It was evident at a recent meeting of St. Mary’s Recreation and Parks on Monday, August 3 in the Chesapeake Building in Leonardtown, that the county plans to become more involved in the youth football situation.

For some, the entry of the County into the lucrative youth football and cheer arena is welcomed. For others, that is not the case.

Currently, the two existing leagues are in disarray – St. Mary’s Pigskins is not going to have a 2009 season and South County Raiders play under the umbrella of Calvert Parks and Recreation. Another problem is that the County has taken control of a great deal of football equipment because a dispute between the two leagues has failed to reach any resolution.

Adding fuel to the controversial fire that is beginning to boil, a new youth football league, Southern Maryland Youth Football and Cheer League is attempting to start a football program in the County for the coming season.

According to William Hoffer, Chairman of the SMYFL, the County’s timing seems beyond interesting. “When we first decided to start the league, we approached the County and were told that they weren’t in the football business.”

Hoffer went on to state that now the County has decided to enter the fray, forming a league is going to be a very complicated deal.

At the meeting, Recreation and Parks Director, Phil Rollins explained that “youth football was initially started 25 to 30 years ago and then it became a private volunteer program.” Under the current set-up for youth football, the County provides facilities and administers the ‘Raising Community Standards’ program performing background checks on coaches and league officials.

Rollins also explained that up until 2005 there was only one youth football program – St. Mary’s Pigskin. During that year there was a serious on-field confrontation and because of the bad feelings of parents and some coaches, a second league was formed – Pax River Raiders.

The leagues co-existed until this year when the owner of the Pigskin league decided to shut down and to sell equipment to the second league. For whatever reason, the equipment ownership situation was never resolved and the County stepped in and took control of the disputed gear.

At the same time SMYFL was trying to begin their league. The SMYFL League Director, Patrick Murphy stated at the meeting, “During this whole process, the other two leagues have both tried to sell their organization to us - in the end it didn’t work out for one reason or another or personalities or whatever it came to be.”

SMYFL is planning to start 30 to 35 teams with 4 to 5 teams in each weight group. “We're not involved in anything that's going on with these other two leagues," said Murphy. “If someone wants to get out of a non-profit business they are supposed to donate that equipment to another non-profit or to the county government for the general public's use."

Murphy says SMYFL offers the structure necessary to maintain a vibrant youth football program. He went on to say that when he asked R & P have they considered Club football the answer was no and that now they are far into the build up of their organization that has used a lot of funds from other non-profit groups to buy equipment.

Recreation Division Manager, Arthur Shepherd stated, “We are hoping to establish accountability and sustainability through a County management system.” He went on to state that with private clubs utilizing county fields, youth sports league equipment must be the property of the individual youth league club and not an individual.

Murphy countered by stating that SMYFL is governed by a board and that the equipment belongs to the organization as a whole and not one entity. Shepherd then stated that youth football is the only sports program where the owner has the property and owns the league, but still plays at county facilities.

The meeting continued, but no real decisions were made. A public meeting is planned for mid-September where coaches, players and parents will be heard. Until then, there is no way of knowing the future of youth football in St. Mary’s County.

Read The Minutes of the Meeting Here