A letter from the Athletic Director Re: MS Football

Dear Pirate Community,

As we get closer to the start of school I want to formally inform the parents of boys in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades of a great opportunity.  I finished a Zoom meeting on July 29 which involved many of the schools we play in the Sunshine Athletic Conference.  We all felt there was a need to direct lower level football programs in a different direction.  For those that played MS football in the past, you all know we played in a highly competitive league which included playoffs.  In many cases we were way over matched and at times our MS football teams were not able to compete in a safe environment.
 
Last spring, many schools in the same situation as ours decided that there needed to be something better for our MS programs such as ours. We all wanted to create and foster a league that promoted learning the game of football safely and in an environment that promoted an equal playing field.  To that end, it was decided to create a league we call the D-League and it was finalized during that Zoom meeting.  The “D” in D-League stands for DEVELOPMENTAL.  Teams in this league will teach and promote skill development, compete in 8V8 games with modified rules (i.e. extra timeouts so coaches can take advantage of teaching football moments), still wear equipment and play tackle football against teams with the same team make up and philosophy.  There will be a 4-5 game schedule, no records will be kept as the goal is not wins and losses, but fun and development.  Thus no playoffs.  The season will run from the start of school with the first practices until mid-October so we don’t conflict with the winter sports. 
 
Coach Gowin (the varsity football coach), the Upper School and Middle School administrations, and myself are all excited to be able to offer this to our 7th, 8th and 9th grade boys. It should be noted that only 9th graders with very limited experience and perhaps just want to play football for the first time will qualify to play on this team.  This is NOT a JV team where a 9th grader who could possibly play varsity but needs playing time. Any 9th grade player that is at a higher level will not be eligible to play on this team.  Coach Gowin will keep all 9th graders that are able on his varsity team as this D-League team is NOT for them.   Rest assure both he and I will evaluate 9th graders and decide what level they should play at.  
 
I hope if you have a 7th, 8th grade, or 9th grade boy who is wanting to or possibly be on the fence about playing football, will take this wonderful opportunity to join this team.  If you have any interest, please let Coach Gowin or myself know so we can get an idea of the number of kids that want to play.  In addition, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact either of us. Thank you in advance for your consideration and support.
 
Jeff Lamscha
Athletic Director
Saint Edward’s School
Work: 772-492-2342
Cell: 772-559-1405
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