For generations, football has been shepherding camaraderie and friendly rivalries among families and friends across America’s school athletic fields, backyards, beaches, and really anywhere a pigskin can be thrown. But on Martha’s Vineyard, a youth football program, and what many see as a feeder team for the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, is facing an uncertain future, possibly even folding this year.
With only weeks to go before the season, organizers of the junior high school football program for 11- to 14-year-olds say that only three people have signed up, out of 22 players needed to field a team.
Families, coaches, and community members point to a number of possible factors for the decline in interest, from shifting family values, and children turning to video games and social media, to other sports on the Island having better youth programming, and parents’ concerns surrounding the sport’s safety. The picture of youth football on the Vineyard falls in line with a national trend of decline in the sport in some pockets of the country, but it’s a saddening trend for many in the community.
“There’s a ton of people before and after my involvement that put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this program, and to see it just go away would be heartbreaking,” said Lou Paciello, parent of a former junior high football player and a big supporter of the league.
The Martha’s Vineyard junior high football program is just coming off a dominant 8-1 season. The team earned its first-ever win over Island rival Nantucket, coupled with a 24-0 championship win over Falmouth. Eighteen players on the team last season graduated to play in high school. In addition to only three kids signed up for the upcoming season, only two have signed up for an annual football summer camp that is supposed to kick off in August.
The head coach of the junior football program, Timothy Millerick, a detective with the Oak Bluffs Police Department, is concerned about the lack of turnout. He said if the youth football programs can’t survive, then the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School football team will struggle to find players in the future, too.
“If we lose our junior high football, then eventually we will lose high school football, because there will be no interest in it,” said Millerick in an interview with The Times.
Millerick said if the team does have to fold, organizers are considering alternate options, one of which is the possibility of running a practice squad –– “just to keep as many people involved in the sport as possible,” said Millerick.
For the assistant coach of the high school football team, Elijah Larue, it is alarming to hear about such a drastically low number of signups.
“That’s a serious problem,” said Larue. “Without the junior high program, there is no way to develop players at a young age and get them ready for high school football.”
From Larue’s perspective, the decline is a mix of parents being more aware of the potential for injury, and children deriving more value from online friendships, rather than challenging and community-driven physical activities.
“Physical activity is less common,” said Larue. “At the end of the day, parents just don’t want their kids to get hurt; nowadays, children more commonly link up online. It might be a good way to meet friends, but they are missing out on the aspect of meeting people in the real world.
“Social media kills the idea of what true life is. They want to be TikTok stars and streamers, not football athletes,” he added. “We also live in the Northeast. Over here, we focus on hockey, lacrosse, basketball, and golf, and then football comes after that.”
While concerns and debates surrounding the sport’s relation to brain damage have been a deterrent for some parents’ signing their children up for football, Coach Millerick, Assistant Coach Jason Blandini, and Paciello said the program builds camaraderie and ethics, and teaches a safe approach to properly learning how to tackle.
“Parents have concerns about the safety; we address those concerns, and we teach them how to tackle appropriately,” said Blandini.
“I have been coaching junior high since 2019, and we only had one technically diagnosed concussion,” added Millerick. “We run kids through concussion screenings before every season.”
For Paciello, he felt it was good preparation for the big step into high school. “Both of my sons went through the junior high program; the coaches always did a great job not letting the young kids get into the mix so they were safe,” said Paciello. “It allowed them to get a little taste, then when they were in seventh or eighth grade, they played.”
Another concern aired by Coach Millerick was the lack of interest in football programs at a younger age due to other sports like hockey, basketball, and soccer having better youth options. Although there is a flag football league on the Island for youth athletes wanting to try the sport, the communication among three leagues — flag football, junior high, and the high schools — is lacking, according to Paciello.
“Communication among the three programs is where the disconnect is,” said Paciello. “It needs to be more well-organized from top to bottom to sustain the sport.”
“A lot of the kids are already either invested in soccer, hockey, or basketball by the time they reach sixth grade,“ added Millerick.
For Millerick, the most ideal situation would involve three teams, similar to how the youth hockey program operates on-Island, with Mites for ages 7 to 9, Peewee for 9 to 11, and Midgets for ages 11 to 13.
Another possible deterrent the local community is feeling may have to do with a nationwide shift in demographics regarding who is interested in playing tackle football. According to a Washington Post article by Dave Sheinin and Emily Giambalvo in December last year, based on a nationwide survey and interviews with youth, parents, coaches, administrators, and experts, “boys in the most conservative, poorest states continue to play high school tackle football at higher rates than those in wealthier and more politically liberal areas.”
The Post also found that “among children and teens, white and Black males are playing tackle football at declining rates, while Hispanic boys increasingly take up the sport.”
For the junior high football program, a huge part of the team’s success has been from the interest from the local Brazilian community.
“I was on the school committee for three years. There’s no denying that there is a shift in demographics; we need to do the promotion within the Brazilian community,” said Paciello.
“Brazilian players have been a huge part of our team –– we want to recruit more,” added Millerick.
Teagan Brown, who’s going into seventh grade and his third season of the junior high football program, said he was excited to learn how to tackle, and this season he is hoping to play outside linebacker.
“On TV it looked fun, and I wanted to try tackling,” said Teagan. “They taught us you have to get low and wrap them up below their shoulders –– I was so excited [to learn].”
Brown said his favorite part about the program is how all the coaches are firefighters, EMS, and police officers from around the Island; he hopes to become a police officer himself one day.
“I’m just worried about us not having a football team and stuff,” said Brown. “I would still participate if there weren’t games, just practices.
“[If we don’t have a program] I’d feel a little upset,” he added.
Sign up for junior high football here
When I was entering high school, on the Vineyard, I was supposed to play baseball and basketball. I wound up playing four years of high school football. Thee most fun I could have had. We were a mediocre team but I took away the strongest teammate relationships. There were minor injuries along the way, but that is ok…in exchange for all the friendships (which exist over 40 years later) , fitness and sense of being part of team working towards a common goal.
Injuries are small in number, and usually small at the local/ high school level.
Play football…kids and families will really enjoy it…and, I believe look back on it, as a great family experience.
So much better than being on a phone!
I can’t imagine what my life would be like if not for football. Being from Georgia, I started playing when I was eight years old and played through high school. I played with and against some really great athletes, many of which played at the D1 level, some making into the NFL.
For those parents concerned about injuries, yes, injuries do happen. But, what you see on TV and mostly read about regarding concussions and CTE, are mostly from players that have played long after high school. Injuries of all types occur at all levels of sports.
The one promise I can make is that the life lessons and friendships formed on the football team and field will last a lifetime.
I had the honor of coaching football at the high school level for 40 years, 32 of those here on MV. I still stay in contact with many former players and coaches from all of those teams. The things they all still reflect back on are the fond memories of being part of a team, a family. And, the life lessons learned while playing.
So please, don’t deny your child the opportunity for a positive activity due to your health and injury concerns. Allow your child to play football. The positives will far exceed any negatives.