JUNE 1ST UPDATES

Voluntary Practices Start Sunday, June 5th!

The month of June, the Young Thunderbirds will offer voluntary practices once per week, at varying dates to accommodate those playing multiple sports. The first Voluntary Practice is this Sunday, June 5th at 6pm at Shawnee Heights HS on the football field. Please wear athletic clothing and shoes (or cleats), and bring plenty of water to stay hydrated. Please check the website for additional voluntary practice days and the schedule: https://youngthunderbirdsfootballprogram.teamsnapsites.com/schedule/

Mandatory Team Camp, July 25th

Mandatory practices start on Monday, June 25th. There will be two weeks of Team Camp, and then individual team practices will start. Some grades will have multiple teams. Most team placement decisions will be made the week(s) of camp, by each grade level coaches. Returning players will be placed with the same coaches as last year, unless otherwise requested, or through mutual parent/coach decisions.

Tackle Football Equipment

In previous years, the Young Thunderbirds have offered a team equipment ordering and fitting through Riddell. This has helped with costs as Riddell has offered a team discount for those parents desiring to purchase their own equipment, instead of renting through the program. This year, Riddell has notified us that this will not be an option, as any orders placed now will not be delivered until late September/October. Due to this, we have had to close off any additional players desiring to rent equipment as we will not have the option to build our rental program inventory with new equipment. If you have already chosen to rent equipment, we should have equipment to fit your child. If you have chosen to purchase equipment, you will now need to purchase that on your own. Equipment can be purchased at Dick’s Sporting Good, Academy Sports, Epic Sports (online), Amazon (online), etc. You must purchase shoulder pads and a helmet. The helmet MUST be white, no exceptions. If you are able to find used equipment, or have a helmet that is not white, there are many tutorials online on how to spray paint a helmet white.

Uniform Sizing

We hope to offer uniform sizing at the Voluntary Practice on June 13th. We are waiting to receive the sizing kit we have ordered from Boombah. Regardless of if you are renting a uniform or purchasing a uniform, your child MUST be sized. We will offer multiple times/dates for sizing, which we will email out once we receive the sizing kit. Please look for additional details in the coming weeks.

If you have friends interested in playing for the Young Thunderbirds, please let them know that the $25 Early Bird Discount ends June 2nd! We have roster spots available at all grades, except for 4th Grade. We do have a waiting list for any 4th grade roster spots. If we have enough players interested, we will form a third team.

All updates for tackle football will be found on our website and/or Facebook page. We highly encourage you to check there before emailing or sending a message via Facebook, but if you cannot find the answer you are looking for, please reach out!

We are excited to get tackle started and can’t wait to see you!