With a lack of a quality youth tackle football programs in the Shawnee Heights area, the Young Thunderbirds formed in 2017.  Our coaches wanted this program to be different. We wanted to build a football family built on fundamentals and fun, while preparing our young athletes for their future.

Our first year was a struggle. A lot of youth football programs focus solely on winning, without teaching essential skills to build football players with the game-time knowledge they need to play at a high level as they grow to become high school and collegiate athletes. That first year we didn't score a single touchdown. We didn't know if we'd have enough players for a second year.

Word got around about the program we were trying to build, and much to our surprise we grew to three teams, comprised of 54 players our second year.

By year three, we had built a reputation of growing young athletes instead of solely focusing on wins. We were teaching the game the RIGHT way. Our third season began with five teams, built around 105 players.

After building for three years, we have multiple tackle football teams at all grade levels - growing skills for over 150 players each season. We now see lots of wins but still hold true to our beginning goals - to build fundamentals, have fun, and focus on the future. Winning is a by-product of doing things the right way!