoke after reading that one LOL. Lots to think about.
 
It has a chance bc parents think their kid needs to get film for recruiting. Parents will pay.

Will be interesting to see how many teams are fielded.
 
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There are many private fields out there and I’m sure many of the non-public schools (Mt Carmel, Joliet Catholic, Fenwick, Loyola, St Francis, ICCP, etc) will allow games to be played on their fields as this is a way to recruit and promote their school.
I am not so sure about this. I’m sure someone out there has more knowledge about this than I do, but how would a schools liability insurance cover a non school sanctioned event? If MC allowed a “club” team not affiliated with the school practice and play on their field and someone was seriously injured, would there be a possibility of lawsuit against the school?
 
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I am not so sure about this. I’m sure someone out there has more knowledge about this than I do, but how would a schools liability insurance cover a non school sanctioned event? If MC allowed a “club” team not affiliated with the school practice and play on their field and someone was seriously injured, would there be a possibility of lawsuit against the school?

This is a complete dead end. Schools will not let any teams play on their field.
 
I am not so sure about this. I’m sure someone out there has more knowledge about this than I do, but how would a schools liability insurance cover a non school sanctioned event? If MC allowed a “club” team not affiliated with the school practice and play on their field and someone was seriously injured, would there be a possibility of lawsuit against the school?
I envision more of an AAU situation. Totally private clubs.
 
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If they pay a rental fee and can produce a Certificate of Insurance why wouldn’t they let them play there?
That’s sorta what I was wondering? If they’re paying a rental fee and have a certificate of insurance would that absolve the school of all liability and litigation in the event of an injury?
 
That’s sorta what I was wondering? If they’re paying a rental fee and have a certificate of insurance would that absolve the school of all liability and litigation in the event of an injury?
May be moot if there is still a gathering limit. Especially on public property. Schools, park districts may not want to defy governor orders of no more than 50 even if the party has insurance and certificate. Would possibly still go against the overall order.
 
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That’s sorta what I was wondering? If they’re paying a rental fee and have a certificate of insurance would that absolve the school of all liability and litigation in the event of an injury?
Correct. It would be no different then what currently happens for tons of club sports that use high school facilities. The club names the school as additionally insured.
The schools may not allow the clubs to use it if administrators say football is not safe or the state guidelines do not allow it. I know in club soccer the “academy” level does not permit its players to compete in high school soccer. A few schools decided that they would no longer allow those teams to use their fields for high school ages because it was direct competition.
 
The schools may not allow the clubs to use it if administrators say football is not safe or the state guidelines do not allow it.

That will be the issue. Assuming this plan would only be done as a way to get around the State/IHSA saying football isn't allowed, the schools aren't going to then say OK to the sport being played on their fields.
 
You need parents to fork out between 1k -1500. Plus find space to practice a sport you can not currently practice.
I am not seeing club happening because of the high cost per player and knowing this would turn into Daddy ball like all club sports.
 
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