Regardless of your season's outcome - win or lose - make sure your team remembers their season for all of the right reasons. End-of-year banquets and ceremonies can be amongst the most important events on the football calendar, and youth leagues around the country are starting to take notice.
The Portsmouth (N.H.) Youth Football Clippers, led by the efforts of team president Boyd Morrison, have taken end-of-the-year awards to a whole new level.
"This year we are making optic crystal trophies that have 3-D holograms of a football player inside, along with the name of the team and league," said Morrison, who is also chairman of the Seacoast Junior Football League and a USA Football commissioner member. "Also, for every first-year Clipper player, we provide them with a hooded jacket that has the Clipper ship logo and their individual names embroidered on the back of it. These jackets have been a huge hit with the kids. They walk around like it's their letterman jacket, and you can definitely see the pride in their faces."
For the actual banquet, Morrison pays for each player and two guests of their choice to attend a sit-down dinner. In order to emphasis the importance of professionalism, the players are required to wear collared shirts and dress pants. If the players take initiative and wear a tie to the event, they are rewarded with the Presidents Gift - a golden dollar.
After everyone has finished eating, the coaches for their respective teams bring each player on the stage and shares specific memories with the audience about each individual.
"These award ceremonies help build the confidence these kids need in their lives," Morrison said. "These are kids that play the game the right way for the right reasons. It's important to get everyone together and reestablish the camaraderie and positive energy that comes with being part of a team."
Leroy Hollins II, coach and commissioner of the largest youth football league in Louisiana and a member of USA Football's Rules Committee, echoes Morrison's team concept and understands the importance of bringing together the players and parents to acknowledge each youngster who put in the hard work during the entire season - beginning to end.
On a team level, Hollins II and his Scotlandville (La.) Sports Academy Hornets gather for an awards ceremony similar to the Academy Awards. The event is held in one of the local high school auditoriums for the purpose of emulating a high school environment. After each participant receives an award, a PowerPoint presentation reflecting on the season's fondest memories is accompanied by motivational speeches from prominent members throughout the Baton Rouge area.
"Each student-athlete walks across the stage after his name is called and receives an award and shakes the hand of our coaches," explains Hollins II, who has also been the Louisiana Youth Football League's Director for the past five seasons. "This is kind of like them graduating and entering a new stage of their lives.
"We tend to shy away from awards that focus on actual on-the-field performance. We want to make sure we allow each kid to have his moment in time and to forget about the accolades on the field."
Hollins II also wanted to stress the importance of education. That's why he has implemented end-of-the-year awards for education on both the team and league level. His team's "Hope Award" honors players who achieve a 3.0 GPA or higher. However, Hollins II emphasizes that there is a catch.
"Yes, we giveaway the Hope Award to everyone who manages a 3.0 GPA or higher. But say we have a student-athlete who made a 2.5 GPA and showed vast improvements throughout the season. We don't want to discourage these individuals so we make sure we give the award to these special players as well."
After his league's championship game, all of the seniors (11- to 12-year-olds) are able to participate in a senior class showcase named "Heart of a Lion Classic." The game is structured in a way similar to the College Senior Bowl except with one glaring difference: this is by no means an all-star game.
"We invite a total of 80 young men - all of whom are about to enter high school - and we give these student-athletes the opportunity to be properly acknowledged for all of the hard work and dedication they showed throughout the season," said Hollins, whose league has more than 2,500 youngsters on 71 teams. "Some teams may not make it to the playoffs or championship, so the biggest thing for me is to try and find a way to celebrate the kids and let them know that they are the shining star at that moment in time.
"After the game, we host an 'etiquette dinner' and give the 80 student-athletes life lessons on how to be a man."
During the etiquette banquet, the coaches and motivational speakers teach the players things that they can carry with them for the rest of their adult lives. For instance, coaches teach each player how to tie a tie and the speakers offer guidance on character, economic and sociological values to help better prepare them for high school and beyond.
"To see the faces of all 80 kids dressed in a suit and tie and to watch them on the edge of their seats listening to the coaches," Hollins explains. "That moment shows me that we are reaching these kids on a level that lets them know what it takes for them to become a man."
