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.