Mighty Mites, the elementary and middle school football program, kicked off their season with their first practice on September 2nd. Practices are located at the high school football practice field at 5:30pm. Each team is divided up by grade level and coached by parent volunteers. The Mighty Mites program will continue until mid October for players in first grade and up until they reach the age of 13 when they become ineligible.

“I get to tackle people and have fun out there…” said 3rd grader Johnny Daughtry while expressing his excitement of the upcoming season. For Johnny, and many other kids his age, this will not be the first experience on the field. The Fair Grove Mighty Mites program is initially introduced to kids in first grade allowing them to learn the basic fundamentals at a younger age.

“I’m most excited about tackling,” 1st grader Sawyer Burks states. He, among many other excited first graders, will be able to participate in their first football team experience with Mighty Mites.

Practices for all teams will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights for the first two weeks on the high school practice field at 5:30pm. On the third week of the program, schedules will change and practices will continue to be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 5:30pm with games being played on Thursdays instead of an additional practice. All schedules for games will be provided by team coaches and can be found online on the Mighty Mites website.

To improve the experience for all players, the Mighty Mites program offers assistance in providing the correct equipment for each player. With a fee of $30, equipment can be rented by a player from the Mighty Mites program for the duration of one season. This equipment includes shoulder pads, a helmet, and a mouth guard. Each player is responsible for providing their own cleats that meet the appropriate requirements. To ensure a safe season for every individual player, a completed physical form is also necessary before they are allowed to participate in a game.

Mighty Mites provides a program that the elementary, middle school, and high school students can all benefit from. The eligible elementary and middle school students can sign up to participate on a team with practices and games while the high school student football players can sign up to referee games on Thursday nights. Mighty Mites has been around for more than 50 years, teaching students the basic fundamentals needed to be successful in future football programs.