HANAPEPE — Kyle Linoz, coach for the Hanapepe Cowboys in the Kauai Youth Football program, said they start the kids out as young as 3 years old Saturday during the opening day of the KYF fall season at Hanapepe Stadium.
“We start ‘em young,” he said.
Brad Hiranaka, president of KYF, said there are nearly 450 young people involved in Kauai Youth Football in both tackle football and cheer programs.
The football players are broken down in four age brackets, including Flag, 10 Under, 12 Under, and 15 Under. They play under the similar Kauai Interscholastic Federation community with teams representing Kapaa, Lihue, and Hanapepe.
Kauai Youth Football operates under the American Youth Football and Cheer program which has one of its goals to make youth football and cheer all-inclusive, by not excluding participants based on superficial factors such as weight, finances, or athletic ability.
Cherie Linoz, KYF cheer coordinator, said the season includes an all-island cheer competition scheduled for Oct. 6 at the Kauai High School gym.
“The exciting aspect of this cheer competition is the winners qualify for the national competition that will take place at Disney World in Florida,” Cherie said. “The American Youth Cheer event will be at a different time as the Pop Warner event, although they share the same place where the competition will take place.”
The KYF season continues Saturday when four games are penned in for the Brian Baptiste Memorial Sports Park stadium starting with the Kapaa Jr. Warriors meeting the Hanapepe Cowboys in a Flag contest at 10:30 a.m.
The Kapaa D3 will host Hanapepe starting at noon followed by the Kapaa D2 meeting Hanapepe at 1:45 p.m. The final game will feature the Kapaa D1 taking on Hanapepe starting at 3:30 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
