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Youth football commissioners from across the Volunteer State attended the USA Football Tennessee Youth Leadership Forum on Saturday at the Titans' Baptist Sports Park in Nashville.
Nearly 30 representatives of Tennessee leagues met at the Titans facility, illustrating the team's commitment to youth football throughout the state. They discussed background checks, coaching education, player safety, league registration efficiency, fundraising and how to become affiliated with USA Football, the official youth football development partner of the Titans, the NFL and the NFL Players Association.
USA Football Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager Deno Campbell led the meeting.
Mid-State Youth Football League president Ron Word is a USA Football State Forum veteran who has attended every previous Tennessee forum.
"It was a good exchange of information in Nashville for problems that all administrators have," Word said. "It gives me the opportunity to network with administrators from across the entire state, not just in Middle Tennessee but in West Tennessee and East Tennessee.
"There's always something new and exciting coming from USA Football. Regardless of geographical concerns, we can all have the same problems. This gives us a place to where we can go to talk about the issues."
This July, USA Football will host the national NFL/USA Football Youth Summit in Canton, Ohio. Commissioners were invited to submit an essay stating why they are the best delegate to represent Tennessee for the summit. Approximately 200 coaches and league commissioners from all 50 states participate in the annual event to discuss topics vital to the continued success of youth and high school programs. One essay will be selected as the winning entry to join one commissioner from each USA Football State Forum in Canton.
For Randy Butler, CEO of the Dyer County YMCA, this was his fifth state leadership forum.
"I was interested in meeting the other teams and finding out what's happening in other parts of the state, to see how we match up and what we can do differently," Butler said. "USA Football has built a great resource for leagues to utilize that helps educate your league and teach your teams the best practices of football. It's been tested and researched to make it easier to run our leagues."
