When Tony Gonczarow stopped coaching high school football after 20 years, he told his wife he was retiring from it. While what he's done since might not qualify his promise as a lie, he definitely has not withdrawn from football.
Within months, Gonczarow began plans for the creation of the South Montgomery (Ind.) Youth Football Program (SMYFP). The youth league played its first season in 2004.
The SMYFP features of kindergarten to second grade flag football, third through fourth tackle and fifth to sixth tackle. It also includes a kindergarten through sixth grade cheerleading program. Recently, the league averages around 250 participants and is viewed as wildly successful.
"With the commitment of the community we have to the parents getting the kids to practices and encouraging them to take part in our youth program to the coaches with the time they put in and the fundamentals that are being taught - I think that's producing a better quality football player," said Gonczarow, a USA Football commissioner member whose sons also play in the league. "We try to stress more than just football in our youth football program, and I think that's why it's been recognized as a very successful program in our area of the state."
A part of SMYFP's growth is attributable to the relationship Gonczarow forged in 2006 when his league began utilizing resources and benefits available from USA Football, the sport's national governing body on youth and amateur levels. The league takes advantage of USA Football's training materials and aims to have its coaches complete the Certified Coaching Education Program this summer. Gonczarow himself plans on being at USA Football's Indiana State Leadership Forum on Feb. 20, after attending in 2009 and valuing the lessons and information exchanged there.
The league also received USA Football equipment grants in 2008 and 2009. It used them to restock the supply of blocking and agility dummies, large numbers of which had been thrown out during administrative changes.
"It's really helped out quite a bit," Gonczarow said of the partnership. "Fortunately, with the equipment grants we've been able to resupply the blocking dummies and agility dummies, and that's something that's really vital to the football program."
USA Football is not the only helping hand Gonczarow reaches out to. Many of the kids in the SMYFP go to school in the four elementary schools of the South Montgomery Community School Corporation and will go on to junior and senior high school there. Gonczarow even teaches in the high school science department. Aside from using the school system's fields, the youth league welcomes special assistance from the varsity football program at Southmont High School.
Southmont head coach, Desson Hannum, who also teaches social studies, makes it a point to leave an impact on the youth league. He watches practices and games and brings some of his players at times. He also holds summer camps for the kids and training sessions with the league's 50 to 60 coaches.
"It really means a lot to the kids," Gonczarow said of Hannum's involvement. "His input has been instrumental."
Hannum also aided in designing a playbook for the youth teams. The kids learn the terminology and similar offenses and defenses to those used by the junior high and high school squads.
"I just think it makes it easier for them," Hannum said. "Instead of having to learn many systems, they can focus on one. Then they can take this one system and once they get to high school, they are already used to it."
The youth league does not horde the benefits of the relationship between the two programs. Hannum became the head coach at Southmont in 2007. The team had a 2-28 record over the three years prior to his arrival. In the three seasons since, they have a 15-16 record and were a Sectional Finalist in 2008 and Sagamore Conference Champions in 2009.
As time passes, some of the SMYFP's early participants are making their way to the high school level and contributing to the improvement of the high school team with their well-developed fundamentals.
"Within that time period, we've been able to improve by 13 games," Hannum said of Southmont's win total. "A lot of that is attributable to the kids we have now. Some were the first kids to be in the youth league. You can definitely see the difference."
When a strong commitment to youth football is made, the benefits flow from the kids to the community to higher-level programs. The South Montgomery Youth Football Program paints a prime illustration of this, and Gonczarow believes it is "proof positive of the power of youth football."
