Youth football leagues can find a plethora of resources at their disposal through USA Football, including coaching and officiating programs, playbooks, training videos, safety information, equipment grants and the newly released USA Football Youth Football Rulebook.
Another valuable asset of the independent non-profit can open the door for leagues to these products: USA Football's eight Regional Managers.
"A lot of times, for those leagues that didn't know about USA Football or what we really are, it's like 'Wow I didn't know that,'" USA Football Northeast Regional Manager Ed Passino said. "And then after that, it's 'Wow we want to take advantage of everything you can provide for us.'"
That is how many of Passino's meetings go with new leagues. Passino typically begins a presentation to a league with a general overview of USA Football. Next, he will explain the available resources. For those already familiar with USA Football, he might skip over some of the background and instead provide updates.
Romie Johnson, the Director of Football Operations for the Lake Villa (Ill.) Timberwolves, appreciated how Great Lakes Regional Manager Scott LeVeque presented himself and USA Football.
"He's just a level-headed guy," Johnson said of LeVeque. "He never threw around the fact that [USA Football is] partnered with the NFL. He didn't throw any of the big guns around. He came in and talked to us as a youth program, talked to us of the benefits of why we should do it as a youth program."
Johnson already knew about USA Football and its resources but came away from the meeting impressed with respect to his league. In April, the Timberwolves will mandate USA Football's Certified Coaching Education Program (CCEP) for their coaches.
"My focus the night I had the meeting was about coaches' commitment - commitment to the children and commitment to the youth program," Johnson said. "USA Football, to me, puts all coaches at the commitment level I think they all should be at.
"For [LeVeque] to drive out from Indianapolis, that was tremendous. It shows the commitment he and USA Football have."
Monterey Bay (Calif.) Youth Football League (MBYFL) Executive Board President Deanna Jarrett also feels that her league benefited after meeting with Northwest Regional Manager Bassel Faltas. The MBYFL decided to "see what USA Football had to offer" after being contacted by Faltas.
In the end, the MBYFL decided to take full advantage of the offerings presented to them. The league enrolled its coaches and volunteers for USA Football's CCEP, coaching membership resources and background check subsidy program.
"We do everything to help the kids," Jarrett said. "That's our motto: It's all about the kids.
"So far Bassel and everyone else with USA Football have been extremely welcoming and very helpful to us and other leagues."
Meeting with USA Football's Regional Managers isn't something reserved for new leagues either. It can be beneficial for leagues that are already partnered with USA Football to freshen up and maximize the support they receive.
"Having leagues have direct access to their Regional Managers, like we have had withBassel Faltas, to run things by is an added benefit of USA Football to all commissioners," said Vintage Empire Junior Football League commissioner Alice Langton-Sloan, who has been attending USA Football State Forums in Northern California for the past three years. "The support to our league has been outstanding."
For anyone thinking about meeting with USA Football, Passino suggested surfing USA Football's Web site and speaking with other commissioners in the area who have partnered leagues with USA Football, both of which could then lead to establishing a meeting.
"Sometimes the other leagues out there are an advocate of USA Football," Passino said. "I've seen it help in my territory where one league jumps on board, and then I get a phone call from the two or three other leagues that are in that area saying, 'Hey, we want to do some of the same things with you guys.'"
Johnson's advice was a bit more straight-forward.
"I would suggest that they all should do it," he said of meeting with a Regional Manager.
Youth football commissioners can follow Johnson's advice by going online to find the USA Football Regional Manager in their area and schedule a meeting today.
