HP_071218

30 | July 12, 2018 | The highland park landmark sports
hplandmark.com
HP merges with Young Warriors tackle football program
Brittany Kapa, Sports Editor
On any given Friday
from August until November,
Highland Park and
Deerfield are rivals on the
gridiron.
The rivalry dates back
to the youth level for some
players. It’s a fun, intense
rivalry that was recently
put in jeopardy.
Highland Park’s youth
football program has fielded
a team since the 1970s.
Last year that changed.
Unable to field a team,
Highland Park was forced
to cancel the tackle program
from lack of participation.
However, after conversations
with other local
programs, Highland Park
is bringing youth tackle
football back into the fold
in a unique way.
The program is combining
with Fort Sheridan,
Highwood and Deerfield’s
well-established Young
Warrior’s program to build
a stronger player base for
the program.
Liz Gogola, director of
marketing and communications
for the Park District
of Highland Park, said
the decision to combine
programs was made after
consulting current Highland
Park High School
coach David Lindquist
and Deerfield High School
coach Steve Winiecki.
“By combining the two
communities we felt there
would be value in that,”
Gogola said. “It’s a larger
population, potentially, of
kids we can both attract together
to the sport.”
Lindquist knows all
too well the importance
of having a youth tackle
league that prepares athletes
for high school play.
“That way when they
get to us it’s not a shock
with the level of physical
and mental work that goes
into the game,” Lindquist
said. “If that’s taught at an
earlier age then the kids
aren’t caught off guard
when they get to the high
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school and play for the
first time.”
Winiecki fully supported
the merger with Deerfield’s
youth program.
“It was a natural fit,” he
said. “Highland Park lost
their individual program.
It’s very important to have
kids and parents want to
have a youth football program.
“It doesn’t matter where
you’re going to the high
school you need kids that
want to play football in a
a well coached, safe environment.”
The Little Giants/Young
Warriors program will
provide that in spades. Gogola
said space for practice
and games will be divided
equally between Deerfield
and Highland Park.
The league will also shift
the way it houses players,
transitioning from weightbased
to grade-level divisions.
The change gives the
players more opportunities
to play in a safe and
appropriate environment,
Winiecki said.
The end goal is to have
adequate numbers for each
team, ideally reaching the
low 20s for each age division.
Any more and playing
time would be severely
decreased.
“It looks very impressive
if you have big numbers,
but you only get to
play 11,” Winiecki said.
“You want kids to play
football not dress up and
Highland Park’s youth tackle football program merges
with the Young Warriors to ensure feeder programs for
both HPHS and Deerfield. photo Submitted
stand around.”
Each division will
compete in the Central
Suburban Youth Football
League. But there are some
minor details to iron out,
and those are less important
than getting a feeder
program up and running,
smoothly, for Highland
Park.
“We’re still figuring out
what we’re going to call it,
but it’s well known that it’s
a collaborative program,”
Park District of Highland
Park Recreation Manager
Chris Maliszewski said.
“The nuts and bolts of it is,
Deerfield has a structure in
place right now. We have
to adjust accordingly.”
With quality coaches
already established at
each division, everyone
involved is confidence the
transition and merger of
programs will go smoothly.
“To me the ultimate goal
is that the program gets
so strong they have their
own identities, but right
now it’s about kids playing
football,” Winiecki said.
“The other side of it too
is that football is a great
sport and it teaches teamwork
and it will help kids
learn some of those skills
before they get to the high
school,” Lindquist said.
“Ultimately, it will prepare
them to be better people.”