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Teen Football
Starts Practice
New League Forms
By BRUCE SLOANE
Rappahannock New* Staff Writer
The newly-formed Skyline Travel Football League gets underway Saturday with a weigh-in, and actual practice starts Monday for the Rappahannock Panthers team.
“We have about 20 kids signed up,” said coach Tony Hoffman. Viewtown, “but we have room for a few’ more." The league is for boys and girls 12 to 15 years old.
The League is made up of four teams, with the Rappahannock squad competing against three teams: the Fauquier Southern Storms, the Culpeper Fighting Bulls and the Warrenton Running Rebels.
The first kickoff is slated for Saturday, September 11, at Rappahannock County High School, but the exact schedule is not vet ready.
The league is the brain-child of founder, organizer and president Robert McKinley, who has helped raise more than $6,000 to get it started. This has been enough money to order uniforms and some equipment, said McKinley, but more funds are needed for additional equipment, insurance, and pay for game officials.
“We’ve hail an excellent response from the community ,” said McKinley, and we’re looking foward to a learning season and a safe season.”
This Saturday’s activities include a weigh-in and orientation at 10 a.m. at the high school. The maximum weight for 15-year olds is 140 pounds, but players 12 to 14 years old can weigh up to 160 pounds.
Actual practice begins Monday evening. Sessions will be held Mondays through Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. until school starts.
The first week will consist primarily of physical conditioning, said coach Hoffman. “The league requires six hours of non-contact training. We’re looking forward to a both a learning season and a safe season." he stressed.
The league will schedule two games each Saturday, at 1U a.m. and noon at the high school, so all four teams will get to play every week. Each team will play every other team twice during the regular season, for a total of six games per team. There will be a one- or two-game playoff at the end.
Coach Hoffman, an electrician by trade, is not a newcomer to the coaching arena. His football experience includes several years as coach to the Fauquier Mustangs, a Midget Division (6-9 year olds) team. That team included his son, Mark, w ho will be moving up to the Rappahannock Panthers with his father. For the past five years Hoffman has also coached the Astros baseball team, a member of the Rappahannock Athletic League, Majors Division, from Amissvile.
“The whole family has always been sports minded,” said Hoffman, “even my wife, Penny. She keeps the statistics. And she’ll be the scorekeeper for the Skyline League.”
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