THIS IS A LONG ARTICLE...BUT WELL WORTH THE READ!!

Five year old league lets the big guys play, (September 15, 1999)

By Bryan P. Sears

Bigger has not always been better. Just ask a child with a big interest in playing football who happens to be bigger and heavier than the other boys his age.  Bill Casagrande was one of those big guys. By the tenth grade he was six-foot-two, 240 pounds. Because of his size he was unable to play organized football in the recreation leagues, or pound leagues as he calls them. His first year of football came when he entered Parkville Senior High.  Casagrande says he was "fortunate" to have had a good high school career. He was able to play football at Harford Community College and then transfer to Boston University.

Years later, while working as vice president of the Harford-Baltimore Youth Football League he found kids who were much like himself being left out. From that experience, a new league was born - the Mid-Atlantic Unlimited Youth Football Association, an unlimited weight league for boys in grades six through eight.  "I started the unlimited weight league because these kids were constantly being told they were too big to play," Casagrande said. "These kids had no place to play football. We may be the biggest secret in the area. Everything around here is Pop Warner and rec. league."

In states like California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, those players would be able to compete on junior high school teams. Maryland has no such teams and looks to recreation and independent leagues to fill the gaps.  "There are 44 rec. councils in Baltimore County alone providing sports for kids," Casagrande said. "It's easy for middle schools and elementary schools to not be involved in athletics."

"The success of football programs in states where the big kids can play can be attributed to letting those kids play. Some of the top high school teams in the country, ranked by USA Today, come from those areas. It's also where the top college football programs are."  Casagrande took it upon himself to fill the void. He started the unlimited weight league in 1995 funded with a credit card. The league consisted of one team of 35 middle school age players, playing prep schools who had middle school programs.

"We begged and borrowed from anywhere and everywhere," Casagrande said.  The fledgling league was in need of even basic items. Casagrande recalls being given old practice pants from some of the league and high school football programs that would have been thrown away. The pants had holes in them and were so big they were falling off his players.  "We lined kids up to run drills with their uniforms and all their pads, when they got into a three point stance it looked like a line of plumbers. Their pants were falling down," he said laughing. " We should have had a camera that night, we probably could have won $10,000. We could have used [the money], too."  The team did not win a game that year.  The only touchdown they scored that season was by Parkville resident and Calvert Hall standout Lou Lombardo against McDonough's freshman-sophomore team.  

Lombardo came to the team while he was in the eighth grade. he was six-foot-two, 220 pounds.  "[Lombardo] was too big to play football or soccer and not into baseball," Casagrande said.  Lombardo is now a six-foot-seven senior at Calvert Hall. He is on the honor role and has verbally committed to play at the University of Maryland next season.  Casagrande is quick to point out that players like Lombardo would be left out of the regular "pound leagues" and would not have the experience they need to excel in the sport once they reach the high school level.   "Kids today, who can start playing in the sixth, seventh and eighth, grades, what an advantage they have," he said.

Other local players like Greg Lotz and Eric Keener are benefiting from MUYFA.  Lotz, a resident of Kingsville, plays for Gilman's varsity squad. He credits MUYFA with providing him that opportunity.  Lotz played one year in Perry Hall's 11-12 team in 1996. The next season he went over the weight limits for the 13-14 league by ten pounds.  "I was tall and skinny," Lotz said. "I couldn't lose weight to get into the rec. league, I was already skin and bones at the time. I started to look into playing soccer instead.  "Getting into this league gave me the opportunity to go to a better school. I'd never even heard of Gilman before."  

Keener had a similar experience. He played youth football in Middle River before a growth spurt forced him to consider dropping football.  "I was only five pounds over the limit, but they are pretty strict," he said. "You get weighed before games, if you're over you don't play."  Keener said he thought he could lose weight and be able to play but feared he would miss games because his weight would go up and down.  He credits the league with giving him the experience he needed to play football in high school. Keener, a senior, plays outside linebacker for Eastern Tech.

The league, in its fifth year, now boasts 200 players on eight teams from the eastern shore to Hampstead. There are two teams in Anne Arundel County and two teams that play in the Loch Raven area.  It has been a struggle all the way. Casagrande said he has approached other football leagues about fielding unlimited weight teams to play in his league but has received a luke warm reception at best.  "There has been a lot of reluctance from a lot of these youth programs," he said.  "We went to the rec. areas and the Pop Warner leagues to let them know if they have kids that could play in this league to have them call me. Some of them did and some didn't."  "We asked them to offer an unlimited weight team and they told us 'oh no, we don't have that many big kids.' But they never advertise for the big kids. Those kids won't come out and sign up unless they know they have a chance because of the age and weight restrictions."  "That's the first excuse. The second excuse is they don't have the equipment. Of course they don't because they never had kids big enough to need that equipment. You get the kids first, then the equipment, then the money and then the coaches. That's how we did it."

He believes there is a demand for his program. Hampstead, a new entry into the league this year was formed by the local recreation council. Anne Arundel County may add another team next year.  Casagrande says he is not against pound league programs. In fact, during promotional sessions at local malls he will point boys to programs in those leagues if they are not appropriate for the unlimited weight league.

"I spend a lot of time promoting all youth football," Casagrande said.  Sometimes he will allow a player who could still play in another program to play in his. He says sometimes players approach him and are adamant about playing in his league. In those cases the league evaluates each player individually.  "We have the kid come to practice and see how they match up," Casagrande said. "We look at their maturity level and make a decision. If they are better placed in a pound program, we tell them that."  In addition to expansion, the league has found a home field to practice on.

When MUYFA began, they practiced at Middle River Middle School, home of the Middle River Renegades. Practice time conflicts soon caused the league to find another place to workout.  Without an affiliation with a Recreation and Parks Council, the league was practically frozen out.  "We were the step child of the youth football program," he said. "we were gypsies."  Finally, the team was invited to practice at Double Rock Park in Parkville near the end of the 1995 season. They were offered the outfield of the softball field at the bottom of a hill, just below the field with lights. The team would stay at that location through the end of the 1996 season.

Then the team got a visit that would change everything.  Gilman head football coach Biff Poggi had heard about the program and came by to check it out. After hearing about the program's trouble in finding a home he offered them use of Gilman's facilities.  "Biff really rolled out the red carpet for us," Casagrande said. "They gave us access to their practice and playing fields. They let us use their expensive equipment."

They have continued to work out there since 1997.  The relationship has benefited Gilman, as well. This year, six of their starters have come out of the MUYFA program.  Other schools have jumped on the bandwagon as well. Regional power Eastern Tech has started to draw their share of kids from the league as well. This past year the Mavericks added three players to their junior varsity team. 

Casagrande says former Eastern Tech head coach Nick Arminio was a big fan of the MUYFA program. Maverick's assistant coach Pat Crain still is.  "I was very impressed with the program when I saw it last year," Crain said. "It's a very important program. In the past, kids who didn't make weight couldn't play until the ninth grade. I played Pop Warner and if you didn't make weight you never played. Now they can come in having a couple of years experience under their belt."

"If you look at Maryland high school football, we're behind compared with other states. Kids in Pennsylvania have been playing football for four to five years. Areas in Maryland, particularly in Baltimore, ninth graders come in without any experience."

Crain said he would like to see a team play closer to the Essex and Middle River area.  Eastern Tech hopes they will be able to attract more players from the MUYFA now that Baltimore County has adopted a new policy that allows ET to pull students from all over the county.  Other schools, according to Casagrande, are becoming interested in finding players in the program who are in their school district. The biggest secret in youth football may be out.

Let the Big Guys Play!!!!

Bill Casagrande, 410-529-2080, email:  bcmuyfa@comcast.net