Learning love for the game

Normally you wouldn’t think of football players as cute.

This group? Little faces peek out of big helmets as they swarm the Parkview Baptist baseball field, where on this late-September day the All Star Kids Football League is conducting practice.

“I like to hit people,” 8-year-old Jonah Doise says shyly.

But does he like to get hit?

He shakes his head no and then runs to practice. And it’s a practice geared perfectly for kids like Jonah.

All Star Kids Football is the brainchild of Scott Kirby, a transplanted University of Tennessee grad who came to Baton Rouge in 1990 to work for Dow Chemical. Kirby played high-school football and might have played small-college ball, but as a senior in high school, he had a brain hemorrhage. That was the end of that.

Thirteen years ago he got involved at Parkview, helping to start the middle-school program there. Six years ago, “I was watching these young men come in to play middle-school football, and their first experience was miserable,” he says. “They didn’t know how to tackle, they didn’t know how to get in a three-point stance, they didn’t know fundamentals, and it was taking us forever to teach them. So I decided to start All Star Kids Football.”

Accordingly, he says, “If your kid comes to play for us, I don’t care how big he is, how fast, how slow, he’s going to play running back, offensive line, wide receiver, defensive back, linebacker, all the positions. We’re going to teach him the proper fundamentals.”

The seven-week program is for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade. “We stop after fifth grade, because that’s primarily when kids start playing either for their school or other organizations around town,” Kirby says.

“We don’t put kids in a position. We don’t have teams. It’s like a big intramural league.”

That’s a big attraction for Jonah’s dad, Jason Doise.

“It’s real hands-on. There’s probably a coach per eight kids. They really focus on the fundamentals,” Doise says. “To me, it’s a great starter program. Not quite as intensive as some of the other programs, and with kids 7, 8 years old, they focus on what’s important—and that’s learning the game.”

The program is conducted at Parkview Baptist but has no affiliation with that school. Last year, for example, 14 schools were represented. But Kirby has the endorsement of, among others, Parkview Head Coach Kenny Guillot. While there are plenty of concerns nationally these days about youngsters playing tackle football, Kirby tries to keep it in perspective.

Occasionally there are injuries—he said a couple of kids have broken their arms trying to catch themselves while falling—but generally they don’t get hurt at this level.

“We want them to know the game and love the game. We hit a lot,” he says. “We want the kids to know that football is a contact sport so we hit a lot. But we don’t emphasize winning. We don’t keep score. We don’t have a bench. (In games), every kid plays and plays the entire time.”

Suzie Kershaw’s son, 9-year-old Alex, is playing for the first time today. “There’s been such a positive energy,” she says. “Teaching kids how to play football and having fun doing it. There’s fellowship in meeting kids from different schools, and so far it’s been a really positive experience.”

That, of course, is Kirby’s goal. His staff includes college students who have a love for the game and keep things in perspective. The first year of the program, there were 50 kids. Now there are more than 300.

“I tell parents all the time,” Kirby says, “my goal is that your son loves the game of football, to make sure that he loves to hit and to make sure I keep them in the program, and when they get to middle school they want to play high-school football.”

The fee for All Star Kids Football is $225. Players buy their own equipment. For more information, visit allstarkidsfootball.com.