PHOENIX — After a week and a half of uncertainty for thousands of kids in the Arizona National Youth Sports Tackle Football League, many members of the community came together to help make sure their season continued.
The games on Saturday meant a little more than others in the past for many youth athletes in the league. Thousands of kids part of the Valley’s NYS league were able to get back on the field and play games again.
The Valley’s NYS league was in limbo as families say the head of the local NYS left them in the dark and did not schedule games like they were supposed to last week.
“We had no idea where we would play, and if we’d be able to play here because it hadn’t been rented,” said Kristin Dixon, the co-founder of the Phoenix Dragons Youth Football organization.
Luckily, the season didn’t have to end early. The Phoenix Union High School District worked with the Phoenix Dragons Youth Football organization and gave them the Camelback High School field to play on. Usually, the NYS tackle football league would rent it out and schedule it for thousands of dollars. However, Camelback High head football coach Brandon McNutt said they were able to waive the fees for the team.
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“We want them to be able to finish their season. I’ll be honest, every single coach and everybody, this is where I started. It’s not about the game. It’s what you get from it at the end of the day and just the experience,” he said.
The teams are raising money to help pay their officials, and the coaches and staff are volunteering their time to ensure kids are able to continue the rest of their football season.
“Every morning, he’s like, do you know where we’re going to have a game this week?” mom Angie Thornburg said of her eight-year-old son in the league. “I’m like no. The day we found out, he was so happy.”
Dixon said their organization and their families are out of money after giving it to the youth sports league.
According to families, James Vieth, the head of the Valley NYS league, had an attorney contact parents to tell them Vieth was dissolving the league as part of a personal and business bankruptcy. ABC15 reached out to the bankruptcy attorney representing him Saturday to get an update but did not hear back in time for the report.
