Youth Football Program Teaches Fundamentals

Every Thursday night, starting September 17th, first through sixth grade students get to experience their own version of Friday Night Lights while they play in a large league against other schools. Now that fall is in full swing, it’s time for some Eagle’s football. Of course the high school and middle school teams always get their chance to shine, but we can’t forget about the younger boys and girls. Mighty Mites is a youth football league designed specifically for the younger athletes.

Any student, with a physical from a doctor, can participate in Mighty Mites. The teams are separated by school and age group. The teams practice twice a week and the age groups are divided into first through second, third through fourth, and fifth through sixth. Fair Grove hosts games every Thursday night with teams from Buffalo, Elkland, Fair Grove, Humansville, Marionville, Pleasant Hope, Springfield, and Stafford.

Kade Brunkhorst (3), who plays on the Colts team, describes a normal practice, “We work on blocking, tackling, and do a lot of running.”

“Mighty Mites teaches kids in a team setting to have fun and that it’s not about winning and losing, it’s about learning to play with each other and how to play football at a young age,” explained Lennie Peterie, Fair Grove’s field supervisor and rules regulator. Each week, Peterie and his wife, Kim, prepare for a safe and fun environment for the young athletes and their families by making sure players and parents abide by the rules, painting the field for games, picking up trash, cleaning bathrooms, finding volunteers for the concessions stand, putting up signs, and fitting players with the right size equipment to ensure safety. In the spring, Peterie also coaches the Ozark Football League for grades six through nine.

The high school football team, which includes many veterans from the Mighty Mites program, helps officiate the games each week. Nate Mallard (12) said, “I enjoy being a part of the kids’ football well being. It’s cool to see them look up to me so much.” Nate also recalled, “My favorite memory from Mighty Mites is when I hit a kid so hard that the helicopter had to land on the field to take him to a hospital.”

Brunkhorst added, “I didn’t know anything about football before I started playing Mighty Mites. It’s really taught me how football works so that I’ll know what to do when I’m older.”

There are about 90 Fair Grove students spread among eight different Mighty Mites teams. The 2015 Mighty Mites wrapped up their season on October 15th, with their final games of the Fall Season being played on that Thursday.